Micro Mapper: participatory tool for mapping poverty and (water) resources

Micro Mapper is a software tool, which provides an interface for village information and planning in India. Primary and secondary information can be entered. Village-level activities and facilities can be viewed and monitored. Water budgeting can also be calculated. An Indian local language interface is available. A village resource / participatory rapid appraisal (PRA) application can be drawn with a GIS interface.

Micro Mapper uses a scanned image for digitizing maps and adding data, labels etc. The user can design the map page. However there is no facility to port the map file, but users send it as an attachment.

Dr. Megha Phansalkar has used a Marathi local language version of Micro Mapper to collect water-related information of two villages in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra. She reports that the community found the tool user friendly and simple to use. However it has to be seen whether the community will continue to update and use the system after the project has ended [1].

The English version of Micro Mapper costs INR 100 (US$ 2 = € 1.50) to download. Other language versions are available on CD-ROM.

[1] Megha Phansalka, Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Technologies, 14 Jan 2009

Web site: Jidnyasa - Micro Mapper

Contact: Jidnyasa - Micro Associates Consultancy (I) Ltd, Pune, India, tel.: +91- (0)20-25285811/91, enquiry@microassociates.co.in

Keywords

• South Asia
• Information and communication
• Knowledge management
• Participatory Management
• Water resources management