May 16, 2015 a farmer field school ffs is a seasonlong training activity that takes place in the field. In a typical ffs a group of 2025 farmers meets once a week in. Technical manual for farmers and field extension service providers. Cumulative number of countries th at use the farmer field school approach. A farmer field school ffs is a seasonlong training activity that takes place in the field. Farmer field schools ffs is a groupbased adult learning.
Go with the participants to the field and ask them to observe a particular site. Ask the participants to discuss in group how they have been selecting their nursery site. Download pdf farmer field schools facilitators manual. Farmer field school ffs is a capacity building approach in the agricultural extension approach es aea, which provides opportunities to farmers of improving various skills through practicing various techniques by themselves. The ffs approach is an innovative, participatory and interactive learning approach that emphasizes problem solving and.
Although the ffs may help promote an experimental approach, it is probably not the ideal instrument for this purpose. Report of the the integrated pest management in rice training of trainers and farmers field school. Role of farmer field schools in enhancing skills of farming community in khyber pakhtunkhwa, pakistan amir khatam, sher muhammad and ijaz ashraf abstract. The overall goal of the farmer field school for sustainable agriculture development in myanmar is stated as follows. Contents the farmer field school ffs project 2 meet the farmers 4 approach and methodology 6 three years of progress 8 meet the partners 14 how the partnership worked 18 learning opportunities 20 looking ahead 22 a wider commitment 24 project second from left talks with. The global environment facility project on which i am working endorses the farmerfieldschool approach to train farmers in how to adapt to climate change. It is seasonlong so that it covers all the different developmental stages of the crop and their related management practices. Pdf the farmer field school approach zandie bonagua. Agricultural extension programs or pilots based on the farmer field school ffs approach are being implemented in many developing countries in asia and africa. Introducing a farmers livestock school training approach. Farmer field school approach integrated production and.
Ffs is a seasonlong training activity that takes place in the field. The topics covered can vary from conservation agriculture. 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. 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. The farmer field school is still one of the most implemented forms of extension service worldwide.
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. Pdf strengths and weaknesses of farmers field schools. Adaptation and adoption of the system of rice intensification. Considering therefore, the importance of this approach, the study was conducted in. The farmer field school approach is reversal learning, where agricultural researchers and extension agents are learning from the farmers. Kp introduced a new extension approach called farmers field schools ffs in 2004 in the 24 districts of the province. The farmer field school approach history, global assessment.
The farmer field school approach history, global assessment and success stories. Download farmer field schools facilitators manual ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub. The concept of farmer field schools ffs, a participatory approach. Technical manual farmer field school approach weadapt. Farmer field school guidance document home food and. It is an outdoor school where learning and sharing takes place through handson practical training. It provides them with some practical information and tips for planning, running, and evaluating their ffs. The africa research in sustainable intensification for the next generation africa rising program comprises three researchfordevelopment projects supported by. The ffs approach was developed in the 1980s by a fao project. The farmer field school methodology a free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. Farmer field school guidance document food and agriculture. An approach aiming to empower and organize farmers to take initiative is presented. Sometimes called schools without walls, in ffs groups of farmers meet regularly with a facilitator, observe, talk, ask questions, and learn together.
The facilitators field guide for farmer field schools on participatory plant breeding in maize, pearl millet, sorghum and groundnut aims to assist facilitators in conducting farmer field school ffs sessions on participatory plant breeding ppb in their respective communities. 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. 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. Field schools ffs is a groupbased adult learning approach that teaches farmers how to experiment and solve problems independently. Download pdf farmer field schools facilitators manual free. The government of bangladesh gob and the danish government through danida initiated the. Farmer field school ffs is a capacity building approach, which provides opportunities to farmers of improving various skills through practicing various techniques by.
The guide is intended for use by farmer field facilitators during training of facilitators or during the farmer field school itself. The threeyear program was created in response to the dire food security situation in kachin state. By the end of the 1980s, a new approach to farmer training emerged in indonesia called the farmer field school ffs. 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. The programme leader should be a good leader who empowers others. Data were gathered through structured interview schedule from 248 cocoa farmers participating in ffs, also information was elicited from the 30 facilitators that are involved in the ffs using structured questionnaire. The farmer field school ffs has one of the most impressive track records in participatory community approaches, with 23 million farmers graduated on the agricultural subject of integrated pest management ipm during the past 15 years, mainly in asia, but more recently also in africa, the middle east and latin america. Analysis of farmer field school as an extension approach. The farmer field school ffs approach provided an empirical frame for the. Seed production guide curriculum for malawi a farmer. Concept and methodology mesoamerican agroenvironmental program 1 the farmer field school ffs is an experiential training methodology grounded in the principles of adult education. Farmer field school approach integrated production and pest. These other extension methods were often used in combination with the f2f.
While certainly no silver bullet, with the appropriate care the ffs approach has shown that it was capable of being highly responsive to local needs over a wide range of conditions. It is an integrated and organized field school which create a space for farmers self learning and sharing. Farmer field school ffs manual food and agriculture. The broad problem which these field schools were designed to address was a lack of knowledge among asian farmers relating to agroecology, particularly the relationship between insect pests and beneficial insects. Since the development of the farmer field school ffs approach in the late 80s in asia, thousands of ffs have since been implemented across the world, in over 90 countries and across a varied range of contexts and thematic areas. Go with the participants to the field and ask them to observe a particular site if it is suitable for nursery establishment. Farmer field school for sustainable agriculture development. Introduction to farmer field school approach the farmer field school ffs is a participatory agricultural extension approach, based on learning by discovery. Farmer field schools as an approach was first developed. A new livestock extension approach for training of trainers tot and smallholders in farmers livestock schools fls is gradually being introduced to the national extension system in vietnam. 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. The farmer field school ffs is a participatory approach of diffusing new sciencebased knowledge and information to farmers. Extension agents, researchers and external participants acted as facilitators rather than as traditional teachers. It provides background information on the farmer field school approach and a compilation of field exercises as they are used in cassava farmer field schools.
Review of farmer field schools approach to extension. Farmer field school ffs is an educational approach in the form of group, which has been used to support integrated pests management ipm by multiple governments, ngos, and international organizations. The farmer field school program was coordinated by metta. Pdf the farmer field school approach history, global. It comprises a group of 25 farmers which is facilitated by an. Farmer field school ffs is a capacity building approach, which provides opportunities to farmers of improving various skills through practicing various techniques by themselves. Review of farmer field schools approach to extension service. Farmer field school faciltators module integrated soil. Farmer field school ffs is a capacity building approach in the agricultural extension approaches aea, which provides opportunities to farmers of improving various skills through practicing various techniques by themselves. The farmer field school approach history, global assessment and success stories by arnoud braun and deborah duveskog unedited draft paper.
In this regard simpson and owens, 2002 stated that farmer field school ffs approach offers a much needed breath of fresh air and hope for the future. In kachin state in myanmar, the farmer field school for sustainable agriculture development program began in january 2001. Farmer field schools as a transformative learning space in. 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. The study analyzed farmer field school ffs as an extension approach to cocoa production in osun state, nigeria. Demand for ffs programmes is increasing, and in several countries. It is deemed expensive because it is season long and involves hands. A farmerfieldschool approach to ensure adaptation to. 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.
The ipvm farmer field school connects the health component to agricultural productivity, which broadens the institutional basis of malaria control and provides an economic incentive mechanism necessary to motivate people into action. Its popularity can be attributed to its effectiveness as an alternative learning experience as its different techniques, such as ecosystem analysis. This paper reflects a summary of the two studiesreports commissioned by minagrispatiibtc rwanda. Recent research on the farmer field school ffs approach in agriculture in developing countries has raised some doubts on the economic impacts of this. Farmers field school approach sustainable agriculture. The guide is intended for use by farmer field facilitators during training of. Farmer field schools as a transformative learning space in the rural african setting abstract the aims of this research was to understand how education in the rural african faming setting can contribute to development and wellbeing in a way that is empowering for the poor. 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. The topics covered can vary from conservation agriculture, organic agriculture, animal husbandry, and soil husbandry, to income. Since the development of the farmer field school ffs approach in the late 80s in asia, thousands of ffs have since been implemented across the world, in over 90 countries and across a varied range. The training process is always learnercentered, participatory and relying on an experiential learning approach. To establish and strengthen the process of rural development in the rural communities of myanmar in general, and in kachin and shan states in. The approach combines experiences from farmers field schools in crops, with other practical, group and fieldbased, interactive learning methods.
Farmer field schools ffs consist of groups of farmers who get together to study a particular topic. The training process is always learner centered, participatory and relying on an experiential learning approach. A farmerfield school approach to ensure adaptation to climate change in senegal theo martin france during a factfinding mission intended to support the planting of vegetables in the peanut growing basin as part of the farmerfieldschool and climate resilience project. An analysis of the effectiveness farmer field school ffs. It focuses on group learning by discovery, experimentation and observation, group analysis of re. Farmer field school concepts what is a farmer field school. Approach and methodology farmer field school project the farmer field school project adopted a learnercentred approach, which meant farmers carried out handson observation, experimentation and evaluation.
626 1532 1471 1165 1134 1380 532 856 1371 310 727 1152 1527 521 777 663 952 118 532 1076 672 654 718 1295 665 1285 1301 38 216 1003 551 933 1044