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

70 Annex A. Description of toolsIrrigation scheme time lineWhyTo get a long-term picture of the important historical events of the irrigationscheme and how they relate to each other. This tool can especially help toexplain conflicts or management problems that have evolved over the pastfew years and subsequently to identify the kind of solutions that may benecessary.HowThis tool can be applied directly to farmers or you can do it yourself afterfield work to compile the information obtained from farmers through othertools (e.g. crop rotation calendar and organizational analysis).What to do after field work1. Put the past five to ten years (depending on how far you want to goback) on the left vertical axis of a piece of paper. Make four columns,one for each constituent.2. Write down the major events or changes that occurred in the irrigationscheme according to the four constituents.3. Draw lines between major events or changes if one is caused by orrelated to the other.4. Use this drawing to trace back the source of problems.Apply it directly with farmers1. Start by briefly introducing the purpose of the tool. Make sure that itis clear to everyone.2. Ask farmers to name or write down the major events in chronologicalorder. Explore the causes of important events.3. Write the events down and ask farmers to explain which ones arerelated and how certain main problems are caused. The time line canbe an easy way to see if the explanation farmers give you is sensible.4. Cross-check the exact dates with other PRDA tools if it is importantfor the explanation of a problem when it started or what caused it.Example (Table A7)