Rapid Rural Appraisal

by Heather Nicholson

Started in Latin America in the 1970s, Rapid Rural Assessment helps to measure a community’s economic, physical, and spiritual needs. DE has placed increasing emphasis on RRA since January 2004 as members seek to empower communities by listening to the suggestions of the local people for change, rather than misdiagnosing the problem themselves. During the January trip, the team alternated interviewing different groups within Burkina Faso including the Chandema household, the Sonde Omadu family, the Jawara Gaga family, and Ouba Jalleli family.

The RRA includes studies on community problems, health problems, workloads in each household and various financial concerns. These interviews, at their best, are community-led sharing sessions for DE to learn how DE can be a part in solving several of community-owned concerns. The families were asked to rank a variety of things by both monetary importance and importance to the household. These surveys were conducted by the family members, which typically spanned a number of generations, placing more or fewer rocks upon areas that signified either crops (millet, cotton, peanuts, rice, etc) or community problems in order to determine their relative importance. Through this method of assessment, DE can track trends in community issues and identify new problems as the interviews are conducted each year. The organization can also use this cultural awareness to cater its work to more directly target the most pressing problems. RRA seeks to give the communities themselves the most significant voice in striving for positive change.

Two Fulani girls

A local man and child