AI.COMM - Avian and Pandemic Influenza Resource Link

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PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH
Participatory Action Research (PAR) was used early in the project to examine the food
security, livelihood and socio-cultural implications of avian infl uenza in Burkina Faso and
two states in Nigeria. In collaboration with UNICEF, AI.COMM engaged two communities,
one rural and one peri-urban, in each location, with community members being directly
involved in the research effort. PAR methods used included community mapping, seasonal
calendars, transect walks, causal fl ow mapping, matrix ranking, focus group discussions and
in-depth interviews.
B FINAL REPORT
The goal of the PAR was to tease out how
avian infl uenza fi t into the social fabric of
those communities, particularly how policies
on culling, compensation, vaccination and
trade played into health, nutrition, well-being,
religious workshop, education, and social
mobility. It also delved into economic issues
such as commerce, investment and income.
Later in the project, PAR techniques were
used in an eight-month PAR study with
farmers, village authorities and district
offi cials in four villages in Lao PDR’s provinces
of Vientiane and Champassack to determine
the feasibility of changing behaviors related to
biosecurity in preventing and controlling avian
infl uenza. Use of a PAR, rather than other types
of research, was deemed crucial in helping to
change the behaviors of an entire community –
and not just households or individuals.