Legume CHOICE: a simple tool for prioritizing
legume interventions
Alan J Duncan
Legume CHOICE project update meeting 15-16 June 2015
ICIPE Campus Nairobi
Why do we need the Legume CHOICE tool?
Conventional approaches to legume R4D focus
focus on:
 Promotion
 Technology transfer
 Science driven
Do conventional approaches meet the needs of
beneficiaries?
Food, feed, NRM?
Dealing with farmer constraints
Logical flow of Legume CHOICE tool
components
Qualitative
diagnosis
Qualitative
assessment of
farming context
Intervention
strategy
Context
assessment
Community
needs
assessment
Quantitative
assessment of
constraints
Quantitative
assessment of
needs for
functions
Legume option
attributes
Legume types
Type
Grain legume
Sub-type
Seasonal
Perennial
Herbaceous
legume
Seasonal/no-regrowth (harvest
after one season, then need
reseeding)
Examples
Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris
Faba bean (Vicia faba)
Soybean (Glycine max)
Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan)
Velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens)
Desmodium ????
Perennial/regrowth (ability to
regrowth after seasonal
harvesting)
Tree legumes
Not-coppicing after repeated cuts
Coppicing after repeated cuts
Calliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus)
Albizia
Glircidia
Leucaeuna lecosephala
Sesbania sesban
Tephrosia (Tephrosia vogelii)
Legume Functions
Functions
Food
Livestock feed
Income
Erosion control
Soil fertility
Fuel
Staking (e.g. for beans)
Moisture retention
Shading
Beekeeping
Fence/field boundaries
Poles (e.g. construction)
Biological control (push-pull)
Pest and weed control
Wind breaking
Medicinal properties
Carbon sequestration
Biodiversity
Primary
Function
X
X
X
X
X
X
Secondary
Function
Services
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Four core elements of the tool
Qualitative
Diagnosis
Context
Assessment
Community
Needs
Assessment
Legume
Option
Attributes
Qualitative diagnosis
• Aims
– To brainstorm and identify constraints for
legume intensification, i.e. increased
productivity and area of existing legume
species
– To scope for niches for ‘new’ usage of
legumes and introduction/adoption of
‘new’ legume types (species/varieties, for
new uses; fodder, fuels, etc.)
Process – focus group discussion
• Question guide:
•
•
•
•
•
•
What do we mean by “legume”?
What benefits do legumes bring?
Legumes/legume systems and their use
Legume productivity, what are the limiting factors?
Area used for legume production – what are the
limiting factors?
Niches and opportunities
Four core elements of the tool
Qualitative
Diagnosis
Context
Assessment
Community
Needs
Assessment
Legume
Option
Attributes
Context Assessment Methodology
• Series of questions designed to generate scores
for the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Land
Labour
Seed
Inputs and services
Knowledge
Water
Markets
Four core elements of the tool
Qualitative
Diagnosis
Context
Assessment
Community
Needs
Assessment
Legume
Option
Attributes
Community Needs Assessment
Methodology
• Designed to understand what the community
wants from legumes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Food?
Feed?
Income?
Erosion control?
Fuel?
Soil fertility?
• Elements
•
•
•
Vision mapping
Pairwise ranking
Participatory matrix scoring
Pairwise ranking exercise
Four core elements of the tool
Qualitative
Diagnosis
Context
Assessment
Community
Needs
Assessment
Legume
Option
Attributes
Legume Option attributes
• A list of legume options scored for:
•
•
Functions supplied – food, feed, erosion control
etc
Requirements – land, labour, inputs etc
FunctionsContext
– what–the
what the
community
needs
context
supplies
Legume options
What
these options
What these
options
supply require
Legume CHOICE report
• Introduction
• Farmer selection process and farmer list by
typology
• Qualitative Diagnosis results and reflections
• Context assessment results and reflections
• Vision Mapping results
• Community needs assessment results
• Legume Options Results
• Preliminary ideas for top 3 legume interventions
with justification drawing from Legume CHOICE
results
better lives through livestock
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