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?