The major outcome of the household workshops conducted in each village was a list of strategies, agreed by the smallholders as potentially feasible from resource supply and social perspectives, and which were shown by the IAT model to prospectively improve cattle production and the economic welfare of the household, without undue impact on other aspects of farm activities (e.g. labour, cropping). The next step was to test these options on-farm. A total of 30 households (referred to as ‘best-bet’ households), were selected from each of the six villages to trial these strategies on their own land. These trials were conducted for at least 2 years and provided an opportunity for the participant households to experience and evaluate the best-bet strategies in the context of their own land and to demonstrate and communicate project findings and methods to other households (i.e. an extension ‘platform’).