Methods on the move: a review of veterinary uses of participatory approaches and methods focussing on experiences in dryland Africa

This literature review describes the origins of participatory approaches and methods, and discusses their application in animal health services and research in less developed countries. The review focuses on dryland areas of Africa, in particular pastoral and agropastoral areas of the Greater Horn of Africa.

The article finds that:

• in this area, most experience with veterinary uses of participatory approaches and methods resides with community-based animal health projects, some of which are involved in rinderpest control
• this use of participation has proved to be effective relative to conventional approaches to service delivery
• other institutions are beginning to use community participation and associated methods
• support to developing improved field-level data collection methods has been very limited
• epidemiologists tend to use formal survey methods rather than contextually sensitive or locally specific methodologies
• participatory methods cannot necessarily be judged from a hard science paradigm
• options for combining methods and systems of evaluation should also be investigated