ERIC Number: ED657865
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Mar-21
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-1-5296-9091-0
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Engaging Participatory Rural Appraisal Methods in Climate Change Adaptation Research. Sage Research Methods: Diversifying and Decolonizing Research
Godwin Etta Odok
Sage Research Methods Cases
Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) research methods have historically been influential in generating knowledge for long-term adaptation of human groups to their biophysical environments. This influence is especially true for the African continent, where interest in Indigenous knowledge is growing regarding development and climate change adaptation. In an earlier study on Indigenous knowledge for forest management and climate change adaptation in Africa, PRA methods enabled the researcher to generate data that validated how African farmers have developed a range of Indigenous agricultural practices based on generations of experience, informal experiments, and intimate understanding of their natural environment, especially forests. PRA methods engaged in the study included transect walks, trend analysis, seasonal calendars, institutional analysis, vulnerability ranking, and social mapping. These methods helped the researcher identify paths; confirm similarities and differences; assess sequences of events in nature and their relationship with Indigenous people; and assess communities' interests, layouts, infrastructures, demographics, health, and wealth patterns. Overall, these PRA methods robustly captured collective group actions and activities that ensured external adaptation and internal group solidarity. Consequently, PRA research methods proved useful in enabling the researcher to capture hidden nuances that deny Indigenous people of forest-dependent Africa the autonomy to act on issues relating to climate change adaptation. In this way, PRA research methods espouses Indigenous knowledge as the cultural knowledge that affirms the autonomy and inventiveness of Indigenous people as co-creators of climate change adaptation knowledge rather than mere consumers of knowledge. [This content is provided in the format of an e-book.]
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Rural Areas, Indigenous Knowledge, Climate, African Culture, Agriculture, Indigenous Populations, Adjustment (to Environment), Agricultural Occupations
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Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Books; Non-Print Media
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A