Ten Seed Research Abstract
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
THE TEN SEED TECHNIQUE
DEVELOPED BY: Dr. Ravi Jayakaran- World Vision China
The 10 seed technique is a modified PLA tool and was introduced as a tool that can be used to carry out several of the PLA-Participatory Learning and Action exercises. It is useful in gathering qualitative information on various issues, especially related to the perceptions of the community and the way people see themselves in relation to others. The technique is flexible and enabling its use in combination with other techniques and also for collecting a wide range of information.
The 10 seed technique enables probing deeply into different dimensions of an issue, for carrying out what is referred to as “opening up” the information. This essentially involves going deeper into an issue after starting at the absolute basic level. For example we find out about the health status of a community and then go deeper into it to find out reasons for difference, link it with their wealth status and go further into exploring the type of health care each group is able to access. Most traditional PLA exercises can be done using the 10 seed technique.
POTENTIAL USES OF THE TECHNIQUE:
The 10 seed technique can be used for a variety of exercises for information collection. For example: Vaccination levels, Patterns of distribution among a population ( health care, HIV/AIDS ,Birth control practices, etc.),disease incidence, Agriculture patterns, Animal husbandry practices, Sanitation practices, housing needs, water resources, Rapid damage assessment in Disasters, education levels and, many other issues that project staff need information about. For example:
Livelihood analysis: The group is asked to imagine the entire income of the whole village from all sources, throughout the year is represented by the 10 seeds.
Expenditure analysis: This exercise is done by asking the group to imagine that the total expenditure of the village for the whole year is represented by the 10 seeds.
Problem analysis: The group is asked to imagine that the 10 seeds represent all the problems that are faced by the community as a whole. They are then asked to group the seeds to represent what these problems are.
Rapid Food Security status assessment (RFSA): This technique is carried out using the ten seeds and the group is asked to classify the village families into different groups according to their Food Security
THE TECHNIQUE: How it works
After initial rapport building with the group and explaining to them that the purpose of the exercises is to understand and learn from them about the perspective; we proceed with the technique. The group is given the ten seeds and asked to move the seeds around into groups representing the aspect being analyzed. Once the groups of seeds have been formed the participants are asked to describe them and give details on reasons for classifying them the way they have done. Each group of seeds now has a very distinct identity accorded by the participants, and discussions can now proceed around the “visual” created. Discussions now proceed around the “visual” and become very intense and animated. After finalization the information is transferred on paper for sharing with the larger group.
FACILITATING THE EXERCISES:
Before going to the field to carry out the exercises, it is good to have the group prepare itself to work with each other. Besides establishing a code of conduct to respect and value one another, group members must also decide roles among themselves before hand to determine who will be the ‘Interviewer’, ‘the recorder’ and if the situation calls for it- the ‘Filter’!!
ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS:
After establishing good rapport with the community group the facilitators of the exercise should explain the purpose of the exercise and the subject that they propose to explore with them.
USING THE INFORMATION:
Information generated by using the 10 seed technique must be used as soon as possible in planning and designing. However, oftentimes what really happens is that those who collect it are unable to analyze it and thus don’t know how to use it. When using technique for analyze specific issues such as say the level of vaccination, the resulting information can be used to generate a Plan of Action for getting the unvaccinated children vaccinated. The participants of the exercise can be asked how to ensure this happens for each level identified.
Link: THE TEN SEED TECHNIQUE
