People, Roles and Capability Plan

Your Person and Their Unmet Need
You need a better way to help Mr. Johannes Mokoena keep his cattle healthy during winter when limited grazing forces hay feeding and increases foreign material ingestion, because he currently lacks access to a reliable, affordable product to address this, as demonstrated by interviews with 20 livestock farmers where 75% reported increased winter digestive problems.
Your People Ecosystem Map
Mr. Johannes Mokoena: innermost layer, uses and chooses whether to use, needs a reliable, affordable and easy-to-use product to help cattle excrete foreign materials and reduce digestive complications.
Mr. Mokoena's household: inner layer, benefits from the innovation, needs to maintain financial stability through livestock income and resources.
Other livestock farmers in Mmametlhake Village: community layer, uses and chooses, needs solutions to digestive challenges particularly during winter when grazing is limited.
Veterinarians and animal-health practitioners: service layer, influences choices through professional advice and diagnosis, needs specialised knowledge to inform treatment decisions.
Agricultural extension officers: service layer, influences choices through advice on livestock management and feeding practices, not yet spoken to.
Agricultural stores: access layer, purchases for resale potentially, chooses to stock products, needs evidence of farmer demand, regulatory approval, reliable supply and reasonable margins, not yet spoken to.
Feed and livestock-input suppliers: access layer, influences by providing hay and feed products that relate to digestive problems, not yet spoken to.
Regulatory authorities: system layer, approves before product can legally be marketed and sold, not yet spoken to.
Department of Agriculture and agricultural institutions: system layer, influences through livestock-health programmes, farmer support and agricultural policies, needs confidence in the product's value and safety.
Research and testing institutions: system layer, not yet spoken to, controls scientific evidence needed for safety, quality and effectiveness validation.
Potential distributors: system layer, chooses whether product reaches rural farmers, not yet spoken to.
You have not yet identified what unmet needs the agricultural stores, feed suppliers, extension officers, regulatory authorities, research institutions or potential distributors each have beyond what appears above.
Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Stakeholder and required relationshipWhat we need from them / what they need from usLivestock farmers – InvolveYou need access, knowledge, data, feedback, trust and adoption from them because they experience the problem directly and will use and purchase the product. They need evidence that DigestAid is safe, reliable, easy to use and provides value for money; in return, they can gain healthier cattle, fewer premature slaughters, reduced treatment costs and improved income.Agricultural stores – ConsultYou need market knowledge, distribution access, trust and advocacy from them to make the product available to farmers. They need a commercially viable product, reliable supply, clear product information and evidence of farmer demand; in return, they gain an additional product to sell, increased revenue and potential repeat customers.Veterinarians and animal-health professionals – CollaborateYou need technical knowledge, validation, guidance and trust from them to ensure the product is appropriate and credible. They need scientific evidence, transparency about the product and clear information about its appropriate use; in return, they gain a potential additional tool for supporting better livestock-health outcomes.Agricultural extension officers – CollaborateYou need farmer access, local knowledge, data and advocacy from them to help reach and educate rural farmers. They need practical evidence, training and clear guidance that they can confidently share with farmers; in return, the product can provide them with another potential solution to a problem affecting rural livestock farmers.Regulatory authorities – ConsultYou need regulatory guidance and the required approval or registration before the product can legally be marketed and sold. They need complete, accurate information and evidence demonstrating compliance with applicable requirements; in return, they gain greater assurance that the product entering the market meets the required standards.Your Team Charter
Your Team Charter for DigestAid**
Project purpose: Your project requires a combination of livestock-farming knowledge, Indigenous Knowledge, scientific research, product development, animal-health expertise, regulatory knowledge, business and market knowledge, and understanding of rural farmers' needs.
Existing capabilities: You already have strong Indigenous Knowledge and research capabilities, direct engagement with livestock farmers and understanding of their challenges with winter hay feeding, limited grazing land and foreign-material ingestion, plus entrepreneurial and product-development experience and a foundation from working with innovation and research-support institutions.
Missing capabilities: The main gaps are veterinary and animal-health expertise, scientific validation of the product, regulatory knowledge, product formulation and quality assurance, large-scale manufacturing and distribution, and stronger market and customer validation from agricultural stores and additional livestock farmers to confirm willingness to pay and adoption.
Perspectives needed: You need veterinarians and animal-health professionals alongside regulatory and commercial experts, while farmers should remain involved in decision-making so the final product reflects their actual needs and rural farming conditions.
Ownership structure: The project lead is accountable for overall direction, farmer needs, stakeholder coordination, Indigenous Knowledge considerations, research and monitoring; relevant Indigenous Knowledge holders own decisions on plant knowledge; a formulation specialist owns product development; veterinarians own animal-health testing; a regulatory specialist owns regulatory requirements and product registration; farmers are involved in testing and feedback; a manufacturing partner owns consistent production; a commercial lead manages agricultural-store relationships; a designated owner manages marketing and customer education; and the project lead and research team monitor impact and collect evidence on outcomes.
Critical ownership gaps: Veterinarians and animal-health professionals, regulatory authorities, agricultural stores, agricultural extension officers, the Department of Agriculture, and manufacturing and formulation partners currently have no clearly assigned internal relationship owner, with veterinary expertise and regulatory ownership identified as most urgent.
Decision-making process: Decisions are made collaboratively with the project lead coordinating overall direction while ensuring decisions are informed by people closest to each area; farmers have a strong voice on whether the solution addresses their needs, veterinarians guide technical decisions, and regulatory specialists guide compliance decisions; important decisions are based on farmer evidence, research findings, technical expertise, regulatory requirements and project objectives rather than assumptions.
Handling disagreement: When disagreements arise the team discusses openly and refers back to evidence and user needs; where a decision falls within a specialist's area, the relevant expert's advice carries greater weight; if unresolved, the project lead facilitates a final decision based on available evidence and project goals.
Raising concerns: Anyone should be able to raise a concern such as "I think we're solving the wrong problem" without being dismissed; the concern would trigger a review of the original problem statement including speaking again with farmers and reviewing research data; if evidence shows the project is addressing the wrong problem, you are willing to adapt, redesign or even stop the project rather than continue investing in a solution farmers do not actually need.
Roles, Responsibilities and Relationship Owners
External relationshipWho on the team owns itLivestock farmersNo owner yetAgricultural storesNo owner yetVeterinarians and animal-health professionalsNo owner yetAgricultural extension officersNo owner yetDepartment of AgricultureNo owner yetRegulatory authoritiesNo owner yetManufacturing and formulation partnersNo owner yetYour People Gaps and Project Pathway
You have been treating the livestock farmer as your primary customer, user, purchaser and payer, but you have not yet validated this with the people who will actually make DigestAid available at scale — agricultural stores have not been consulted on whether they would stock and sell the product, and feed suppliers have not been engaged on the relationship between hay feeding and digestive problems in your specific context.
You have overlooked agricultural extension officers as a critical relationship; they have direct access to rural farmers and understand local farming practices, yet you have not validated farming practices and challenges with them, which creates risk that your solution may not fit the actual conditions where it needs to work.
You lack internal ownership of three relationships that are critical right now: veterinary and animal-health expertise to validate the product's technical credibility, regulatory knowledge to navigate the requirements that will determine whether DigestAid can legally be marketed, and a commercial lead to manage relationships with agricultural stores and distributors — without these owned relationships, you cannot establish credibility, meet legal requirements, or reach farmers at scale.
Your team is missing veterinary or animal-health expertise, scientific validation capability, regulatory knowledge, product formulation and quality assurance, and large-scale manufacturing and distribution — you have Indigenous Knowledge and research foundations, but you cannot move forward without the specialists who can validate animal-health claims and guide you through the requirements that regulators will impose.
The single greatest people risk is unclear ownership of the regulatory pathway; you have identified that regulatory authorities will determine what DigestAid must meet before it can legally be marketed and sold, but you have no named person accountable for understanding these requirements, preparing submissions or managing the approval process — without this ownership, regulatory delays or non-compliance could prevent the product from reaching the market entirely.
Your immediate next step is to identify and secure a regulatory specialist who can take ownership of this relationship and establish what specific requirements apply to how you classify and position DigestAid.