Participatory Pages

Participatory data analysis

The Tool

Data collected from the tools above has to be analyzed in order for it to be used for community development planning. This involves the community and the facilitator’s discussing the information collected and re-arranging it so it clear inter-relations come out. The aim of doing this is to enable the community and the facilitotor to prepare a plan of action that will be used to change any undesirable situations. The exercise involves extracting the problems identified using various tools, their causes, effects and possible ways of acting to solve them (opportunities).

The process

A good way of undertaking data analysis is to start by listing all the problems identified on small cards. The cards are then pasted on a wall starting with what the community perceives as the most important problem. This is followed by asking what causes the problem and picking each cause from the remaining cards. The process is then repeated until all the cards are exhausted. The data is then summarized in a table as shown below.

Output

The output of data analysis is a systematic record of the community’s problems, their causes, their effects and potential ways of acting (opportunities) to reduce those problems. It also identifies which problems are core (root) and which problems are not real but are in fact effects of other things.

Example: Problem anaylisis of the Wau Shilluk village

Main problems /need	Affected sectors in the community	How is the community affected by the problem
1. Poor access to existing health facility in Wau Silluk	The problem affects residents of Pamath,Ogot Butur, and Ogot Didier East	The residents of these boma’s have to walk three hours with patients to Wau – there is no vehicle transport although dugout canoes can be used to transport the sick. Pregnant mothers are said to deliver on the way while very sick may die before reaching the health centre
2. Lack of access to educational facilities	The problem affects residents of Pamath and Pathow bomas which are far from the main school at Wau. The main school at Wau is used by all the 7 bomas for education from grade 3-8.	The main school in the payam is Wau Basic school located at the centre of the payam. The school is in very poor condition with broken down walls and the roof blown off. It does not have enough desks and pupils either stand or sit on the floor foe learning. The school is about three hours walking from the furthest village (Pathaw). There is a shortage of teachers (there are 2 government teachers and 2 volunteers) for over 300 pupils. In Pamath and Pathow bomas there is a school with mud two classes are available. The alternative to this is to Walk to Wau Basic School which is 2-3hours one way. The two teachers there are both volunteers. Students have to move to Wau to continue education from grade three onwards.
3. Food insecurity due to low agricultural production.	The food insecurity problem affects the entire payam with perennial food shortage and dependence on relief food.	Agricultural production is low (app. 2 bags maize and 7 bags sorghum per family although there is large tracts of fertile agricultural land outside the village. The residents used traditional methods of production and there is shortage of tools, seeds, and no extension or training services exist. The county officer does not have any agricultural staff posted in Malakal county. Irrigation exists at a micro scale with a few farmers growing vegetables next to the river bank. The area has huge potential for irrigated production of fruits and vegetables in the dry season when prices are good.
4. Low involved of women in economic activities.	There is very low involvement of women in economic activities although a womens association exist.	Women in the payam only undertake small businesses like transporting and selling fish in Malakal and giving the money back to the husbands who do the fishing. The womens association has no actual activities to improve the welfare of womenfolk or even to have any influence on the power relations in the community. Most of the women are illiterate (the official figure is 92%) and although there are adult classes available only men attended due to cultural influences. Enrolment of girl child in school is low compared to boys and the dropout rate for girls is very high due to early marriages.
5. Low income from fishing	Although the payam is located on high potential fishing grounds, the income generated by fishermen is low.	The fishermen use poor techniques including home made dugout canoes, nets, spears and hooks. Prices of fish are low in the payam although the fishermen get higher prices when the catch is moved to Malakal. There is a shortage of nets and canoes for fishing. The fishermen have to hire nets from each other and pay back with part of the days catch.
6. Poor animal health and related low productivity.	The local communities keep large numbers of cows and sheep but this are in poor health conditions and often die from diseases.	There are no livestock drugs or vaccines available in the area despite the large numbers of animals present. The livestock farmers use traditional medication which at times is not effective. Disease outbreaks are common especially pneumonia and black water. In addition tick infestation is high in the area.