GTZ Project Document No. 51 Report on Nahi Baseline Survey

Nahi Approach Road of Hope RRA Survey May 2001At least eleven issues face practitioners of Rapid Rural Appraisal. Resolutions of these issuesdetermine what will be discovered and how results will be used. These issues are:Definition of the concept; 2) Duration of the Study; 3) Participation on the Rapid Appraisal Team; 4)Research Orientations; 5) Structuring the research time; 6) Information to be collected in advance; 7)Use of Interviews; 8) Use of direct observation; 9) Preparation of the <strong>Report</strong>; 10) Getting resultsfactored into decisions and 11) Potential Problems1. DEFINNING THE CONCEPTRapid Appraisal is a way of organising people and time for collecting and analysing information wheretime constraints demand decisions before local situation can be fully understood. Sometimes thesedecisions concern additional research such as the content of a formal survey or the focus of long-termethnographic research.One of the strength of Rapid Appraisal is the flexibility to adjust it to specific objectives. While muchgreater rigour in the use of the standard social science methodologies is needed, rapid Appraisal cannotand should not have a single standardized methodology. Local conditions, available resources andspecific research objectives should always determine how Rapid Appraisal is implemented. Some ofthe definitions are;Any systematic activity designed to draw inferences, conclusions, hypotheses, or “assessment”, whichincludes the acquisition of new information, in a limited period of time.A study used as the starting point for understanding a local situation; carried out by a multi-disciplinaryteam; lasting at least four days but not more than three weeks; and based on information collected inadvance, direct observation and interviews where it is assumed that all relevant questions can not beidentified.Rapid Appraisal has been described as:“Modified survey” (Hildebrand 1982)“Survey undertaken without questionnaires” (Haner et al. 1982)“Informal,” “exploratory,” “ largely unstructured interviews combined with observation” (Honadle1979)“Organised common sense, freed from the chains of inappropriate professionalism” (Chambers 1980)“ A form of appropriate technology: cheap, practical and fast” (Bradfield 1981).2. DURATION OF THE RAPID APPRAISALThe most common problem is too much rushing and haste. The key to good rapid appraisal is allowingenough time to be observant, sensitive and eclectic and to follow up on leads (Carruhters and Chambers1981). Anything less than four days is inadequate for carrying out discussions, and for identifying,discussing and rejecting ideas that emerge from these discussions, and for putting these ideas togetherin a usable form (Chambers 1983). An appraisal that is too long may waste project time and causeparticipants to view the Rapid Appraisal as an end itself instead of as a new development tool.Anything less than four days is probably “Development Tourism,” and anything more than three weeksprobably puts too much emphasis on Rapid Appraisal. The flexibility inherent in Rapid Appraisal mustextend to the definition of the term “rapid” even if a minimum and maximum time is stated. Likewisedefining a minimum and maximum time does not prelude a series of rapid appraisal. Field experienceunder different conditions should provide guidance on whether there is a need for an explicit minimumand maximum time.3. PARTICIPATION ON THE RAPID APPRAISAL TEAMTeam SizeSmaller team are preferred to larger teams. Members of large teams are more likely to talk to oneanother and less likely to listen and learn from others than members of small teams. (Rhoades 1982).Team CompositionRRA is usually carried out by a Multidisciplinary team. Complex systems are more quickly understoodby a team consisting of several disciplines. Teams should be formed based on the type of study. Forexample Rapid Appraisal focusing on agriculture will often have a mix of biological and socialxx