Building Resilient Agricultural Systems through Farmer Field Schools

Plant Production and Protection Division

Building Resilient Agricultural Systems through Farmer Field Schools

Integrated Production and Pest Management Programme

Year of publication 2015

Pages 16 p.

Author Plant Production and Protection Division

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) Since 2001, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has worked with more than 180 000 farmers in West Africa to build more productive and resilient agricultural systems through the Integrated Production and Pest Management Programme (IPPM). Based on a well-tested farmer field school (FFS) approach, this participatory, community-based educational method combines principles and practices from community development, non-formal education, agroecology and adaptive ecosystem management.

Language English

Also available in:

French

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Construire des systèmes agricoles résilients par le biais des champs écoles des producteurs 2015

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Depuis 2001, l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) a travaillé avec plus de 180 000 agriculteurs en Afrique de l’Ouest pour développer des systèmes agricoles plus productifs et résilients à travers le programme de gestion intégrée de la production et des déprédateurs (GIPD).
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Burkina Faso's socio-economic characteristics and geographical location make it vulnerable to disasters in general and climate change in particular. According to the country's projections, climate change will lead to: a decrease in groundwater recharge; the disappearance of certain surface watercourses and forest tributaries; disruptions in the plant growth cycle as well as in crop, livestock and natural resource management systems. The project, implemented by FAO from May 2015 to August 2020, aimed to “enhance the capacity of Burkina Faso’s agricultural and pastoral sectors to cope with climate change, by mainstreaming climate change adaptation (CCA) practices and strategies into on-going agricultural development initiatives and agricultural policies and programming and upscaling of farmers adoption of CCA technologies and practices through a network of already established farmer field schools (FFS)”. The project has satisfactorily contributed to building the capacity to adapt to climate change in the agricultural and pastoral sectors and in the populations of vulnerable areas of Burkina Faso. More specifically, the project has contributed highly to the sustainable management of 20 432.75 ha of land, including 15 632.75 ha of cultivated land and 4 800 ha of pasture. The project built the capacities of 29 201 beneficiaries, including 10 528 (57 percent women) in farmer field schools/agro-pastoral field schools. However, this result is weakened by the lack of anticipation in formalising collaboration with co-financing partners involved in these activities.
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Also available in:

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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.