Download pdf farmer field schools facilitators manual free. Sometimes called schools without walls, in ffs groups of farmers meet regularly with a facilitator, observe, talk, ask questions, and learn together. Farmer field school guidance document food and agriculture. Technical manual farmer field school approach weadapt. Agricultural extension programs or pilots based on the farmer field school ffs approach are being implemented in many developing countries in asia and africa. The concept of farmer field schools ffs, a participatory approach. The programme leader should be a good leader who empowers others. Farmers field schools approach is used for capacity building of farming community through exploration, discovery and adaptation into their local conditions. Farmer field schools as an approach was first developed.
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. Pdf the farmer field school approach zandie bonagua. Concept and methodology mesoamerican agroenvironmental program 1 the farmer field school ffs is an experiential training methodology grounded in the principles of adult education. Considering therefore, the importance of this approach, the study was conducted in. The ffs approach was developed in the 1980s by a fao project. 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. Farmer field school guidance document home food and. An approach aiming to empower and organize farmers to take initiative is presented. 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. Adaptation and adoption of the system of rice intensification. It comprises a group of 25 farmers which is facilitated by an.
The farmer field school program was coordinated by metta. These other extension methods were often used in combination with the f2f. 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 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. Farmer field school approach integrated production and. By the end of the 1980s, a new approach to farmer training emerged in indonesia called the farmer field school ffs.
Recent research on the farmer field school ffs approach in agriculture in developing countries has raised some doubts on the economic impacts of this. The africa research in sustainable intensification for the next generation africa rising program comprises three researchfordevelopment projects supported by. 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 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. The study analyzed farmer field school ffs as an extension approach to cocoa production in osun state, nigeria. Role of farmer field schools in enhancing skills of farming community in khyber pakhtunkhwa, pakistan amir khatam, sher muhammad and ijaz ashraf abstract. Extension agents, researchers and external participants acted as facilitators rather than as traditional teachers. The farmer field school approach history, global assessment and success stories by arnoud braun and deborah duveskog unedited draft paper commissioned by the international fund for agricultural development 3rd draft 6 october 2008 this document was created as a background paper for the ifad rural poverty report 2009. The training process is always learnercentered, participatory and relying on an experiential learning approach. 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. Introducing a farmers livestock school training approach. The approach combines experiences from farmers field schools in crops, with other practical, group and fieldbased, interactive learning methods.
The farmer field school approach is reversal learning, where agricultural researchers and extension agents are learning from the farmers. Analysis of farmer field school as an extension approach. The guide is intended for use by farmer field facilitators during training of facilitators or during the farmer field school itself. Farmers field school approach sustainable agriculture. 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. Technical manual for farmers and field extension service providers. Its popularity can be attributed to its effectiveness as an alternative learning experience as its different techniques, such as ecosystem analysis. Farmer field school approach integrated production and pest. The farmer field school ffs approach provided an empirical frame for the.
Farmer field schools ffs is a groupbased adult learning. The farmer field school is still one of the most implemented forms of extension service worldwide. The farmer field school approach history, global assessment and success stories. 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. 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. Download pdf farmer field schools facilitators manual. 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. Since the development of the farmer field school ffs approach in the late 80s in asia, thousands. The training process is always learner centered, participatory and relying on an experiential learning approach.
The global environment facility project on which i am working endorses the farmerfieldschool approach to train farmers in how to adapt to climate change. Introduction to farmer field school approach the farmer field school ffs is a participatory agricultural extension approach, based on learning by discovery. 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. The model ares ffs is a participatory, womenfocused extension.
Kp introduced a new extension approach called farmers field schools ffs in 2004 in the 24 districts of the province. Demand for ffs programmes is increasing, and in several countries. Although the ffs may help promote an experimental approach, it is probably not the ideal instrument for this purpose. It is seasonlong so that it covers all the different developmental stages of the crop and their related management practices.
The government of bangladesh gob and the danish government through danida initiated the. The ffs approach is an innovative, participatory and interactive learning approach that emphasizes problem solving and. 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. The topics covered can vary from conservation agriculture, organic agriculture, animal husbandry, and soil husbandry, to income. A farmerfieldschool approach to ensure adaptation to. Farmer field school ffs manual food and agriculture.
Farmer field school ffs is a capacity building approach, which provides opportunities to farmers of improving various skills through practicing various techniques by themselves. Farmer field schools as a transformative learning space in. Go with the participants to the field and ask them to observe a particular site. 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. 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 methodology a free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. A farmer field school ffs is a seasonlong training activity that takes place in the field. Ppt the farmer field school methodology powerpoint.
Go with the participants to the field and ask them to observe a particular site if it is suitable for nursery establishment. An analysis of the effectiveness farmer field school ffs. Ffs is a seasonlong training activity that takes place in the field. The farmer field school approach history, global assessment. This paper reflects a summary of the two studiesreports commissioned by minagrispatiibtc rwanda.
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 guide is intended for use by farmer field facilitators during training of. 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. It provides them with some practical information and tips for planning, running, and evaluating their ffs. The threeyear program was created in response to the dire food security situation in kachin state. 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. It is an outdoor school where learning and sharing takes place through handson practical training. The farmer field school ffs is a participatory approach of diffusing new sciencebased knowledge and information to farmers. Pdf strengths and weaknesses of farmers field schools. Seed production guide curriculum for malawi a farmer.
In kachin state in myanmar, the farmer field school for sustainable agriculture development program began in january 2001. Farmer field school faciltators module integrated soil. Cumulative number of countries th at use the farmer field school approach. Farmer field school ffs is a capacity building approach, which provides opportunities to farmers of improving various skills through practicing various techniques by.
Farmer field schools ffs consist of groups of farmers who get together to study a particular topic. It is an integrated and organized field school which create a space for farmers self learning and sharing. 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. Field schools ffs is a groupbased adult learning approach that teaches farmers how to experiment and solve problems independently. 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. Review of farmer field schools approach to extension. 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. 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 topics covered can vary from conservation agriculture. 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. It is deemed expensive because it is season long and involves hands. May 16, 2015 a farmer field school ffs is a seasonlong training activity that takes place in the field.
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. Report of the the integrated pest management in rice training of trainers and farmers field school. 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. Farmer field school for sustainable agriculture development.
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