The Ten Seed Technique (TST) is a brilliant participatory ranking tool which can be used in both development and humanitarian situations. It was extensively used by World Vision’s Dr Ravi Jayakaran in China and South-East. A modified version of this has be used by TorqAid since 2002.
The TST is taught in Topic TC06 of the same name in the TorqAid Participatory Disaster Risk Management (PDRM) program. It is further developed as a disaster risk management (DRM) tool in Topic TC07 (Risk Management). See the link below for the 2025 online PDRM program.
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There are three stages to the TST process, these being Stage 1 (Brainstorming); Stage 2 (Scoring & Ranking); and Stage 3 (Analysis).
In the PDRM TC06, the TST has been used in the following scenarios and case studies:
- As a management tool for a government health team working in remote locations across the Northern Territory, Australia
- As a community development tool for work in West Bengal, India
- As a country analysis of the social, environmental, political & economic landscape in Bhutan
- In a classroom exercise with Murdoch University students in September 2024
- In a Writers Group fun exercise in April 2025 discussing the topic ‘What makes a Good Story?’
The TST is also used in TC07 (Risk Management) in the following DRM scenarios. In these cases, hazards (some leading to potential disasters) are first identified (using the TST), with work then carried out on causes, effects, and possible risk reduction initiatives.
- Hazards facing a village community in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
- Hazards facing the Rohingya refugee communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
- Hazards facing communities across Bhutan
