Participatory Needs Assessments
This Section Contains:
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Field Notes
- Participatory Needs Assessment: Promoter Training
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Lesson Plan: Participatory Needs: Community Lesson Plan
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Be sure to visit our Community Empowerment Working Group
Participatory Needs Assessment: Field Notes
In the past twenty years outsiders made most of the decisions in rural development. They decided what the problems were, and how to solve them. They designed the project and set the project objectives and activities. They provided the necessary inputs, management, and then monitored and evaluated, to see that their objectives and activities had been achieved.
The results were not encouraging. Community interest often decreased over time. Very seldom were activities continued by the community after the outsiders withdrew. It became clear that sustainability was not being achieved.
The solution came by asking community members questions that helped them establish their own needs lists – and questions that helped field workers gain new insights into community preferences and motivation. Community members know a great deal, understand what challenges their communities face, and can often identify why activities do or don’t work.
A bottom-up approach encourages, supports and strengthens communities' existing abilities to identify their own needs, to set their own objectives, and to monitor and evaluate them. It builds on two-way communication and a joint commitment to what works for the community. This participatory approach is showing encouraging results which hold great potential for sustainable development.
Empowering Community Members:
Promoters encourage community members to find their own answers.
Promoters are encouraged to respond to the needs identified by the community members.
Promoters and community members see themselves as partners.
Community members are the implementers and managers of the project.
Two-way communication is encouraged.
Community members and Field Staff jointly determine what information is needed.
A range of possible tools ensures that tools appropriate to the community can be chosen.
Analysis and feedback should encourage community member input.
Adapted from: the FAO Participatory Community Toolbox Part 1