Enhancing livelihoods of poor livestock keepers through increasing use of fodder: Project Overview
Fodder Adoption Project (FAP) (IFAD Technical Assistance Grant 853)
Presentation by Alan Duncan to the FAP End of Project WorkshopLuang Prabang, Laos, 15-19 November 2010
Enhancing livelihoods of poor livestock keepers through increasing use of fodder
(Ethiopia, Syria, Vietnam)
IFAD Technical Assistance Grant 853
ILRI, ICARDA & CIAT
Goal: To improve the livelihoods of poor livestock
keepers in Ethiopia, Syria and Vietnam in a sustainable manner through increased access to and adoption of fodder interventions
Purpose: To better understand the factors and processes
that determine the success of fodder interventions and use this understanding to strengthen the capacity of poor farmers and service providers to better meet needs for fodder
Outputs1. Mechanisms for strengthening and/or establishing multi-
stakeholder alliances for scaling up and out of fodder
technologies (Mechanisms for partnerships)
2. Options for effective delivery systems of improved fodder
(Improved fodder delivery systems)
3. Enhanced capacity of project partners to experiment with
and use fodder technologies (Enhanced partners’ capacity)
4. Generic lessons on innovation processes and systems,
communication strategies and partnerships that provide an
enabling environment to enhance scaling up and out of
fodder innovations (IPG – Generic lessons for scaling
out/up fodder innovations).
Identification of partner capacity building needs
Development of training modules for innovation systems (with DFID)
Evaluation of policy and institutional environment
Identification and streamlining of project tools/methodologies
Principles for site identification and comparison (innovation system) IPG – Generic lessons for scaling out/up fodder innovations
Development of project communication material
Development of communication strategies for joint learning within and between countries
Enhanced partners’ capacity
Evaluation of fodder and seed delivery/input supply mechanisms
Collection of baseline data
Evaluation of year-round feed: inventory, assessment and databaseImproved fodder delivery systems
Evaluation of livestock market environment
Development of GIS on pilot sites in relation to fodder interventions
Evaluation of actors, linkages, practices and habits
Identification of project sites, partners and work plans
Mechanisms for partnerships
Indicative activitiesOutputs
Economic e.g. milk, meat
Non-cash e.g. manure, security etc
Inputs
Vetservices
Feed
Geneticmerit
seed
extension
technical
demand
Market infrastructure
Influences
Outputs
Smallholderlivestock enterprise
organisational
technical
Policy/institutionspolicy
Improvedlivelihoods
Central questions
FAP emphases
Innovation – a natural process
Innovation at different levels
Farmers are naturally innovative Ideas come from many sources including
research and development practitioners Innovations often occur at “innovation
system” level e.g. through new linkages between actors or through changed ways of working of existing actors
Enhanced innovation involves …
Building capacity for change– At community level – among farmers– At IS level e.g. by strengthening
linkages among actors, bringing in new actors, policy advocacy etc
Improving access to new ideas and improved technologies– Knowledge management
Innovation Systems Approach
… encompasses all aspects of the capacity to innovate, placing importance on the configuration of actors and the nature of their interaction as a key determinant of the capacity to innovate (World Bank 2006)
Nice theory – what does it mean in practice?
Fodder as a system component
Combining an “actor-oriented approach” while addressing technology gaps
Maintain awareness of the stakeholder environment and how it functions– Build innovation capacity – enhanced
linkages, new ways of working etc– But also inject new ideas, info and
technologies
A ‘scale’ approach
Different scales have different sets of stakeholders with different personal, cultural, and political dimensions
The objectives of actors and the desired outcome are likely to be different at different scales and thus require different approaches and modes of operation.
Working at multiple scales and linking these scales is essential for scaling out and sustainable development
Scales
Scales of Fodder Innovation
Farmers, extension staff,
local government, researchersMicro/Site Technical, local policy
Meso/District
Farmers, extension staff, local and provincial government, researchers, private enterprise, service providers,
finance/credit institutions
Institutional/organizational
Macro/National
Farmers, extension staff, local –provincial-national government,
researchers, private enterprise, service providers, finance/credit institutions,
media
National policy, incentive structure
Scale Typical stakeholders Nature of intervention
Scaling out/up
Pocket of success
Widespread system change
Institutional environment
Policyenvironment
Businessenvironment
Creditfacilities
Using local pockets of technical success as the “engine” of change
Market environment is also a key factor in stimulating
innovation
Innovation
Extent of market demand
Market linkages
FAP emphases
Research Questions
How best to characterise system to work out what needs to change?
Farmingsystem
Innovation System
Seasonality of feed availability.Seasonality of demand for nutrients Seasonality of price for outputsSeasonality of labour use/opportunity costs
How can policy/regulatory instruments be used and actor behaviour changed to create an enabling environment for fodder development?
What actor configuration is required to elicit change at different scales?
Research Questions
What processes are required for effective scaling out and scaling up? – Scale issues– Actor configuration issues– Policy issues
Research Questions
What are value chain constraints in a given livestock system particularly at points in the value chain where fodder features? How can we enhance links between
smallholders and markets and how does this influence fodder innovation through an altered incentive structure?