The Feed Assessment Tool - (FEAST)
Alan J Duncan
Luke York, Ben Lukuyu, Arindam Samaddar, Werner Stür, Peter Ballantyne
Identifying Investment Opportunities for Livestock Feed Resources
Development in the Eastern Africa Sub-Region, ILRI Addis,
13-15 December 2017

Why is there a need for a
better approach to livestock
feed intervention?

Feed is a key issue in developing world
livestock systems
Quality
Quantity

Extreme seasonality of feed supply
Figure 1: Available feed resources
Felix Zingg, University of Bern, unpublished data 2011

Standard response is technology promotion
Urea treatment of straw – Uttarakhand, India
Legume intercrop in Ethiopia

Often what is promoted does not work –
why not?
• Researcher driven solutions are often:
• Not suitable for local context
• Not dealing with the key constraints
• Do not sufficiently involve farmers and other local
stakeholders in their selection and design
• Do not take account of wider system constraints
such as labour, markets etc.

Technologies lying idle
Introducing silage making in remote
extensive dry arid areas
Forage chopper lying unused - IndiaComplete diet blocks lying unused - India
Women unable to use maize Stover
baler

What is needed to avoid futile feed
development?
• A systematic approach to assessing the
feeding context
• Looking wider than just feed
• Involving farmers and local stakeholders
in the process
• Asking the right questions in a
structured way

FEAST – Feed Assessment Tool
• FEAST
• A systematic approach to understanding the
overall feeding system and thinking with farmers
and local stakeholders about possible
interventions
• Focus group discussion
• Participatory solution identification
• Household Questionnaire with a few households
• Data entry and presentation system
• FEAST report

Farmers discussing constraints and solutions, in
Malawi: 2017
Key questions about farming system,
livestock holdings, feed resources,
labour issues etc.
Securing buy in from farmers

Sorts of constraints identified
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Frequencyscore
Frequency score of constraints mentioned by
farmers in Africa RISING FEAST assessments

Sorts of solutions identified

FGD guide and individual interview questionnaires

Data entry and analysis application

New Intervention Ranking Analysis added
to FEAST
• Techfit logic incorporated into FEAST
Suitability of
interventions
based on five
categories of
scores.

FEAST global data repository
Repository website
provides dashboards and
downloadable data sets for
worldwide FEAST data
Users of the desktop
application can upload
their data to the global
repository
FEAST website: https://www.ilri.org/feast

How does FEAST help?
• Gives ideas for feed interventions
• Appropriate
• Owned by farmers
• Fit the context
• Change knowledge, attitude, practice of those
who use them
• Broader thinking
• Better understanding of farmer constraints

18 Copyright 2014 ILRI/CGIAR Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5
Empowering research practitioners with tools and
training
• Scientists at ILRI designed the Feed Assessment
Tool (FEAST) to provide research and
development practitioners a more systematic
means of developing and assessing feed‐related
strategies.
 To support adoption of the FEAST Tool, ILRI
launched a learning development initiative to
help practitioners develop the necessary
skills (computer literacy, data analysis, report
writing, research methods) to effectively apply
the tool in their work.
 To help reach a wider audience , the training
is now available in both classroom and online
formats.

19 Copyright 2014 ILRI/CGIAR Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5
Harnessing the power of e-learning
• We introduced new media and technologies to
support the learning experience:
 Audio/visual versions of lessons for online delivery
 Interactive eLearning activities and computer-based
quizzes/surveys
 Learning Management System (LMS) to host online
lessons and track learner progress
 Stand‐alone content player for classrooms without reliable
Internet access
Expected results
• Delivery of a more effective learning experience to more participants in less time than
current methods allow
• Consistency and accuracy of instruction even if less experienced facilitators are enlisted to
deliver the classes
• Enabling participants to complete self‐guided lessons on basic skills and concepts online,
allowing instructor‐led portions to focus on more advanced application of skills and
concepts
• Potentially allow for entire course to be completed online, easing travel and logistical
burden on participants, ILRI staff

Download by country

Download by organization type

Countries where FEAST has been applied
Botswana Uganda
Burkina Faso Rwanda
Democratic Republic of Congo Swaziland
Ethiopia Mozambique
Ghana Pakistan
India Vietnum
Kenya Nicaragua
Mali Malawi
Niger Nigeria
Tanzania
Tunisia
Zimbabwe

This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
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ILRI thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions
to the CGIAR system