Download or read book Farmer Field School Guidance Document written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-06-08 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This FFS Guidance Document focuses on the process and critical decisions that are necessary when starting a new FFS programme, and guides the reader through the essential steps required to establish a solid basis for such programmes, in tune with the specific local conditions. It also defines the essential elements and processes required to ensure programme relevance, quality, growth and sustainability. The document differs from most of the FFS manuals and guidelines available in that it focuses on providing support to FFS programme managers and formulators, as opposed to FFS field facilitators or trainers, who are the primary target group for most existing manuals.
Download or read book Farmers taking the lead thirty years of farmer field schools written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2019-06-01 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Farmer Field School (FFS) has been one of the most successful approaches developed and promoted by FAO over the past three decades, empowering farmers to become better decision makers in their own farming systems. Initiated by FAO in 1989, and subsequently adopted by many other organizations and institutions, the FFS programs constitute one of the most important “results of the collective action of millions of small-scale farmers” that FAO has supported. FFS is an interactive and participatory learning by doing approach that offers farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolks, foresters and their communities a place where they can learn from each other,share experiences, co-create knowledge and try new ways of doing. Participants enhance their understanding of agro-ecosystems, resulting in production systems that are more resilient and optimize the use of available resources. FFS aims to improve farmers’ livelihoods and recognize their role as innovators and guardians of natural environments. FFS has attained plenty of outstanding achievements in all aspects of agriculture and rural development.
Download or read book Monitoring evaluation and learning in farmer field school programmes written by van den Berg, H. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2023-04-06 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document focuses on the implementation phase of farmer field school (FFS) programmes and provides guidance and tools that will help farmer field schools to bring about the change expected by the programme and the communities it supports, by setting up a robust monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) system. It also introduces impact assessment as an integral management function linked to monitoring, evaluation and learning in FFS programmes. It is aimed at project and programme designers, managers and staff involved in planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning of project/programmes with a farmer field school component. It also targets those who will be involved in the initial design, planning, follow-up of monitoring, evaluation and learning and impact assessment to improve programme implementation. The document outlines background information and tools to help ensure that implementation of FFS programmes will lead to the anticipated outputs, outcomes and impacts, by setting up a robust MEL system and impact assessment methodology/framework for the improvement of ongoing FFS projects and programmes and the design of new ones.
Download or read book Making Markets More Inclusive written by K. McKague and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-07-24 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most studies of doing business at the "bottom of the economic pyramid" focus on viewing the poor as consumers, as micro-entrepreneurs, or as potential employees of local companies. Almost no analysis focuses on the poor as primary producers of agricultural commodities a striking omission given that primary producers are by far the largest segment of the working-age population in developing economies. Making Markets More Inclusive bridges the management literature with original research on agricultural value chains in developing and emerging economies. This exciting work is the first to delve into the skills, capabilities, strategies and approaches needed for inclusive value chain development. McKague shows how NGOs and companies can connect poor producers in developing economies with the right markets to better create social and economic impact. He also analyzes one of the leading agricultural value chain initiatives in the world, which is being replicated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in several different value chains in Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, India, and Mali. Want more? Check out these compelling videos, which provide a glimpse into the stories and examples used throughout the book. Video Trailer for Making Markets More Inclusive. Farmer Training. Kallani Rani increased the productivity of her cows, become a cattle feed seller in her village (Chapter 6), and opened a fresh milk canteen in her local market (Chapter 7). She now trains other women farmers and works to improve opportunities for women in her community (Chapter 5). Animal Health Care Services. Asma Husna trained to be an animal health worker with CARE to provide important animal health services and education to local farmers on a fee-for-service basis (Chapter 6). Cattle Feed Shops. Fulera Akter started a business as a cattle feed seller after demand for nutritional animal feed grew due to farmers' improved knowledge of nutrition (Chapter 6). Savings Groups. Coauthor Muhammad Siddiquee, the Coordinator of Agriculture and Value Chain Programs at CARE Bangladesh, discusses the value of farmer savings groups (Chapter 6). Milk Collection. Sarothi Rani became a milk collector to earn an improved income for her family and provide an important service to other dairy farmers in her community (Chapter 7). Digital Fat Testing. Introducing digital fat testing machines into the dairy value chain helped reward farmers for making investments in producing higher quality milk, as well as ensuring transparent and timely payments (Chapter 7). Microfranchising. Supporting agricultural input shop owners with training, relationships to suppliers, common branding, and standardized customer services improves the productivity of smallholder farmers and the profitability of shops (Chapter 12). Bangladesh Dairy Value Chain Learning. Reflections from some of the 40 CARE staff from 17 countries who came to Bangladesh to learn from the experience of the dairy value chain project (Chapter 15).
Download or read book Bringing climate change adaptation into farmer field schools written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2021-09-24 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) developed this guidance note to assist FFS master trainers and facilitators bring about climate change adaptation in FFS. The guide provides key information on how the climate is changing, and how these changes are impacting the agricultural (crops and livestock), aquaculture and agroforestry systems of smallholder farmers. The note provides guidance to FFS practitioners so that they can better work with individual farmers and communities – using a “climate change lens” – in identifying, testing and adapting new practices that respond to changes and variability in local weather. The guide is not intended as a textbook on climate change but is prepared for easy understanding of basic concepts of climate change to support the interpretation of climate information in specific farming contexts and steps that FFS facilitators “must know” in starting FFS programmes that respond to climate change challenges.
Download or read book Farmer field school curriculum for the integrated crop management of paddy oil seed and pulses crops in central dry zone of Myanmar written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-09-09 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this curriculum, integrated pest management (IPM) for these selected crops, paddy, groundnut, sesame, green gram and chickpea will be briefly outlined. The general concept of IPM will be the same for these crops although the insect pests, diseases and weeds may differ from one crop to another. The name of pests will be listed for information and important messages those are unique for Myanmar situation will be briefed if necessary, rather than giving detailed account of morphology, biology, ecology and management which can be readily available in published literature. It is aimed to improve the knowledge of farmers on the pests including insects, plant diseases, weeds and rodents causing reduction in the yield of field crops and how to manage the crops to boost the crop production without deteriorating environmental resources for sustainable agriculture.
Download or read book Sheep farmer field schools A facilitators guide written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-02-07 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This facilitator’s guide for sheep-related Farmer Field Schools (FFS) has been developed for the FAO project UTF/AZE/009, “Development and application of sustainable sheep production and food value chains”, in Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan, small ruminant production plays an essential role in the livestock sector as it provides income for rural families and contributes to many households' livelihood.
Download or read book Farmer field schools for small scale livestock producers written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FAO Animal Production and Health Papers This guidance document helps decision-makers gain a basic knowledge of the farmer fields schools approach, learn about its contribution to the livelihoods of livestock-dependent communities and recognize the conditions required for the successful implementation of this approach.
Download or read book Farmer field schools gender equality social inclusion and community empowerment written by Chocholata, L. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2023-03-16 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Senegal has had extensive experience with the development and implementation of the farmer field school (FFS) approach across almost two decades. Building on this experience and that of the first phase of the scoping exercise conducted in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region (and using the same methodology), a field visit took place in order to support the efforts of FAO Senegal in its FFS-related work and assessments, as well as assist with the production and sharing of information at the regional level. The main objective was to collect and analyse the experiences of FFS members, graduates and practitioners in relation to gender equality, social inclusion, and individual and community empowerment, as well as changes to these as a result of participation in an FFS, while also confirming the relevance and/or importance of certain related thematic areas. The purpose of the initiative is to make farmers’ experiences more visible, and not only demonstrate the impact of FFS programmes, but also use these experiences in future implementations of the FFS approach. By identifying gaps in knowledge and opportunities, achievements and challenges, best practices and lessons learned, this exercise aims to provide an insight into and deeper understanding of the FFS’ gender and social dimensions. It offers the opportunity to reflect on this cross-cutting issue to allow these aspects to be better incorporated into the broader FFS discussion and its wider work. The exercise also identifies the needs of FFS facilitators in relation to gender equality, social inclusion and community empowerment, and examines the relevance of related concepts and approaches and its modalities. A review of the existing work on strengthening gender equality and improving access for vulnerable groups within the context of FFS programmes has also been conducted.
Download or read book Farmer field schools for family poultry producers written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-06-27 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A growing number of poultry farmer field schools (FFS) are being implemented in developing countries by a wide range of actors. Experience over the past two decades has shown that good-quality facilitation and learning activities are key to the success and long-term sustainability of poultry FFS. This manual provides practical information and activities that help facilitators establish and implement good-quality FFS. It focuses on working with women and men poultry producers to sustainably enhance production, productivity and marketing in any family poultry production system, ranging from extensive to small-scale intensified, in line with producers’ aspirations and local conditions. The first module of the manual covers poultry FFS establishment and learning activities, and the second provides “need-to-know” information on poultry production and health and FFS facilitation.
Download or read book Farmer field schools gender equality social inclusion and community empowerment written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2020-11-26 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The main objective of this exercise has been to collect and analyze the experiences of Farmer field schools (FFS)/Agro-pastoralist field school (APFS) members, graduates, and practitioners in relation to gender equality, social inclusion, and individual and community empowerment, as well as changes to these as a result of participation in an FFS/APFS. Furthermore, the purpose of the initiative is to make farmers’ experiences more visible, and not only demonstrate the impact of FFS/APFS programs but also use these experiences in future implementations of the FFS/APFS approach. By identifying gaps in knowledge and opportunities, achievements and challenges, and best practices and lessons learned, this exercise aims to provide an insight into and deeper understanding of the FFSs’/APFSs’ gender and social dimensions. It offers the opportunity to reflect on this cross-cutting issue to allow these aspects to be better incorporated into the broader FFS/APFS discussion and its wider work. The exercise also identifies the needs of FFS/APFS facilitators in their work with issues of gender equality, social inclusion and community empowerment, and examines the relevance of related concepts and approaches and its modalities . A review of the existing work on strengthening gender equality and improving access for vulnerable groups within the context of FFS/APFS programs has also been conducted. The exercise’s main thematic areas of the exercise are gender equality and women’s empowerment, social inclusion and community empowerment, with additional areas including nutrition-related decision-making and sustainable agricultural production, and in some cases, access to and control over natural resources.
Download or read book How can the farmer field school approach be used to support agroecological transitions in family farming in the Global South written by Bakker, T., Dugué, P., Roesch, K., Phillips, S., Poisot, A.S. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-05-20 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The key to implementing farmer field schools (FFS) is to trigger an experimentation process based on collaboration between a group of farmers and a facilitator. The purpose of this document is to provide project managers, technicians and designers with practical information on how to use the FFS approach and adapt it to their context of intervention to support the agroecological transition (AET). It also will be useful for research staff, leaders of farmers' organizations (FOs), teachers and students interested in using the FFS approach or better understand its benefits. The findings and recommendations proposed in this document are the result of a partnership between three institutions working to support AET in the Global South: CIRAD, FAO and the NGO AVSF (Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders). This document has four parts: -Definition of the FFS approach and its principles, and characterization of the advantages of this approach to supporting family farm AET in the Global South, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. -Presentation of several important points for a successful FFS, i.e. to strengthen farmers' skills to practically and collectively solve the problems they encounter. This second part is aimed specifically at development project managers and field technicians and facilitators. -Recommendations for project designers and managers for including FFS in development projects. -Proposal of ways in which FSS could evolve to better take into account the needs of farmers and other actors engaged in AET.
Download or read book Methodological recommendations to better evaluate the effects of farmer field schools mobilized to support agroecological transitions written by Bakker, T., Dugué, P., Roesch, K., Phillips, S. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The farmer field school (FFS) approach, based on group experimentation of innovative practices and/or farming systems, is in line with participatory farm advisory efforts. This approach has an ambitious goal: strengthening farmers’ skills so that they can adapt their practices, or even invent new ones, and move towards more agroecological farming systems. Assessing such an advisory intervention poses significant challenges. The purpose of this document is to propose fresh ways to update FFS assessment methods, notably the study of changes in farming practices and the detailed analysis of FFS outcomes. Project designers, managers, and evaluators are the target audience for this document, which may also interest teachers, researchers, students, and policymakers. The elements of the FFS assessment methodology presented here stem from the collaboration between three institutions, CIRAD, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), and the NGO AVSF (Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders), and fieldwork carried out in cotton-growing areas of Burkina Faso and Togo between 2018 and 2019. This document is divided into four parts. We first define FSS and the principles of the approach, then we detail the methods commonly used to assess FSS and the challenges involved. We then present a comprehensive assessment method using a case study in northern Togo. The final part of the report provides a basis for placing the proposed method within the process of designing an assessment for a project involving FSS.
Download or read book Conservation Agriculture written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2019-05-16 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is diverse, and has great potential to revitalize the economy of the countries in the region via improved productivity (efficiency) and higher total yield for food, fodder and fibre crops. Conservation agriculture can rise to the major challenge of making sustainable intensification of production systems a reality. In order for farmers to transition to appropriate sustainable production systems, the provision of an adequate enabling environment and access to knowledge and services, including extension, mechanization, inputs and market intelligence, are crucial. This Guide is designed to provide coherent technical tools to Farmer Field Schools and extension service facilitators of conservation agriculture. Furthermore, the Guide is suitable for use within universities’ agriculture curricula.
Download or read book Understanding the Farmer Field School agro ecosystem analysis board written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2021-10-27 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ecosystem-literacy training employed in FFS is vital for enabling smallholder farmers to master the management skills required for sustainable crop production intensification and diversification. This is radically different from the approach used by more traditional extension systems which are designed for “technology-transfer” purposes. Agro Ecosystem Analysis (AESA) is the cornerstone of the field school approach and is based on the ecosystem concept, in which each element at the crop/farm/field has its own, unique role. It involves crops or commodity observations, data collection, analysis, interpretations or discussions, and recommendations. Farmers use AESA method to understand the situation of crop ecosystem in the FFS approach. However, the method still included a reasonable level of complexity where the farmer has to deal with numeric and textual data. This remained a challenge for the facilitator to communicate with the farming community, who cannot easily write and read the observations and perform analysis on a paper sheet and also in the presentation of the same AESA sheet. The New AESA Board is devised to mitigate the challenge of illiteracy and some other challenges in participatory group learning including the difference of age, education level, gender equality, wealth position, social activism in the field school. The pre-designed AESA board provides equal opportunity to all participants including literate, illiterate or poor literacy services. This AESA board along with analytical color language named Jam's 4 Colors by FAO Pakistan remains among the top innovations of 2020.
Download or read book Facilitators guide book for farmers field schools written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document offers technical guidance in establishing and managing farmers' field schools and supporting local farmers in rice crop management, from testing soil texture and seedling preparation to water management and yield calculation.
Download or read book Save and Grow written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-06-22 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book offers a rich toolkit of relevant, adoptable ecosystem-based practices that can help the world's 500 million smallholder farm families achieve higher productivity, profitability and resource-use efficiency while enhancing natural capital.
