Species priority setting procedures

Abstract

PRA exercises and ethnobotanical surveys (Units 2 and 3) will yield information about agroforestry tree preferences, management and use. Since it is, however, not feasible to conduct tree domestication research on all of these trees, it is important to prioritise which species to work on. Farmer preferences, market opportunities and ‘researchability’ are key issues in species priority setting, and should be more so than researchers’ own interests. Priority setting may need to be repeated periodically as preferences change. ICRAF and partners have developed a species priority setting exercise that involves the following steps: team building and planning; assessment of clients’ needs; assessment of species preferred by clients; ranking of products; identification of a limited number of priority species; valuation and ranking of priority species; and a final choice. Scientists at ICRAF have conducted and documented many such priority setting exercises, and these illustrate the concepts and principles involved