DEVELOPMENT

APPROACHES
 Contents
 LEP( Labor Based , Environment Friendly and Participatory)
 Community Management, Role of Engineer as Facilitator
 Ethnographic Approach to Collect Information
 Key Features of Infrastructure Development Policies of Nepal
 Participatory Approach as Community Empowerment
 Participatory Tools, Focus Group Discussions, Key Informants
Interview.
 Participatory Observation, Structured Questionnaire
 Resource Mapping, Wealth Ranking , Poverty Definition
 LEP Approach
 The Labor-Based, Environmentally Friendly, and Participatory Approaches (LEP) is cost

effective & sustainable approach mostly used in local infrastructure development in Nepal.
L = Labor Based
- local employment

- Local skill development

- local income generation & livelihood improvement

E = Environment Friendly

- Less disturbance to environment

- simple mitigation measures(Bio-Engineering)

- Sustainability

P = Participatory

- Public awareness

- Ownership

- Public Contribution
 Features of LEP Approach
 Work is done by human labor using simple hand tools i.e. avoiding use of
heavy equipment.
 Use of explosives is discouraged.
 The work is achieved in a participatory manner involving local communities
and organizations. However, works involving skilled manpower may be
undertaken through local competitive bidding (LCB).
 Local resources and materials are used.
 Field based innovation rather than classroom based learning
 Strengthening links with local research organization & other sources of
technology.
 Advantages/Disadvantages of LEP
Approaches

Advantages
 Temporary employment opportunities for locals.
 Utilization of local resources.
 Low Environmental hazards
Sense of ownership amongst locals.

Disadvantages
 Very time consuming process
 Conflict among Participatory
 Chances of fund embezzlement.
LEP Approach

Example of LEP

Women Busy in construction of a

road
 Community Management
 Also called common-pool resource management

 Since a community shares common resources amongst it’s

stakeholders, community management is an important issue.

 The main role of community management is to collectively employ

stakeholders and volunteers to manage the common resources.

 The resource managed may be material or informational.

 Examples include water supply allocation, irrigation management,

shared use of limited internet (University network) etc.

Community Management (Continue)
 The main motive of Community Management is avoid “ Tragedy of the
Commons”
 The tragedy of the commons is the depletion of a shared resource by
individuals, acting independently and rationally according to each own
self- interest.
For eg, pumping water from the supply lines during dry season by an
individual to manage water crisis in their household. Other stakeholders
of the community suffer as a results.
 Engineer as a facilitator in community
Management
AN ENGINEER:
 Introduces Technology into a community.
 Aware the community about optimum resource utilization and management.
 Trains the technical hands to sustain the project in the future.
 Induces problem solving techniques amongst the stakeholders in the
community.
As a facilitator, Engineer has to play the role of:
 Communication well (with clear points)
 Separating Ideas from the person (Regardless of who is presenting it)
 Built trust & relationship
 Action Plans
 Networking & connecting community members by encouraging
participation and discussions.
 Create energy & effort motivate
 Development Strategies in Nepal
 Top-down Development
 Top-down development is where decision about development are made by
governments or by private companies.
 The decisions are enforced on people.
 The locals have very little to say.

 Bottom-up Development
 Bottom-up development is where decisions about development are made by local
people.
 They get support from outside organizations, but decisions are not enforced on
them.
 Ethnographic Approach to Collect
Information
 Greek Words: Ethnos- People, graphis- Writing (Description of people/
culture)
 Ethnography is a research process based on field work using variety of
research techniques (Observation, Interview, collection of data etc.) which
includes engagement in the lives of those being studied over an extended
period of time.
 Ethnographers are interested in how the behavior of individual is influenced
by culture in which they live.
 Human behavior can only be understood if studied in the setting in which it
occurs as people can influence and be influenced by the group they live in.
 For eg, “Studying college students during break time”
 Principle of Ethnographic Approach
 Contextual: The research is carried in the context in which subjects
normally live & work.
 Unobtrusive: The research avoids manipulating the phenomena under
investigation.
 Longitudinal: the research is relatively long.
 Collaborative: The research involves the participation of stakeholders
other than researcher.
 Organic: There is interaction between questions/hypothesis & data
collection.
 Features of Ethnographic Approach
 To complete ethnographic research, the person must live among the people

you are studying, and observe, take notes and obtain a variety of perspectives
on what you are researching. Learning the local language is imperative in
communicating with locals as well as understanding verbal and literary
culture without translation.
 Ethnography can focus on revealing something about culture though a

specific aspect of the culture.

 Ethnographic research can encompass the study of festivals, religious rituals,

performance traditions or the simple observation of routine daily life.

 Ethnographic Research Tools
 Observation:
There are two types of observation work done in ethnographic research: participant
observation and non-participant observation.
Participant observation involves the study of a particular individual or group of
participants through direct interaction--i.e., immersion.
Non-participant observation is the study of groups of people in public places. rather
than focus on a particular individual, who knows you are observing them, you watch a
variety of people interacting. Non-participant observers are eaves droppers (A secret
Listener to private conversation)
 Interview
Interview is research done through narrative. There are three types of interviews:
structured, semi-structured and unstructured.
 Structured: only few specific related topics asked
 Semi-Structured: Questions asked within a framework, the person answering may
answer within that framework
 Unstructured: There is no boundary in topics and issues. The person being interviewed
may talk about anything he/she feels
 Survey
Limitation of Ethnographic Approach
 The analysis of field notes, Videos recording is time
consuming
 It may not be accurate approach as it relies on
ethnographers
 Only describe the current works
Ethnographic Research
Participatory Approach (Continue
approach)
 CH-2 DEVELOPMENT
APPROACHES (Continue)
Participatory Approach
 Participatory Approach
Participation: Process through which people influence,
share and control over planning and the decision
making.
People right to communicate their feelings should be at
the heart of participatory strategies leading to
empowerment.
Why Participation
 Its our right
 Our opinion and decision count
 Identify our strength and weakness
 Advantages of Participatory Approach
 Participation carries with it feelings of ownership, and builds a strong base
for the intervention in the community.
 It ensures that the involvement will have more credibility in all segments of
the community.
 Bringing a broader range of people to the planning process provides access
to a broader range of perspectives and ideas.
 A participatory planning approach avoids pitfalls caused by ignorance of
the realities of the community or the target population.
 It teaches skills which is far beyond the planning process
 It can bring together and establish ties among community members who
might normally have no contact.
 A participatory planning process builds trust,
 It implies respect for everyone in the community,
 Disadvantages of Participatory
Approach
 A participatory process takes longer.

 Members of the target population or the community may not agree with

the "experts " about what is needed.

 Lots of education may be needed, both for community members and

the organization.
 One determined individual can disturb the whole process if he's not

handled well.
 It may be difficult to assure that all the right people get to the table.

 A participatory planning process takes patience and commitment on

everyone's part.
 Participatory Approach: Focus Group
Discussions
What is a Focus Group?
 Qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their

perceptions, opinions ,beliefs and attitude towards a products, service, concepts

and ideas etc. participants are free to talk with other group members.
 A focus group provides insightful understanding of complex issues and

situations which cannot be gathered from standard multiple choice surveys or

large public meetings.
 Focus groups provide an opportunity for individuals to express their views in

detail, to hear the opinions of others and to collectively develop resolutions to

problems.
 Both technical and non technical information can be presented and debated

which can lead to creative problem-solving and broad community support.

Participatory Approach: Focus Group
Discussions

A Focus Group Discussion In Rural Community

 Participatory Approach: Key
Informant Interviews
Interviews conducted with key individuals, or the
people who have specialized knowledge about the
topic you wish to study with in the community.
The purpose of key informant interviews is to collect
information from a wide range of people-including
community leaders, professionals or residents who
have vast knowledge of community
Common techniques: Telephone interviews, face to
face interviews
Key Informant Interview
When to conduct?
• To get information about problem in the community
from limited number
• To discuss sensitive topics
• To understand the motivation and beliefs of
community residents on a particular issues
• To get more in-depth answers
Characteristics of Key Informant
Interview
Detailed and sufficient data in easy and inexpensive
way
Establish relation with the important community
informants and stakeholders
Can contact informants to clarify issues
Easy to generalize the results of smaller community
 Resource Mapping
 Community resource mapping is a process used to identify and inventory
existing resources in a community that can be engaged in addressing needs in a
community.
 Community Resource Mapping, which can also be referred to as asset mapping,
can be used to improve service delivery and outcomes as well as to identify gaps
in services that are available in a community.
 It is based on the premise that local inhabitants possess expert knowledge of
their local environments which can be expressed in a geographical framework
which is easily understandable and universally recognized
 Participatory maps often represent a socially or culturally distinct understanding
of landscape and include information that is excluded from mainstream or
official maps.
 Maps created by local communities represent the place in which they live,
showing those elements that communities themselves perceive as important
such as customary land boundaries, traditional natural resource management
practices, historical areas, etc.
 Wealth Ranking & Poverty
Wealth Ranking
It is the technique for the rapid collection and analysis of specific data for
identifying the economic status of people and categorize them into different
groups in the community.
Poverty Definition
 It is the inability of getting choices and opportunities or the inability to
acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity.
 Lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society.
Purpose of Wealth Ranking
All the member knows their own wealth status
Analyze the reason why they are behind in possessing
wealth and how the poor wealth status effect their
livelihood.
What they can do and how to proceed for better wealth
possession
Hence enable to empower
 Steps involved in Wealth Ranking
and Poverty Definition
 Steps in Wealth Ranking / Poverty Definition
1. Report building.
2. Explain purpose of this exercise.
3. Write heads name of each household of the community.
4. Through discussion, identify the wealth groups exist in the community.
5. Identify the economic profile level for each wealth group, like - land,
house condition, household assets, business assets, productive assets,
domestic animals, etc.
6. Pass the name of household-heads written on the paper slip to the
respective wealth group, according to community people.
7. Generate further discussion on the important issues to aware the
community people.
Thank You