Participatory Impact Assessment: Framework for integrating local perception and conventional methods in the analysis of impacts

In the Horn of Africa, participatory impact assessment (PIA) has probably been the single most useful approach for understanding the impact and attribution of programmes during drought and complex emergencies. This presentation focuses on an important aspect of PIA: the systematic use of participatory methods to produce datasets for conventional statistical analysis. When combined with comparative analysis, this development partly explains why PIA findings have been so valuable. The presentation describes these experiences by reference to far wider body of experience with “participatory numbers” during surveys and evaluations of developnment projects.