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EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES THROUGH MAPPING: EVALUATION OF PARTICIPATORY MAPPING IN TWO HANI VILLAGES, YUNNAN PROVINCE, P. R. CHINA difficult it might be to acquire this support and wished to receive more support in the form of technology, applied tools, and equipment. Villagers were willing to contribute labor and other resources, providing great potential for development work. Village profiles The target of this initiative was two Hani minority villages. 4 The Hani are one of many unique tribes in southern Yunnan Province located in areas bordering Laos and Myanmar. The total Hani population is more than 1.5 million distributed mainly over the mountain areas between the Yuanjiang (Red) and the Lancang (Mekong) rivers. According to historical records, the Hani used to be a nomadic tribe living in the Qinghai (Tibet ) Plateau. Later one branch moved south, and by the early third century BC, they inhabited the Ailao and Wuliang Mountains. The Hani minority comprises over twenty subgroups. With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the official name of the group was designated to be the “Hani Nationality.” Generally speaking, Hani people engage in agriculture. Situated in the subtropical climate zone, the area inhabited by the Hani is blessed with a mild climate, abundant rainfall, and fertile soil, providing ideal conditions for agriculture. Their main crops include rice, corn, and peanuts. The Hani are also good at planting tea–the tea they grow accounts for one-third of the total tea produced in Yunnan Province. The area where the Hani people live also abounds in natural resources, including animals and herbal medicinal plants. Growing on the rolling Ailao mountains are pine, cypress, palm, tung oil, and camphor trees. The area also provides a, habitat for many wild animals, including tigers, leopards, bears, monkeys, peacocks, parrots, and pheasants. 5 Shang Shapu and Xia Shapu are located in Luchun County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province. In 2003 there were 37 households with 191 persons in Shang Shapu hamlet. Most of the adults had not received formal school education. For school-age children, two-fifths (14 of 35) cannot attend school for reasons that include poor family economic situations, long distances to the school, and language constraints. Villagers in Shang Shapu are quite different from other Hani people. They have very limited arable land, about 0.25 mu of paddy rice fields, 1 mu of dry land and 2 mu of tea gardens per capita. 6 About one-third of the households do not have enough food grain from their own production, another two-thirds have only a seven to eight month supply, while only one or two households have a ten to twelve month supply. Usually they must buy food from markets or borrow food from relatives and friends. The major reasons most households cannot grow enough food grain have to do with different natural disasters such as floods, winds, heavy rain, and insects, as well as lower agricultural inputs, especially due to hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizers. Most households' cash income depends on tea, palm, and lemon grass plantations (especially before 1998), as well as animal husbandry. Xia Shapu Village consisted of 33 households with 168 persons in 2003. Most of the adults have not received formal school education, and almost half of the school age children cannot attend school (17 out of 38). They have almost the same livelihood coping strategies and cash income sources as Shang Sahpu Village. However their food grain situation is much better than that in Shang Shapu Village. Two-thirds of households have about ten months of grain supply from their own production, one-fifth of the households produce enough food by themselves, while only four or five households lack food grain more than three months each year. The major reason for this is that their farmland is located in a lower valley, resulting in much better irrigation and soil fertility conditions than in Shang Shapu Village. Prior to 2001, there was a nearby school that served both villages, so that children had easy access to school and families did not need to pay for boarding costs. A national policy focusing on improving education quality consolidated 59
many schools, resulting in the closure of the school serving these two villages. Children must now go to another school that requires a walk of one to two hours each way. There was a road connecting these two villages to the main road running to Luchun County Seat before 1998, but it was cut off because of floods. They have tried two times to construct new roads, but all were destroyed again. There has thus been no connection to the main road from the villages. Villagers must carry their own products to and from the market by themselves or with animal power. It takes about one hour to climb down to Shang Shapu Village, and two hours to climb down to Xia Shapu Village; however it takes twice as long when climbing up since the paths are very steep and curved. Villagers also need more time when they carry something. EVALUATION METHODOLOGY The evaluation group conducted two field studies during September 2003 (six days) and November 2003 (eight days). The first field trip focused on evaluating the mapping processes taken by the MIGIS group. We organized two group meetings and interviewed about ten key informants from each village. The second field trip evaluated the impacts of the MIGIS initiative. We organized three group meetings and interviewed the same villagers we interviewed during the first trip. The evaluation employed different methods, in particular semi-structured group meetings and key informants' interviewing. Secondary data gathering and analysis The evaluation group visited different organizations based in Kunming that have used PRA for indicator formulation and data collection for many SIT mapping activities. These included the Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK), the Yunnan Institute of Geography, Southwest Forestry College, the ICRAF Kunming Office, and the Great Nature Conservancy (TNC). We collected information on major activities regarding SIT mapping for each organization and discussed procedures taken by each working group, gaining much from the discussions. We also consulted with these organizations about our evaluation. We also gathered many relevant documents and papers from these organizations. The evaluation group spent almost two days learning from the MIGIS that group members, especially Dr. Cai Kui and Dr. Ma Huangcheng. We discussed the objectives and methodologies as well as the major findings for and from this initiative. We also collected their maps and listened to their interesting stories from the mapping period. The evaluation group then spent almost one week reviewing these documents and papers. This was a learning process for the evaluation group helped us in several ways: (1) let us understand better both the advantages and disadvantages of linking PRA with conventional GIS technology and involving local communities in the mapping processes actively; (2) helped us prepare more appropriate and relevant questions for the field studies; and (3) allowed us to enlarge some of the maps made by the MIGIS group which were very helpful in discussing and sharing information with villagers. Map reading and information verification The evaluation group enlarged twenty-two maps and charts that were made by the MIGIS group in 1999, including community maps, resource maps, venn diagrams, a land-use map for 1990, a land-use map for 1999, a historic transect map, food grain shortage charts, and seasonal calendar charts for farming, animal husbandry, and household economic security. The group showed these maps and charts either at the beginning or during the process of group meetings or individual interviews and asked villagers to provide what information they could, for instance, the location of their own homestead or where the well is located. The results indicate that, for the simple maps and charts such as community maps and food grain shortage charts, villagers who participated in the mapping process could very easily read and interpret the major information on the maps. Villagers who did not participate in the mapping process might also be able to read and interpret the maps with help 60
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MAPPINGCOMMUNITIES ETHICS, VALUES,
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TABLE OF CONTENTS vi vii viii 1 11
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ACRONYMS AMA: adaptive management a
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INTRODUCTION MAPPING POWER: IRONIC
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Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17: INTRODUCTION MAPPING POWER: IRONIC
Page 18 and 19: COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PARTICIPATORY
Page 32 and 33: APPENDIX I: FORMAL INTERVIEWS AND G
Page 34: APPENDIX II: RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND
Page 37 and 38: land-use plans in various stages of
Page 39 and 40: egan to argue that these areas were
Page 41 and 42: conflicts. The NTFP also assists vi
Page 43 and 44: illegal logging activities and to s
Page 45 and 46: property is defined according to th
Page 47 and 48: the real outside pressure has not y
Page 49 and 50: 7. How well do NTFP staff members u
Page 51 and 52: further and further away from areas
Page 53 and 54: Methods Projecting aerial photograp
Page 55 and 56: RESEARCH QUESTIONS The underlying q
Page 57 and 58: In Samout Krom Village, villagers h
Page 59 and 60: who have not attended the sketch ma
Page 61 and 62: concrete sensorial experiences much
Page 63 and 64: CONCLUSION Based on mapping researc
Page 65: BACKGROUND According to the MIGIS p
Page 69 and 70: members, the Beima, and villagers'
Page 71 and 72: tree cutting and animal grazing in
Page 73 and 74: the bio-gas project that was implem
Page 75 and 76: During the evaluation process we al
Page 77 and 78: 1 Mr. Zhao Yaqiao, Ms. Wu Chengrui,
Page 79 and 80: Events / Dates Bio-gas systems cons
Page 81 and 82: communities to take advantage of SI
Page 83 and 84: Hayfork based NGO focused on commun
Page 85 and 86: likely to be more knowledgeable abo
Page 87 and 88: planning processes, especially with
Page 89 and 90: and implement projects. Some NGOs a
Page 91 and 92: CONCLUSIONS SIT training provides p
Page 93 and 94: REFERENCES California Fire Safe Cou
Page 95 and 96: map strengthened the community's cl
Page 97 and 98: 1994 and 1995 with community mapper
Page 99 and 100: to the mapping. These disagreements
Page 101 and 102: CONCLUSIONS For too long now, the D
Page 103 and 104: APPENDIX B The table below lists th
Page 105 and 106: uncritically or simply misused. As
Page 107 and 108: However, the equipment acquired for
Page 109 and 110: degrees in social sciences, agricul
Page 111 and 112: photo: Martin Hardiono photo: Marti
Page 113 and 114: REFERENCES Herlihy, P. H., and G. K
Page 115 and 116: eserve boundaries, develop a common
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NGO that focused on facilitating co
Page 119 and 120:
left their organizations within a y
Page 121 and 122:
eadily use the available computer a
Page 123 and 124:
local capacity both in terms of ski
Page 125:
Nusa Tenggara Community Development
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