MOBILISING LOCAL PARTICIPATION THROUGH PARTICIPATORY RURAL APPRAISAL (PRA) FOR NEED ASSESSMENT IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

In any development discourse, one of the imminent issues is participation. To the development proponent, participation from the people is greatly sought, while to the development beneficiaries, their participation is seldom incorporated in the early process of development. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) is a method that provides opportunity for the people to participate in the development process. It can be used to mobilize people's involvement through the process of communicating and interacting which will encourage them to exchange ideas, opinions, and experiences relating to issues, needs, and problems of their concerns. PRA emphasized local knowledge and engaging the communities in needs assessment, self analysis and planning. Thus, PRA is a mechanism to facilitate information sharing, needs analysis and proper planning by the stakeholders. The main purpose of PRA is to assist the government, non-governmental organizations, and the communities to collectively involve in the planning process. Countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia have employed this method in their community development works. This article highlights the importance of PRA for community development, the conditions to use PRA technique, its advantages and its potential for community development work in Malaysia.