Guidelines for identifying and documenting Good Practices for pro-poor livestock development

Concise guidelines for drafting a Good Practice Note in the context of pro-poor livestock development

Lucy Maarse, B.R. Patil, A. Saleque, Tashi Samdup and colleagues (October 2007) and
Lucy Maarse, M. Dhamankar, G.V. Krishnagopal, U. Pica-Ciamarra and M. Dhawan (May 2008)

These two documents, developed by the South Asia Pro Poor Livestock Policy Programme, are meant to help organisations and individuals learn from existing "good practices" (or GPs) - especially in terms of pro-poor livestock development. They are to help identify and document GPs.

Identifying and capturing potential GPs
Aftere defining what a GP is, the first document presents a 3-step process: the identification and capture of the good practice, the management of the information collected, and then the presentation of the results of the process. The starting point is thus the identification of a GP. Although "practitioners have often developed a feel for it", the authors list a few methods which can be useful here, among which they include:
• narrating about a good practice, or story telling
• focused interaction, observation and sharing
• information available in reports, publications, articles, case studies, etc.
• by invitation, e.g. by organising a competition, or
• conducting a purposive review of literature or field surveys.

This is followed by a "capturing process", referring to one which helps "bringing the practice to the surface so that it can be shared with others". This is carried out through writing, taking pictures, recorded interviews, etc. The process itself (and the resulting information) is to go through a sort of filter, through which we see if the potential GP is actually a relevant GP. This means using a set of parameters in a review process:
• successful adoption, replicability and up-scalibility (considering its "acceptability" in general terms)
• sustainable benefits (looking if it is economically viable or environmentally friendly)
• sustainable relevance for future generations
• strengthen livelihoods (in terms of employment opportunities, food security, nutrition, empowerment, or in terms of its mitigating effects for climate change)
• community empowerment.

Preparing a written note
The second document reviewed here looks at how to draft a Good Practice Note so that it can effectively help sharing and comparing experiences, and from which policy, programme and institutional lessons can be derived. This starts by listing three aspects used to formulate a GP (or which need to be taken into account so that we are sure that a GP is good from a pro-poor livestock development point of view): the technology, the delivery mechanisms, and its suitability. Considering these aspects, and also the parameters mentioned above, results in a lot of information being collected. This is then to be organised on the basis of five separate sets:
• Basic information on the Good Practice, with a focus on its impact on the poor. This includes information on the year it started, location, context, the communities reached, etc.
• The innovation in the Good Practice. This is a detailed description of the GP, especially considering the three basic aspects : technology, delivery mechanisms, and suitability.
• The practice, referring to the way the Good Practice works in practice. This means looking at the actors involved, and at the relationships between them.
• The origin of the Good Practice, looking at the roles of all actors (both before and after), and at the steps taken to start a GP.
• Lessons, both in terms of practice and processes.

Although giving clear indications, the authors warn us to be prepared that "drafting a note easily implies going through a range of darft versions before arriving at a final one".

These guidelines have been used to produce a series of "Good Practice Notes", which are available online. Readers are invited to visit these pages:
http://sapplpp.org/goodpractices/small-holder-poultry
http://sapplpp.org/goodpractices/CPR-Livestock
http://sapplpp.org/goodpractices/other-livestock

More information:
South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Programme
NDDB House (6th floor), PB 4906, Safdarjang Enclave, New Delhi, India
www.sapplpp.org