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

PRDA Manual 51Box A2. Guidelines for the Rapid Diagnosis “Step 1d”“SHEET 1D” gives examples of useful information to collect about the designcharacteristics and construction before starting with the field work.Possible sources of information are:• feasibility studies, design documents, as built documents;• Government statistics, soil maps, monographs.Guidelines for the Rapid Diagnosis “Step 2a”Useful information to collect at a local government office or from an NGO aboutthe current situation of the irrigation scheme:• household size (minimal, maximal, average);• actual number of plots and plot size (minimal, maximal, average);• crop types in irrigation scheme last year and area (hectares) of eachcrop;• average crop yields;• crop market prices;• percentage of farmers using agro-inputs (chemical fertilizer, manure,seeds, pesticides); average amount used per farmer, price of agro-inputs,and supplying organization;• percentage of farmers using credit; average amount used per farmer andproviding organization;• Taxes per farmer (minimal, maximal, average).QuestionnairesWhyYou can conduct a survey using questionnaires to obtain very specific dataor opinions from a large number of people in a structured way. However,questionnaires can create a very formal atmosphere and do not encouragefarmers to talk about other constraints. They are only recommended, therefore,when you need very detailed information on a specific topic.How to1. Agree on the information needed from the questions.2. Prepare a list of questions that you want to ask. Questions can be very