Farmer to farmer field school training is viewed as a promising route to multiplying ffs coverage, with the sustainability of the overall field school approach resting on the spread and effectiveness of farmer led schools. It emerged as a way for smallscale farmers to investigate and learn how to acquire required skills for quality production technologies and marketing techniques. Elizabeth nafula kuria members of a farmer field and life school in bimbo, bangui. Fao has been incubating, nurturing and promoting farmer field schools for over a quarter of a century.
The model ares ffs is a participatory, womenfocused extension. Its popularity can be attributed to its effectiveness as an alternative learning experience as its different techniques, such as ecosystem analysis. Pdf the farmer field school approach history, global. Definitions in general farmer field schools ffs consist of groups of people with a common interest, who get together on a regular basis to study the how and why of a particular topic. Farmer field school guidance document planning for quality programmes food and agriculture organization of the united nations rome, 2016. Pdf on jan 1, 2014, h waddington and others published farmer field. The farmer field school is particularly suited and specifically developed for field studies, where handson management skills and conceptual understanding based on nonformal adult education principles is required. Farmers field schools ffs, faos frontline innovation, are amongst its most fundamental field contributions to fulfill this commitment. The ffs approach was developed in the 1980s by a fao project.
The study, involving 10,176 farmers, compared onfarm demonstrationcumparticipatory varietal selection, farmer field schools, farmertofarmer extension through local farmer technicians, seed. Ffs approach is another, more recent, tool developed to improve farmers livelihoods. Manual for training of extension workers and farmers on. Strengthening partnerships, results, and innovations in nutrition globally spring project.
It is seasonlong so that it covers all the different developmental stages of the crop and their related management practices. This farmer field schools facilitators guide has been prepared as a cumulative output of a series of training of trainers courses conducted between 2007 and 2009 for facilitators. A training of trainers tot farmer field school ffs programme in integrated pest management ipm in watermelons was conducted during the period june. The programme leader should be a good leader who empowers others. Farmer field school, in particular, has adopted principles of experiential learning kolb, 1984. Farmer field school concepts why seasonlong training. Farmer field schools and local agricultural research. Farmers handbook on basic agriculture acknowledgement h igher demand for agricultural raw material is now anticipated and agriculture is not any more about producing farm products and selling them exclusively at the local market. Integrating nutrition in farmer field schools in eastern africa.
Integrating nutrition in farmer field schools in eastern africa report on lessons learned november 2014 author. Braun, graham thiele and maria fernandez abstract farmer field schools ffs and local agricultural research committees cials are participatory platforms for. Farmer field school ffs manual food and agriculture. In this video they learn about the importance of fire breaks to help protect tea bushes and crops. Technical manual farmer field school approach weadapt. Farmer field school position paper for ilri manage ment and board.
The farmer field school methodology a free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. The knowledge gained will enable them to organize farmer field schools for the farmers in their area. Farmer field schools are used to teach tea farmers about good agricultural practices. The topics covered can vary from conservation agriculture, organic agriculture, animal husbandry, and soil husbandry, to income. So far, working with ffbs has led to 6575% adoption of improved agricultural techniques among the 50,000 women who are part of the pathways program.
Food and agriculture organization fao in indonesia for the. Facilitators guide for running a farmer field school an adaptation for a post emergency recovery programme 2010 citation. The farmer field school approach history, global assessment and success stories by arnoud braun and deborah duveskog unedited draft paper. So what are the essent ial and original elements of a farmer field school. Extension agents, researchers and external participants acted as facilitators rather than as traditional teachers. Livestock farmer field schools ffss are schools without walls where groups of smallscale livestock producers test, validate, and adapt good agricultural and marketing practices that help them increase their production sustainably and to improve their, and their families, livelihoods. Disclaimer this report is made possible by the generous support of the american people through the united states. Field schools ffs is a groupbased adult learning approach that teaches farmers how to experiment and solve problems independently. Pdf the farmer field school ffs concept grew as a result of inadequacies realized in other agricultural extension approaches in dealing. Fao, the project introduced the farmer field school ffs methodology, which had previously mainly been applied for agricultural extension service delivery. Farmer field school for sustainable agriculture development.
The outputs of this farmer field school study reflect the areas below. Farmer field schools for ipm refresh your memory this guide has been designed as a collection of suggestions to refresh the memory of farmer field school ffs facilitators who graduated from a seasonlong tot. A farmer field school ffs is a groupbased learning process that has been used by a number of governments, ngos, and international agencies to promote integrated pest management ipm. Farmer field school guidance document food and agriculture. Instead farmers today have a world market to serve. The farmer field school approach history, global assessment. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first paper which rigorously analyzes the impact of a locally adapted farmer field school project on broader welfare indicators and development objectives, namely food security and poverty alleviation, and not just on intermediate and very projectrelated agricultural outcomes, such as technology. In a typical ffs a group of 2025 farmers meets once a week in. Farmer field school approach integrated production and.
To establish and strengthen the process of rural development in the rural communities of myanmar in general, and in kachin and shan states in particu lar, by establishing the. The farmers field and business schools are a product of the care pathways program, and focus on a learning by doing approach, putting farmers at the heart of learning and decisionmaking around new agricultural techniques. Gaps in the current implementation practices and the formal field school methodology are identify 3. Sometimes called schools without walls, in ffs groups of farmers meet regularly with a facilitator, observe, talk, ask questions, and learn together.
It involves seasonlong, fieldbased groups of 25 to 30 farmers, who meet regularly to learn through. The farmer field school project growing sustainable tea in kenya. Ppt the farmer field school methodology powerpoint. Farmer field school project the farmer field school project adopted a learnercentred approach, which meant farmers carried out handson observation, experimentation and evaluation. The study, involving 10,176 farmers, compared onfarm demonstrationcumparticipatory varietal selection, farmer field schools, farmer to farmer extension through local farmer technicians, seed. Now in 2017, the ffs model has been taken up by 18 other are projects in multiple countries which reach a combined total of 175,000 farmers. Ipm training in asiafrom farmer field school to community.
Introduction to farmer field school approach the farmer field school ffs is a participatory agricultural extension approach, based on learning by discovery. The overall goal of the farmer field school for sustainable agriculture development in myanmar is stated as follows. The farmer field school is still one of the most implemented forms of extension service worldwide. The interna tional fund for agricultural development ifad encourages collaboratio n among its programmes in the philippines to ensure complementa tion of different agencies in achieving their respec tive project goals and objec tives. Farmer field school on crop husbandry and quinoa production, near puno, peru.
Facilitators guide for running a farmer field school. Participatory evaluation of our 2008 action against hunger. This model emphasizes learning through experience and dealing with real field problems. An ffs is a season long training from seed to harvestfor a number of reason. In addition to farmer led schools, which may be considered as a formal diffusion mechanism, one needs. Farmer field schools for smallscale livestock producers. Farmer field schools as an approach was first developed. Farmer field schools are based on ecological principles, participatory training and nonformal educational methods. A farmer field school brings together a group of farmers, livestock herders or fisherfolk, to learn on how to shift towards more sustainable production practices, by better understanding complex agroecosystems and by enhancing ecosystem services. Integrating nutrition in farmer field schools in eastern. Synthesis this is an evaluation of the 2008 farmer field school ffs programme facilitated by action against hunger acf in ugandas lango subregion.
Strengths and weaknesses of the current implementation practices for the farmer field school methodology are identify 2. The fao south and southeast asian rice ipm project from 1982 to 1997 to bring ipm to rice farmers during massive pesticide subsidies encouraged overspraying, the occurrence of the release of a secondary pest, the rice brown plant hopper, caused widespread production losses across asia. Implementation of farmer field school ffs extension approach in disseminating knowledge and skills on management technologies for crop production, crop pests, soil and water conservation cpswc has had proven successes. Action against hunger uganda 5 farmer field school evaluation executive summary a.
Farmer field schools for improving farming practices and. Farmer field schools ffs consist of groups of farmers who get together to study a particular topic. Pdf the farmer field school as an agricultural innovation. Farmers knowledge, attitude, and perception of video.
The ffs approach is an innovative, participatory and interactive learning approach that emphasizes problem solving and. This manual is part of sustainets effort to promote sustainable agriculture in the region. Introduction the farmer field school ffs has become an innovative, participatory and interactive model approach for farmer education in asia, many parts of africa, latin america and more recently also introduced in the middle east, north africa and easterncentral europe. Complementary platforms for integrated decisionmaking in sustainable agriculture ann r. Pdf the farmer field school approach zandie bonagua. Understanding farm field school farmer field schools ffs are based on an innovative, participatory and interactive learning approach. The farmer field school ffs approach was developed by fao and partners nearly 25 years ago in southeast asia as an alternative to the prevailing topdown extension method of the green revolution, which failed to work in situations where more complex and counterintuitive problems existed, such as pesticideinduced pest outbreaks.
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