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Prajapeertu ('people's verdict') was devised as a means of allowing the people most affected by the Andhra Pradesh government's Vision 2020 for food and farming to shape a vision of their own. The members of the jury, drawn from communities of small and marginal farmers, interrogated a range of witnesses including representatives from the Government of AP, a transnational agrochemical company, NGOs, universities and government advisory panels and compared alternative development models for the rural economy. They rejected land consolidation, displacement of rural people, contract farming, GM crops, and mechanisation, all of which formed part of Vision 2020, and instead called for self-reliance and community control over resources and recognition of local knowledge and institutions. The report covers the methodology and implementation of, and rationale behind, deliberative democracy and citizen empowerment, and how these processes can be used to further political change, human rights, social justice, and empowerment. [Publisher's abstract]

Report on conference at Wilton Park on using knowledge effectively for economic and social development. The coverage of session entitled 'ICT, Poverty, Agriculture and Biotechnology' (p.18) contains some useful country profiles

This article reviews the current literature on the subject, and also highlights three key methodological issues to be addressed: how to assess the degree and quality of participation; how to measure the costs and benefits of participation to the stakeholders involved; and how to assess the impact of that participation on desired project outputs, project performance and sustainability. An annotated bibliography is also provided

This study explores the usage of participatory methods for policy research by comparing and contrasting these findings with those from more conventional household consumption and expenditure surveys. It shows how using these measures leads to different conclusions about the causes and nature of poverty. The study goes on to discuss the concept of social capital at the local level, providing quantifiable evidence that village-level social capital (defined as membership in groups with particular characteristics) significantly affects household welfare

A detailed account of a UNDP-funded study in three eastern African countries of the impact of HIV/AIDS on rural populations, their livelihoods and their farming systems. Considers direct and indirect costs, and the impact on the transmission of knowledge about farming