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 FAO publications catalogue 2023 written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2023-10-10 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This catalogue aims to improve the dissemination and outreach of FAO’s knowledge products and overall publishing programme. By providing information on its key publications in every area of FAO’s work, and catering to a range of audiences, it thereby contributes to all organizational outcomes. From statistical analysis to specialized manuals to children’s books, FAO publications cater to a diverse range of audiences. This catalogue presents a selection of FAO’s main publications, produced in 2023 or earlier, ranging from its global reports and general interest publications to numerous specialized titles. In addition to the major themes of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, it also includes thematic sections on climate change, economic and social development, and food safety and nutrition.
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 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 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 Agroecological Transitions From Theory to Practice in Local Participatory Design written by Jacques-Eric Bergez and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-02-28 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Open Access book presents feedback from the ‘Territorial Agroecological Transition in Action’- TATA-BOX research project, which was devoted to these specific issues. The multidisciplinary and multi-organisation research team steered a four-year action-research process in two territories of France. It also presents: i) the key dimensions to be considered when dealing with agroecological transition: diversity of agriculture models, management of uncertainties, polycentric governance, autonomies, and role of actors’ networks; ii) an operational and original participatory process and associated boundary tools to support local stakeholders in shifting from a shared diagnosis to a shared action plan for transition, and in so doing developing mutual understanding and involvement; iii) an analysis of the main effects of the methodology on research organisation and on stakeholders’ development and application; iv) critical analysis and foresights on the main outcomes of TATA-BOX, provided by external researchers.
Download or read book Institutionalizing farmer field schools written by Neza, B.N., Higiro, J., Mwangi, L.W., Ochatum, N. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2021-10-28 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investing in farmers – or agriculture human capital – is crucial to addressing challenges in our agri-food systems. A global study carried out by the FAO Investment Centre and the International Food Policy Research Institute, with support from the CGIAR Research Programme on Policies, Institutions and Markets and the FAO Research and Extension Unit, looks at agriculture human capital investments, from trends to promising initiatives. One of the nine featured case studies is the Twigire Muhinzi National Extension System in Rwanda. Twigire Muhinzi is the government’s homegrown, decentralized and farmer-oriented national system based on two complementary types of farmer-to-farmer extension approaches: farmer promoters and farmer field schools. The model showcases how an extension approach can improve farmer skills, knowledge and empowerment and thus lead to enhanced adoption of relevant technologies and practices. In Rwanda, mainstreaming the farmer field school approach into the national extension system along with financial support from public-private partnerships contributed to its scaling up. This publication is part of the Country Investment Highlights series under the FAO Investment Centre's Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.
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 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 Integrated Pest Management written by Rajinder Peshin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-03-10 with total page 627 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Integrated Pest Management – Dissemination and Impact, Volume 2 is a sequel to Integrated Pest Management – Innovation-DevelopmentProcess, Volume 1. The book focuses on the IPM systems in the developed countries of North America, Europe and Australia, and the developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa. One of the major impedimentsin the dissemination and adoption of the IPM innovation is the complexity of the technology and reaching the vast population of farmers especially in the developing countries. The IPM-innovation development process is incomplete without the diffusion and adoption of IPM methods by the end users, and through its consequences. In spite of all the efforts in the developed and developing countries, the adoption of IPM is still low with few exceptions. The book covers the underlying concepts and methodologies of the diffusion of innovation theory and the program evaluation; and reviews the progress and impact of IPM programs implemented in the industrialized, the green revolution and the subsistence agricultural systems of the world. Forty-four experts from entomology, plant pathology, environmental science, agronomy, anthropology, economics and extensioneducationfromAfrica, Asia, Australia, Europe,NorthAmerica and South America have discussed impact of IPM with an interdisciplinary perspective. Each one of the experts is an authority in his or her eld of expertise. The researchers, farmers’education,supportingpoliciesofthegovernmentsandmarketforcesarethe elements of the IPM innovation system to achieve wider adoption of IPM strategy in agriculture.
Download or read book Sending Farmers Back to School written by Gershon Feder and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Rural communication services for family farming in Africa written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org. [Author]. This book was released on 2024-04-11 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Global Action Plan of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019–2028 (UNDFF) recognizes the need to promote Rural Communication Services (RCS) to advance sustainable food systems. [Author] RCS comprise demand-led communication processes, media applications and institutional arrangements to respond to the needs of family farmers and rural populations in a sustained and inclusive manner. [Author] This report summarizes the results and takeaways of online consultations and a virtual Regional Forum on RCS for Family Farming in Africa, organized in 2022 by Yenkasa Africa, a regional communication initiative, in collaboration with FAO, farmers’ organizations, rural institutions and communication networks. [Author]
Download or read book Farmer Field Schools for Improving Farming Practices and Farmer Outcomes written by Hugh Waddington and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 1980s there has been a decline or stagnation in public expenditure on agriculture in most developing countries (Akroyd & Smith, 2007). Likewise, the proportion of official development assistance (ODA) going to agriculture is estimated to have declined from around 20 per cent in 1979 to a low of 3.7 per cent in 2006, and has remained around 5 per cent since (Cabral & Howell, 2012). As noted in the World Development Report on Agriculture, "extension services, after a period of neglect, are now back on the development agenda ... [but] more evaluation, learning, and knowledge sharing are required to capitalize on this renewed momentum" (World Bank, 2007, p. 175). Poverty reduction strategies in 24 African countries also listed extension as a top agricultural priority (InterAcademy Council, 2004; cited in Davis, 2006). Nevertheless, age-old questions in agriculture remain, including how to raise yields and farmer incomes, how to ensure environmentally sustainable development, and how to empower the poorest farmers and particular groups such as women farmers in developing skills in adoption and resilience to shocks. There is increasing criticism as to whether extension services are capable of achieving these broad objectives, or whether a more intensive approach is required such as that provided by the farmer field school initiative. Farmer field schools (FFS) are a common approach used to transfer specialist knowledge, promote skills and empower farmers around the world. At least 10 million farmers in 90 countries have attended such schools. FFS are implemented by facilitators using participatory "discovery-based" learning based on adult education principles. Many different implementing bodies have been involved. Field schools have a range of objectives, including tackling overuse of pesticides and other harmful practices, improving agricultural and environmental outcomes, and empowering disadvantaged farmers such as women. The authors conducted a systematic review of evidence on FFS implementation to investigate whether FFS make a difference, to which farmers, and why or why not. The authors synthesised quantitative evidence on intervention effects using statistical meta-analysis, and qualitative evidence on the barriers and enablers of effectiveness using a theory of change framework. The results of statistical meta-analysis provide evidence that FFS are beneficial in improving intermediate outcomes relating to knowledge learned and adoption of beneficial practices, as well as final outcomes relating to agricultural production and farmers' incomes. The findings suggest this to be the case for FFS promoting integrated pest management (IPM) technology, as well as other techniques. However, the rigorous impact evaluation evidence base is small and there are no studies that the authors were able to identify as having a low risk of bias. There is no evidence that neighbouring non-participant farmers benefit from diffusion of IPM knowledge from FFS participants. Therefore, they do not experience improvements in IPM adoption and agriculture outcomes. The evidence of positive effects on agricultural outcomes is largely limited to short-term evaluations of pilot programmes. In the few examples where FFS have been scaled up, the evidence does not suggest they have been effective in improving agricultural outcomes among participating farmers or neighbouring non-participants. Although empowerment is a major objective of many FFS, very few studies have collected information on this outcome in a rigorous manner. A few studies suggest farmers feel greater self-confidence. What explains the lack of scalable effects among FFS participants, or diffusion of IPM practices among the community? FFS differ from standard agricultural extension interventions, which tend to focus on disseminating knowledge of more simple practices such as application of fertiliser and pesticides, or adoption of improved seeds. The experiential nature of the training, and the need for the benefits of the FFS technology to be observed, are barriers to spontaneous diffusion. Furthermore, the effectiveness of scaled-up interventions has been hampered by problems in recruiting and training appropriate facilitators at scale. The review provides implications for policy, practice and research. The references are organised into the following groups: (1) Included Effectiveness Studies; (2) Included Qualitative Studies; (3) Studies Excluded from Synthesis; and (4) Additional References. Reasons for exclusion of marginal studies are given in Appendix B. Appendices Contain: (1) Global project portfolio review; (2) Example search strategy; (3) Record of database searches; (4) Record of internet searches; (5) Journals handsearched; (6) Reasons for exclusion of marginal studies; (7) Data collection codes; (8) Critical appraisal methods; (9) Effect size calculations; (10) Synthetic effect sizes; (11) Meta-analysis of bivariate and partial effect sizes; (12) Included effectiveness study descriptives; (13) Detailed outcomes reported; (14) Results of critical appraisal: impact evaluations; (15) Results of critical appraisal: qualitative evaluations; (16) Meta-analyses by programme name; (17) Meta-analyses including all standard errors corrected for possible unit of analysis errors; (18) Meta-analysis findings: additional analysis; and (19) Descriptive synthesis of findings from qualitative studies.
Download or read book Farmer Field School curriculum on Climate Smart Agriculture in central dry zone Myanmar written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2019-03-18 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The FAO is implementing a project entitled “Sustainable Cropland and forest management in priority agro-ecosystems of Myanmar (SLM-GEF)” in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project promotes climate smart agriculture (CSA) policies and practices at different levels in Myanmar. In the field, the project is active in five pilot Townships from three different agro-ecological zones implementing various relevant CSA initiatives mainly using Farmer Field Schools (FFS) models. In order to implement FFS effectively in a proper way, the project has made efforts to develop FFS Curricula for each of the above mentioned three agro-ecological zones with support from AVSI Foundation as a Service Provider. Accordingly, the FFS Curriculum has been developed for central dry zone agro-ecological zone to be used by FFS Facilitators, Extension Workers and FFS Committee/farmers to implement FFS on CSA techniques and practices in systematic ways. As per the initial need assessment and value chain analysis, seasonal crops of groundnut, green gram, chickpea and pigeon pea have been identified as the priority crops in central dry zone of Mandalay Region based on technical feasibility, the crops already being grown in the area and have high market demand and contribute to improved nutrition of men and women and their households, especially children, the elderly and the disabled. Therefore, the FFS module and FFS activities will cover those three prioritized crops. Similarly, the project focus in the central dry zone areas is also to promote agro-forestry practices and hence, the prioritised crops will be grown with some perennial crops such as mango, shaw-phyu (Sterculia versicolor) etc under agro-forestry concept. Saplings of multipurpose Gliricidia sepium will also be planted as windbreaks. Based on the needs and crops prioritized, prevailing cropping systems and discussion with the respective DoA Offices in Townships, there are seven major cropping systems identified for both the Townships. Therefore, the FFS implementation will cover all the seven cropping systems. The curriculum has identified several modules of FFS meetings/trainings to be held at the FFS sites for the FFS Committee members, usually in every month, in addition to a Pre-FFS Introductory Meeting held before starting the formal FFS programme. There are some technical topics identified in the curriculum to be covered in every FFS meeting/training. It is expected that the FFS curriculum will help the FFS Facilitators, Extension Workers and FFS Committee/farmers to implement FFS on CSA techniques and practices in systematic and proper ways
Download or read book Campesino a Campesino written by Eric Holt-Giménez and published by Food First Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Campesino a Campesino tells the inspiring story of a true grassroots movement: poor peasant farmers teaching one another how to protect their environment while still earning a living. The first book in English about the farmer-led sustainable agriculture movement in Latin America, Campesino a Campesino includes lots of first-person stories and commentary from the farmer-teachers, mixing personal accounts with detailed analysis of the political, socioeconomic, and ecological factors that galvanized the movement. Campesino farmer leading a farmer to farmer training session in Mexico by Eric Holt-GimenezMany years ago, author Eric Holt-Gim�nez was a volunteer trying to teach sustainable agriculture techniques in the dusty highlands of central Mexico, with little success. Near the end of his tenure, he invited a group of visiting Guatemalan farmers to teach a course in his village. What he saw was like nothing he had known. The Guatemalans used parables, stories, and humor to present agricultural improvement to their Mexican compadres as a logical outcome of clear thinking and compassion; love of farming, of family, of nature, and of community. Rather than try to convince the Mexicans of their innovations, they insisted they experiment new things on a small scale first to see how well they worked. And they saw themselves as students, respecting the Mexicans' deep, lifelong knowledge of their own particular land and climate. All they asked in return was that the Mexicans turn around and share their new knowledge with others--which they did. CAC campo3_photo by Food FirstThis exchange was typical of a grassroots movement called Campesino a Campesino, or Farmer to Farmer, which has grown up in southern Mexico and war-torn Central America over the last three decades. In the book Campesino a Campesino, Holt-Gim�nez writes the first history of the movement, describing the social, political, economic, and environmental circumstances that shape it. The voices and stories of dozens of farmers in the movement are captured, bringing to vivid life this hopeful story of peasant farmers helping one another to farm sustainably, protecting their land, their environment, and their families' future.
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 Agroecology and the Struggle for Food Sovereignty in the Americas written by Avery Cohn and published by IIED. This book was released on 2006 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
