Archives

Vol. 1 No. 9
May 1-15, 2000
The CPAR: an approach to rural development
by Cecilia J. Baquireza

The Community-based Participatory action Research (CPAR) was initiated by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) in 1998 to institutionalize successful participatory approaches generated by the Framer-centered Agricultural Reseources Management of FAO (FARM Programme).

Prior to the implementation of CPAR, the FARM Programme conducted a Regional Training in Participatory Assessment and Planning (PAP) approach to deepen the understanding, broaden the application, and build the capacity of the participating countries. The training was divided in two phases: a) improvement of the understanding of the PAP concepts and development of tools and techniques to be used in the field and, b) development of methodologies to be adopted in actual field site conditions. Eighteen participants from the eight FARM Programme countries (China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam and the Philippines) were trained to serve as PAP national trainers in their respective countries. The innovation in the PAP lies in the fact that the process is drawn from successful community development approaches to meet the challenges of finding a way to bring the farm households to the center of the decision-making process. It facilitates the community to interactively plan their development based on their needs, and prepare a program of action to make the plans a reality. The PAP approach involved a number of processes that can be adopted, adapted, added, subtracted or modified according to the need, circumstances and ability of the community. The processes are:

• Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) provides the community with an understanding of their natural resources, their constraints, problems, and opportunities.
  
• Participatory Social Appraisal assesses the social institutions, cohesion, and maturity of the community.
  
• Participatory needs assessment identifies the community needs.
  
• Community Envisioning Exercise articulates the community's collective interest into a common agreed vision. The community vision is a powerful tool that motivates a community to attain and realize their goals.
  
• Participatory Community Planning - undertaken collectively and includes participation from representatives of all groups. Formulation of plans is based on resource ability (what the community has, can contribute or can mobilize). It must also be within ability, knowledge and expertise of the community to do it by themselves or to be able to build the capacity to do it themselves.
  
• Community Consultation and Approval - the general assembly session o fthe community and stakeholders. The draft vision, mission statements and community plan-of-action are presented. This process is done prior to the community's approval and finalization of the plan and its monitoring/evaluation indicators.
  
• Re-planning with Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators - after the community consultation and approval, the community planning team will return to consider all comments, proposals and inputs made. A re-planning is undertaken. This includes an M&E plan with appropriate indicators and tasks assigned for implementation.
  
• Community Endorsement - the final plan endorsed to the community and in the process, fine-tuned and finalized. The community members will make commitments to participate in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the community development plan.

The successful implementation of the joint DA-FARM Programme in Infanta, Quezon through the Infanta Community Development Assistance Inc. (ICDAI), an NGO, and the coordinator of the FARM Programme at the field site level, paved the way for BAR to implement CPAR. Zonal PAP trainings were conducted in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, with the participation of representatives from all the RIARCs. The trained RIARCs staff facilitated the conduct of PAP in selected communities where CPARs were implemented.

May 1-15 2000 Articles:

:: CPAR Mindanao-Visayas projects evaluated
:: BAR-WINROCK opens new opportunities for smallholders
:: CSSP 30th annual scientific conference-paving the way for new discoveries and advances in crop research
:: Interregional RDE project underway
:: Corn-based farming systems project conducts farmers' field day
:: BAR unifies national and regional RDE networks
:: The CPAR: an approach to rural development

::: More May 2000 articles :::