Working at the interface between systems and complexity thinking : insights from a market access design project for poor livestock producers

This paper discusses the insights and reflections that lead to the development of a methodology informed by working at the interface between systems thinking and complexity theory. This arose from three workshops held at the University of Western Sydney to address barriers to market access for poor livestock producers, as part of a project for FAO's Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative. The first full-day workshop was based around systems thinking methods using a group model-building approach. By the end of the workshop the group concluded that the issues were far too complex to be addressed satisfactorily with this approach. Complexity theory was proposed as a suitable way forward. The next two half-day workshops used complexity thinking methods to come up with a set of attractors and a shared mental model, which provided greater insights into the problem issues. The paper concludes with the reflections gained from the workshop activities.