P-A P-E R S

ENV I R ON MEN TD E P A R T M E N T

P-A P-E R S Paper No; 024

- hi TOWARD ENVIRONMENTALLY AND SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

SOCIAL ASSESSMENNT SERT FS

14941

Participatory PovertyAssessment

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AEnvironmentally Sustainable Development The World Bank

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Etnvironment Department Papers-Socal Assessment Series

O 7 Azerbaijan: Bakku Water Supply EC3IV &,EMTENRehabiliation Project

023 Benewciariy Assessmnent: Lawrence F. SalmrenAn Ap Droach Described

024 Partic ipator Poverty Assessment: Lawrence F. SalmenIncorporating Poor People's Perspectiveinito Poverty Assessment Work

Copies are available from the World Bank's Environment Department, Social Policy & Resettlemeht Division.

Social Policy and Resettlement Division

Participatory PovertyAssessmentIncorporating Poor People's Perspectivesinto Poverty Assessment Work

Lawrence F. Salmen

August 1995

Papers in this series are not formal publications of the World Bank. They are circulated to encourage thought and discussion.The use and citation of this paper should take this into account. The views expressed are those of the authors and should notbe attributed to the World Bank.

kcrony--ys and Abbreviations

FPP.TE.Rj Africa Technical Department - Human Resources DivisionP?A Participatory Poverty AssessmentPTA Participatory Rapid Appraisal

PTU'>. PTarent-teacber Association

Contents

Acknowledgments ii

1. Background 1

2. Listening to the Poor 3

3. Scope of Participatory Assessments 5Popular Perceptions of the ProblemsIncentive and Regulatory FrameworkPublic Expenditures and InstitutionsInformal Safety NetsFormal Safety Nets

4. Methodology for a Participatory Approach 8

Boxes1. Cameroon - Trust and the Delivery of Social Services:

Empowering the Poor 42. Mexico - Clientilisrno vs Horizontal Self-Help Associations 7

i

Acknowledgments

This paper is a revised version of a piece theOperations Policy Department distributed in1993. Since then, it has been amended by theLatin American and Caribbean Office ofUNIFEM and by ENVSP. Particular credit isdue to Ana Maria Brasileiro of UNIFEM, JohnD. Clark, and Andrew Norton who shared thevision and contributed to the revisions andwriting of this paper. In a general sense, thiswork can be considered a product of the WorldBank's participation learning grouprepresenting an effort to involve poor people inborrowing countries in the policies, as well asthe projects, which affect their lives.

ii

1. Background

A foundation stone of the World Bank's sharp- are intended. Particularly important is theened poverty strategy is to conduct Country sustainabiLity of poverty work brought aboutPoverty Assessments in al:L borrowing countries by popular participation in and commitment towithin the next two years. These assessments the programs involved.have the following principal elements: apoverty profile (which analyses the depth, The poor usually are disadvantaged not onlysocial and cultural nature, gender disparities, with respect to resources, but also with respectand geographic spread of poverty); a review of to power. In terms of power, as well as accesscurrent government policies relating to pov- to resources, it is vital to recognize that theerty; an analysis of the pertinent public expen- poor do not form a homogeneous entity, butditures and institutions; an overview of NGOs rather are a heterogeneous coLLection of likeand community-based organizations working and unlike social and cultural groups whosetoward the alleviation of poverty; an analysis interests and needs are sometimes at odds.of the safety nets (both government programs Among the poor, the burdens of poverty, theand sociocultural mechanisms) in place; and, lack of power, rights and representation, andbased on the above, a suggested country the consequences of socioeconomic inequaLitystrategy of priority measures the government are not shared equally by all.should take to reduce poverty.

Proper economic and social policies can createExperience indicates that an effective poverty the needed opportunities for poverty reduc-strategy needs to be understood by its intended tion, but the poor must be able to seize thosebeneficiaries as their own; this is most likely to opportunities. While poverty is often ap-occur when the strategy is constructed with the proached through policies or structural reformparticipation of a wide range of people living in designed at the highest policy level, it ispoverty and reflects the concerns voiced by the equally important to gain systematic under-poor themselves. Vital to this approach is a standing of the poor and of institutions ingender perspective, here defined as an under- which they are or may be involved to betterstanding of the ways in w]hich the identities of enhance their own efforts to move out ofmen and women are socially constructed and poverty.endowed with distinct responsibilities, roles,rights, perspectives, powers and privileges. This paper proposes to supplement conven-

tional poverty assessments with an effort toWhen poor men and women are heard and involve key groups of vulnerable people,participate in the design of a poverty strategy, among them women and members of indig-governments have surer grounds to be confi- enous communities and racial and ethnicdent that their poverty alleviation policies and minority groups. It is to be conducted on a pilotprograms are having a positive impact on the basis in a number of countries during theday-to-day lives of the people for whom they period FY93 through FY97. While central data

Social Assessment Series

Participatory Poverty Assessment

gathering and dialogue with government The approach proposed here will not onlyremain essential elements of the approach, the enrich Poverty Assessments, but it will alsoproposal here is to complement these with a develop in-country participatory researchmodest participatory research exercise designed capacity and increase cooperation and ex-to "listen to poor people" to learn how individu- change of expertise among government andals from various social groups (such as men and multilateral personnel, social scientists, devel-women, landless laborers, small landholders, opment practitioners, NGOs, activists, action-organized cooperatives, members of religious, oriented researchers and members of socialethnic and racial minorities, etc.) assess their and women's movements. In-country expertiseown poverty and existing poverty reduction and increased partnership between govern-strategies; how various survival strategies ment officials and actors in civil society is aoperate; which poverty reduction strategies of useful legacy for further exercises.government different types of people prefer;and which they are prepared to support. The Participatory work is generally acknowledgedfindings would refocus, elaborate or validate to require longer lead time than non-participa-conclusions drawn from conventional poverty tory approaches and a staff skill and practiceassessments. An effective strategy for poverty mix that includes social scientists, activistsreduction must be responsive to the different with research experience and others who havecategories of poor people, both in terms of their experience and are adept at working withimmediate needs for goods and services and different social and ethnic groups, as well astheir strategic needs for empowerment and self- with both women and men.determination.

2 Environment Department Papers

2. Listening to the Poor

Development may be seen as a process of reproductive health services, the school andincreasing the options available to improve day care center where they may send theirliving conditions. Developmental interventions children, the male and female extensionare most effective when based on an workers (in rural areas) and communityunderstanding of how poor men and women development officers (in urban areas)? Theare now living, what survival strategies they different ways in which female, male, old, andare pursuing, and what survival strategies they young poor people of different religious andchoose not to or cannot pursue. The more ethnic groups perceive the services intended forpromising of the strategies that they are them is a crucial indicator of the worth of thesefollowing may well be enlhanced to serve as services, the extent to which they will be usedfoundations for poverty reduction activities. In and who will be using them; this informationaddition, if certain groups are unable to should provide valuable feedback to plannersemploy survival strategies that work for and managers interested in improving andothers, the reasons for this failure (for instance, reevaluating the quality and impact of publiclegal or societal prohibitions against land services for the poor.ownership or certain kinds of work for womenor low-ranking social groups) should be Finally, how do the poor see themselves gettingexamined and solutions proposed. out of poverty? What skills do they feel would

be the most beneficial? Do they perceive a lackUseful insights would be provided by more of or, as in the case of many women and mostclearly ascertaining what kind of material and indigenous groups, a total absence ofsociocultural constraints they experience, and representation? Or is the problem more one ofwhat sort of changes in their lives, if any, lack of material resources to enter intowould help them reduce their poverty. As entrepreneurship, send the children to school,potential or actual users of actual or proposed or afford the transport to move products to thegovernment services, it would be important to market? In-depth listening to the poor abouthave the poor assess these services; comparing the world as they perceive it should be anwomen's and men's assessments would yield important building block in laying theuseful information about their impact and foundation for sustainable policies for povertyeffectiveness. What do they think of the local reduction (see Box 1).health center and its family planning/

Social Assessment Series 3


Box 1Cameroon - Trust and the Delivery of Social Services: Empowering the Poor

One of the primary limitations to the effective delivery of social services in Cameroon is the people's lackof trust in various levels of government. While essential to the development process, access to adequatemedical care, education, nutrition, and sanitation are frequently disrupted by government officials whohave the power and resources to exploit the desperation and lack of alternatives available to those in needof services. For example, poorer individuals are likely not to receive proper medical attention unless theyare able to participate in the increasing practice of remunerating hospital staff members. Parents, too,engage in illicit financial contribution to teachers and/or administrators to ensure admission and even, attimes, boost the grades of their children in the school system.

A 1994 survey of nearly 1600 households in various areas of Cameroon concluded that in the viewpoint ofthe poor, the government is not supporting the country's most valued asset in poverty reduction: itspeople. Empowering themselves to participate in their own development process is hindered by their lackof faith in government presence at the local level and their feeling of powerlessness to make themselvesheard. There is a widespread perception of disparity between the government and the governed as most ofthe respondents see public institutions as unresponsive and inefficient largely due to this high level ofcorruption.

As a result of their mistrust in government, many communities in poor areas of Cameroon are relying onthemselves to meet their basic needs. Along with staffing schools and health centers, providing small loans,and paying salaries, there is a strong tradition of maintaining the infrastructure through communitygroups such as parent-teacher associations (PTAs) and neighborhood leaders. While this system has proveneffective, it is done at great personal sacrifice. The utilization of intra-household and kinship-basednetworks is reaching its limit and must be complemented by strategic Government intervention. Withoutsuch cooperation, the sustainabilitv of community efforts alone is unlikely.

Source: Diversity, Growth, and Poverty Reduction in Cameroon, 1995.


3. Scope of Participatory Assessments

The emphasis in PPAs is action oriented, i.e. of the poor respond to them and to whom arehelping policy makers attune their programs they geared? How are diverse groups of poormore effectively to the needs of the poor. affected by price increases of key commoditiesElaborating on the general issues mentioned (producers of the affected goods, consumers ofabove, in reference to specific topics covered by varying degrees of poverty, non-producingpoverty assessments, one can see the following rural poor)? What changes in incentive sys-sets of issues as being potentially relevant for tems would be most welcomed by the poor?study: What impact would these have on the issues

described above and on the poor's productivePopular Perceptions of the Problems capacity, both in terms of paid work in theHow do poor people perceive various manifes- formal and informal sectors and unpaidtations of poverty? This would include income household labor? Which aspects of the regula-factors, work opportunities and conditions, tory framework are seen as impeding the poor?nutrition/food security, propensity to ill-healthand disability, and vulnerability to drought, Public Expenditures and Institutionspests, natural calamity, robbery, and violence.What do they see as the root causes of poverty, In assessing the effectiveness of service deliv-rather than the symptoms? These might include ery, it is vital to understand the factors underly-war, exploitation by the stronger, geophysical ing client reaction, the value beneficiariesfactors, insufficient assets or access to services, ascribe to services intended to improve theirgender inequalities, sexual or ethnic discrimi- lives. Wherever a poor person is supposed tonation, and lack of representation, due either to avail herself or himself of a particular publicthe lack of capacity to organize or govemmen- good, be it a health center, family planningtal or societal constraints affecting organiza- guidance, school, or job creation program, thehon. effective and sustainable execution of this

program will depend on an in-depth apprecia-Incentive and Regulatory Framework tion of the motivation for the use or non-use of

the service and its impact on the user's life. ForIn keeping with the aforementioned importance example, factors restricting access to schoolingof the poor as actors (real and potential) on include the need for child labor to supplementtheir own behalf, what are the micro and household income, while factors restrictingmacro-level factors, as the poor see it, that women's access to adult training programsaffect the accumulation of human capital and include the need to provide care for smallaccess to land and credit in the country con- children. Also the poor's access to services maycerned? How seriously are men and women of be limited by the capacity of middle classes tovarious ages and ethnic and racial groups grab first shares (the absolute volume of serviceaffected by imperfections and inequalities of delivery is an important consideration, as wellthe labor markets? Are labor-intensive policies as the effectiveness of those services). Whichin place and, if so, how do different segments aspects of public services and institutions, such



as marketing mechanisms, credit schemes, Formal Safety Netsextension services, etc. do the poor most valueand which are of least relevance to them? What Useful insight can be gained from learning toare their views on cash transfers versus directed what degree, if any, officially provided safetysubsidies? nets increase or reduce risk-averse behavior.

As with the topics mentioned above, this kindInformal Safety Nets of understanding is often best gained from

qualitative research methods, based around

The nature of existing safety nets among the conversational interviewing and participantpoor, as part of traditional redistributive observation and grounded in ethnographicsystems, is an important topic for qualitative practice and knowledge rather than moreresearch. In Sub-Saharan Africa, many of the traditional data gathering techniques, such aspoor fall outside the scope of formal govern- questionnaires used in household surveys.ment safety net provisions, if those exist at all. Which safety nets bring poor people mostFor these people, institutions of kinship and benefits, and which ones are least relevant tocommunity provide a vital framework for them? How does safety-net use vary bymutual aid and support. The extent of these and gender, age, and ethnicity among the poor andthe way in which they function in practice for what are its different impacts on risk-adversepersons of different age, gender, class and behaviors? What changes could make theinfluence vary considerably. They are also beneficial ones even more welcome, and whatdifferent in urban and rural settings. An under- changes would they wish to see in the others?standing of how such informal networks work Can existing institutional arrangements beand of coping strategies that individuals, relied upon to target the benefits morehouseholds and communities employ when carefully? Are there other organizations (suchfacing crises (illness, debt, drought, violence, as NGOs, women's organizations, socialetc.), can assist policymakers to look at the role movements, labor unions, associations,of official provision in a realistic light (see Box churches, political parties) that would do a2). An understanding of informal safety nets is more effective job, or help ensure that theparticularly important when dealing with official institutions do more effective targeting?displacement and mass migration in the after- How are official safety nets held accountablemath of armed conflict, epidemics and natural and whose opinions matter in assessing theirdisasters; traditional safety nets could be seen effectiveness?as models for the creation of relief mechanisms.Possible linkages between informal safety netsand formal institutions should be explored aswell.


Scope of Participatory Assessments

Box 2Mexico - Clientilismo vs Horizontal Self-Help Associations

Many poor Mexicans attribute their poverty to excessively low salaries, little opportunity for remunerativeemployment and poor quality public services such as health and education. They also identify the preva-lence of clientilismo, or the custom of a political leader providing a service or favor in exchange for politicalloyalty, as a barrier to their development. This trading of services for votes is often the only way that thepoor acquire land, housing, and urban infrastructure such as water and electricity. Exemplifying the extentof their dependence is the difficulty they face in gaining access to programs, services, and employment dueto the lack of needed documentation. Without identity cards, mothers are denied access to milk-feedingprograms, men are refused employment and titles to land are not distributed to their rightful owners.

Although many participate in this system, people resent it highly, which has led to a deep distrust anddisrespect for government. The strength of vertical channels along which people are forced to operate hasundermined their initiative to take action either as individuals or as a collective group organized horizon-tally. This lack of participation is a reflection of the limited opportunities they perceive to be available fortheir own self-enhancement.

The PPA conducted to ascertain the mind-set of the poor in Mexico did, however, discover a few institu-tions that encourage participation along horizontal lines. One such institution is a parent-teacher associa-tion (PTA) in a large urban area within the State of Mexico where the parents of the neighborhood organizefund-raising activities for the school and take turns preparing school breakfasts, and the teachers, in turn,engage in civic projects that include talking to parents on such topics as AIDS, family planning, andnutrition. A more generic form of participation was found in the indigenous institutions of tequio andguetza, communal self-help movements which are used to build and improve houses, cultivate land,manage fiestas, and pay for funerals. These were, however, located in the largest indigenous State ofOaxaca, where the people rely less on Government and more on each other.

Source: Mexico PPA, 1995.


4. Methodology for a ParticipatoryApproach

The methodology described below integrates large enough to be considered significantestablished principles drawn from both benefi- by decision-makers is advisable. Informa-ciary assessments and participatory rural tion revealed is both qualitative andappraisals. What is proposed is not a blueprint descriptive, including numbers andbut an elaboration of principles, together with quotations. (An example of this approachsome methodological suggestions. It is impor- was the beneficiary assessment of thetant for two reasons to allow flexibility for National Sericulture project in India.)modifying the methodology to suit the countryin question. First, the optimal approach de- * Focus group interviews are much like thepends on the nature of poverty, the social conversational ones except that they arestructures, the interest of government and other done with groups (usually 6-12 persons)factors. Second, the PPA will be most effective if rather than on a one-to-one basis. Thethe research team, government officials and key groups are usually homogeneous (singleactors of civil society at the community level mothers, teenage boys, the elderly, etc.).share ownership in its design. The advantage of this method is that it

captures the prevailing opinion on a givenTo understand the poor on their own terms one issue among a larger number of people in amust use methods that encourage the poor to short time. The disadvantages of focusexpress their perceptions in an open manner. groups are that they do not lend them-Experience indicates that the research method- selves to easy quantification (within theology that most closely realizes this goal is group) and that thev may not bring outqualitative. Keeping the focus on the poor as valid information on topics about whichactors, there are at least four largely qualitative people feel inhibited in front of their peers.research methods that have been used already In addition, strong individuals mayin Bank-supported operations and would be dominate, creating false consensus anduseful for participatory poverty assessments: skewing the results. (AFTHR found this

method useful in the Agenda for Action* The conversational interview is the corner- program, for planning of population work

stone of qualitative research. This kind of in Africa.)interviewing is done on the basis of aninterview guide and is generally adminis- * Participant observation is the most in-tered on the basis of recall. The interviewer depth method of thefour, and one whichmemorizes the topics of the guide and, to could combine elements of the other three.avoid obstructive writing in the presence of The basic method of social anthropology,the interviewee, remembers the comments participant observation involves prolongedmade by the interviewee for transcription to residence in the community being as-writing shortly after the interview. Repre- sessed. The participant observer could be asentative sampling of a population size somewhat detached individual already


Methodology for a Participatory Approach

living in the community (recommended methods aimed at bringing the voices of thewhere any outsider would be overly poor into the policy dialogue on poverty can besuspect) or, more usual[ly, an outsider used. Of particular relevance are a number offamiliar with the local culture who endeav- techniques developed under the designationsors to make herself or himself a part of the of rapid and participatory rural appraisal. Onecommunity. Participant observation in such technique is "mapping"-an exercise fordevelopment work may take anywhere assisting people organize their thoughts andfrom two or three weeks to several months, assessments spatially, for example, in compil-depending on the complexities of both the ing a list of critical issues affecting their com-topics covered and the areas assessed. It munity; this might start with preparing anormally entails a small number of in-depth sketch of the community, indicating, forcase studies with representative members example, where the poorest live or whenof the community, as well as an elaborate problems arise. Another technique is "ranking"presentation of the economic and socio- -exercises designed to stimulate debatepolitical factors in a community as related within a group about the relative importance ofto its development potential. (The Lesotho problems, assets, opportunities or threats.Health and Family project provides one These have been widely used in Rapid Ruralexample of this approach; others are Appraisal in India and elsewhere as describeddescribed in Listen to the People, Salmen in the newsletter "PRA-Notes", produced by1987). the International Institute for Environment and

Development (IIED). Women's groups in LatinInstitutional Assessment. This technique America and elsewhere have developed otherinvolves interviewing persons who may group techniques for identifying critical issues,benefit from or who lead key institutions in such as the "tree of life," in which drawingsa community. The institutions covered representing important moments of the lifeshould include all that pertain to the history of each woman in the group are indi-development of the poor: community vidually made and collectively discussed.associations, local government, socialmovements, NGOs, religious entities, Since the development organization withwomen's associations of different types whom poor people are used to interacting(feminist groups, mothers' clubs, etc.), labor typically gave away funds or other resources,unions, etc. The institutional assessments poor people can hardly be blamed for assum-should also extend to the entities (public ing that any outsider coming into a village hasand private) that regulate the lives of the something to give away and tailoring theirpoor or that attempt to bring services to responses to his/her queries accordingly.them. The objective of the institutional Findings of qualitative research need, there-assessment is to see to what degree any fore, to be critically examined in this light togiven institution is now helping, or might identify subjective or unreliable responsesin the near future help,. with the realization which need further scrutiny. Triangulationof the developmental objectives of the poor techniques-testing out a hypothesis indicatedand how outside intervention might help by one group or another-are used in boththe institution fulfill its mission. (The beneficiary assessment and PRA to helpPhilippines Communal Project has used this development professionals verify what theyapproach.) are being told by poor people.

In addition to the methods described above Participatory research tools have been prima-(what in the Bank is generally known as benefi- rily tested in rural contexts. Many techniquesciary assessment), other participatory research derive from work originating in farming



system research. It is important to be aware that qualitative/sociological research onassumptions deriving from rural research do poverty issues, identifying key issues onnot always apply in urban (or indeed all rural) which to concentrate. The objective is tocontexts. There may be no direct parallel to the define a clear enough list of priority issues,village meeting' that provides the context for to enable the interviewing of poor peoplemuch community-oriented research in rural to be focused and to provide results thatareas. One should also not assume that the give clear signals, whilst avoiding pre-'village community' as presented to the arriving determining the outcome.research team is homogenous and inclusive.Very poor migrant share-croppers, for example, c) Recruit a team of local researchers who aremay be found in temporary shelters away from sensitive to issues of gender, race andthe village and may not be presented to outsid- ethnicity for a period of about two to threeers as 'community members.' Finding the poor months. At least some of these should haveis often difficult because they are socially experience in participatory methodologiesinvisible. Finding women can be particularly and/or be representatives of local NGOsdifficult, both because they are frequently or relevant central or local governmentmissing from structures of power and because departments. Such a balance would ensurein some cultures it is not socially acceptable for that the team has the necessary linkageswomen to meet with outsiders, particularly if with relevant institutions from the outset,those outsiders are men. It is also common for as well as easing the 'introduction' to thehusbands to present their own views as "the chosen communities.family position," i.e., as views that are sharedby their wives and other members of their d) Organize a training process (two to threehouseholds. In reality, husbands and wives weeks). The first few days would compriseoften see situations differently and have distinct training in the research methodology to beand sometimes conflicting needs and desires. used. In particular, the researchers wouldThere is no simple methodological solution to be trained in one-on-one conversationalthese problems-researchers need to be socially interviewing and participant observationaware, alert to local tensions, mindful of the techniques and would be given basicdiversity of interests among the poor, particu- gender training. It may be necessary tolarly between men and women, and endowed bring in outside specialists for this,with sufficient experience and sensitivity to alongside the lead researcher. Trainingidentify these issues and deal with them would also apprise the researchers of theadaptively. findings of the poverty profile studies, etc.

A practical approach to poverty assessments e) The researchers would discuss the distri-using the participatory methods described bution of poverty in the country, particu-above, which should be modified in consulta- larly how it affects different social groups,tion with the lead researcher in question, could and decide on the basis of their existingtypically be as follows: knowledge: (i) where poverty is more

acute; (ii) how many communities shoulda) Recruit a lead researcher (preferably lo- be targeted in order to get a statistically

cally). There are existing directories of relevant but workable number of commu-researchers skilled in participatory methods nities (12 to 20 might be sufficient in athat would help (such as those of the IIED). small country, but more would be required

in populous countries; the number ofb) The lead researcher would carry out a brief locations would also be dependent on the

review of relevant completed or ongoing funding available) with urban/rural


Methodology for a Participatory Approach

balance, and geographic and ethnic spread prefer? This might lead to the raising ofetc., and (iii) decide which specific commu- topics that would be missed by a broadernities to choose. The choice should enable macro study (e.g. abolition of licensing forresearchers to look at both core and periph- petty trading, access to minor foresteral poverty (i.e. marginalized groups). products, women's tenurial rights, services

that target domestic or sexual violence, dayf) The researchers would divide into small care services, seasonal distress migration,

teams (perhaps groups of two or three etc). The researchers would be equippedwith at least one woman in every group). with open-ended checklists to help withFor the next few days the teams would this exercise (detailing the key issueseach go to one or two communities nearby identified by (b) above). It is important toto try out the approaclh. ensure coverage of the major issues/

strategies highlighted by the initial, con-g) The starting point would be participatory ventional poverty assessment. In this way

mapping and ranking exercises. A wide the strategies indicated can be validated,cross section of people in the community refined or challenged.would be asked what they view as theingredients, symptoms and causes of i) After the local "trial run," the researchpoverty in their particular cases. They teams would re-gather to conclude thewould then be asked to rank these factors training/preparation process by reportingin order of importance and explain to the on findings, comparing notes, and ensuringinterviewers why they had thus arranged that each team fully understands thethem. Next they would be asked to sketch methodology and is applying it uniformly.out the community and indicate where, In particular, the key issues may need to beaccording to their priority factors, the modified to take into account responses topoorest people live (including identifying date.the poorest by household). This wouldgenerate the people's own indices of j) The teams would then conduct the researchpoverty and would contribute to develop- proper, spending two to four days in eaching rapport with the teams. community.

h) The next step would be to organize "focus k) The teams would then reconvene for aboutgroups." (In a community that lies in a very one week to report on findings and distillpoor region, the focus group might contain the major conclusions.a broad cross section of the community,whereas in a better off region it is impor- 1) Analysis of findings: do the conclusionstant to be more targeted.) The group's from the participation exercise divergepreferred priorities could be ranked or from those of the conventional policyscored. Also the participants could describe assessment? What are the policy implica-their assessment of existing government tions of such divergences?and local government strategies for povertyalleviation and safety nets; whether they m) The researchers would conduct an Institu-know about them, trust them, who they tional Assessment. The purpose would bethink benefit from therm, etc. Similarly they to review the process and findings of thecould comment on plarned or possible field research, to identify areas whereprograms; whether they think them desir- institutional experience differs with theable, realistic, etc. What alternatives do findings and possible reasons for thosethey know about and which would they differences, and to discuss the possible



roles for the institutions in implementing * what progress has been made in imple-the preferred strategies indicated. Institu- menting these policiestional invitees would also be identified for(n) below. * the degree to which they have influenced

the national debate about poverty (forn) A national-level workshop with govern-

ment officials, "poverty experts" (research- example, changes in quantitative indica-ers and academics), NGOs, activists and tors of poverty used, mention of findings

members of social movements, and official in government or donor reports, majoraid agency staff to discuss the conclusions speeches, etc.);and consider necessary refinements to the * whether in-country capacity for participa-

poverty strategy. EDI might help in organiz- tory research has been enhanced anding these workshops. whether there is increased demand for

As experience with PPAs evolves, it is critically such capacity; and, most importantly,important to monitor their effectiveness with aview to improving the approach for future * the degree to which the programs devel-application. Monitoring of PPAs should assess: oped as a result of PPAs have improved

the quality of life, increased access to

e if specific policy recommendation have resources, and expanded the range ofbeen generated; options of the "poorest of the poor." In

short, the assessment should ask this

* whether these recommendations were question: have poor men and women beenadopted; empowered to change their lives for the

adopted; better?


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