This article presents the principles and findings of developing a new participatory assessment of development (PADev) evaluation approach that was codesigned with Dutch nongovernmental... Show moreThis article presents the principles and findings of developing a new participatory assessment of development (PADev) evaluation approach that was codesigned with Dutch nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and northern and southern research institutes over a period of 4 years in the context of rural development in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Although participatory approaches in development evaluations have become widely accepted since the 1990s, the PADev approach is different by taking the principles of holism and local knowledge as starting points for its methodological elaboration. The PADev approach is found to have an added value for assessing the differentiated effects of development interventions across different subgroups in a community through intersubjectivity. Moreover, if PADev is taken up by a multitude of stakeholders, including the intended beneficiaries of development interventions and development stakeholders, it can contribute to a process of local history writing, knowledge sharing, capacity development, and providing input into community action plans and the strategies of community-based organizations and NGOs. Show less
Wetlands support livelihoods of communities living around them as in the Nyando Papyrus Wetland in Kenya. The Nyando Papyrus Wetlands provide multiple resources hence there are multiple uses and... Show moreWetlands support livelihoods of communities living around them as in the Nyando Papyrus Wetland in Kenya. The Nyando Papyrus Wetlands provide multiple resources hence there are multiple uses and users who often overlap spatially and seasonally causing conflicts. More claims are being exerted on these wetland resources from different sides and institutional levels with different actors. The actors involved refer to various legal systems and mechanisms, and frequently create new hybrid law as in the case in the Nyando papyrus wetlands. These institutions, in various degrees of transformation, still have an important role in determining how resources are used. The objective of this study is to find out about the institutions affecting wetland resource use in the past and in the present and to determine the dynamics of specific natural resource-related institutions in four sub-locations in the Nyando Papyrus Wetlands, Kenya. The study shows that there is legal pluralism in the Nyando Wetlands, which requires synergy for sustainable livelihoods in the local communities and for ecosystem management. Show less
Dietz, A.J.; Nunow, A.A.; Adano, W.R.; Zaal, F. 2003
