The many billions of dollars invested in canal irrigation in recent decades have had disappointing results. Rarely have projected benefits in well-being or production been achieved. In consequence, in the mid-1980s, further vast sums are being spent throughout the Third World on programmes for rehabilitation, canal lining, on farm development, and farmers' organisation.

In this book, Robert Chambers shows that much of this policy and practice is based on misleading research and misdiagnosis. When applied to the complexity and uniqueness of canal irrigation systems, the normal...

Theatre can play an essential role in addressing issues of power in social, political and cultural relationships, and acting as a catalyst for personal and societal change. This comprehensive and lively sourcebook advocates the use of theatre in participatory development as a way for groups to discover their own goals and aspirations, and to develop strategies for improving their lives based on need and experience. The first part presents 140 exercises designed to be used at all stages of participatory workshops ranging from initial ice-breakers and warm ups to exercises dealing with conflict...

Robert Chambers draws together and reviews the revolutionary changes in the methodologies and methods of development inquiry that have occurred and reflects on their transformative potential for the future.

Robert Chambers returns with a new book that reviews, together for the first time, some of the revolutionary changes in the methodologies and methods of development inquiry that have occurred in the past forty years, and reflects on their transformative potential for the future.

This book breaks new ground by describing and analysing the evolution of a sequence of approaches. Starting with the dinosaurs of large-scale multi-subject questionnaire surveys, and the biased visits and perceptions of rural development tourism and urban-based professionals, there follows a look at the...