Influencing policy through Participatory Poverty Assessments: A theoretical and practical overview and assessment of a changing process

Participatory inquiry, especially participatory rural appraisal as a qualitative assessment tool to understand the non quantifying aspects of poverty has gained mainstream acceptance. This inclusion of participatory and qualitative methods in country poverty analysis was initiated by the World Bank in the early 1990s upon recognition of the limitations of the income-consumption approach to poverty analysis and action. Many development practitioners and policy makers had acknowledged that a more complete understanding of poverty requires the inclusion of social factors and perspectives of the poor (Narayan et al, 2000). This qualitative-quantitative mix in poverty analysis has led to a broader and better understanding of the situation of the poor, culmination in a series of publications from the Bank on the Voices of the Poor. The recent Poverty Reduction Strategic Plans (PRSP) being conducted by many countries as part of their consultation with the poor of their countries to seek debt relief stems from this belief and recognition that these voices of the poor need to be adequately reflected in country plans and strategies to alleviate poverty. In this paper, the history of Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPAs) is traced out by focusing on the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal as one of the main qualitative tools in including the voice of the poor in national poverty studies.