Manual - Participatory rapid diagnosis and action ... - FAO.org

2 Chapter 1. Introduction• changes to organization;• individual farmer’s skills.Action may be taken by farmers who independently change their plot practices;groups of farmers who collectively change their management practices; and/orextension organizations that modernise their services to farmers. Improvementsmade can be monitored and evaluated in subsequent years.The figure 1 shows how the PRDA relates to a general project cycle forimproving irrigation performance. It is recommended to use PRA toolsthroughout the process.Farmer ownership of action plans is a major outcome of PRDA and a crucial factorin its success since it is implemented by farmers with support from extensionorganizations or development NGOs. Farmers’ participation is therefore a must !Standard Participatory Rural Appraisal methods in the manual are adapted tothe specific situation of irrigation schemes. 1 Methodologies for Benchmarkingand Rapid Appraisal of Irrigation Schemes are also used but in a modifiedform to suit the scale and limited availability of quantitative data of farmermanaged irrigation schemes.Figure 1. Participatory Rapid Diagnosis and Action PlanningParticipatory Rapid Diagnosis & Action PlanningPreparationDiagnosis(situation analysis)EvaluationPRAPRAtoolstoolsPlanningMonitoringImplementation1 For the scientists: PRDA combines elements of Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), Participatory RuralAppraisal (PRA) and Participatory Learning and Action (PLA).• RRA elements: rapid and performance assessment according to criteria set by the researcher;• PRA elements: facilitating discussion amongst farmers and sharing of information with farmers;• PLA elements: farmers and researchers can learn throughout the project cycle and use these lessonsto engage in individual or joint action.