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Farmer Field Schools: Key Practices for DRR Implementers









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    Document
    Voices from the field: participatory approaches of Climate smart agriculture practices, Farmer field schools and indigenous Chakra systems
    Concept Note and Agenda
    2021
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    Promoting community-based approaches is crucial to finding concrete, adapted and sustainable solutions to climate change in the agriculture sector because it enables integrating scientific insights into local knowledge systems, and empowering local actors to take the lead role in improving their production systems. Organized by FAO in collaboration with the Government of Senegal, the Government of Quebec, the Ministry of Ecological Transition of Italy, the Government of Zambia and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany, this event aims at highlighting the potential of community-based, bottom-up strategies in agriculture to implement and scale up climate change commitments. In particular, the event will showcase three approaches that leverage this potential: Farmer Field Schools (FFS), indigenous Chakra systems and Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).
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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Good and promising practices. Integrating the methodologies of farmer field schools into universities’ curricula: The case of Kenya’s Pwani University 2021
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    Farmer Field School (FFS) was introduced by FAO and partners more than 30 years ago as an alternative to the prevailing top-down extension approach. FFS promotes farm-based experimentation, group organization, and local decision-making through discovery-based learning methods. FFS involves season-long learning of field-based groups of 25 to 30 farmers, who meet regularly to learn through discovery, experimentation, and share the experience. FFS combines local and scientific knowledge and aims at making farmers better decision-makers. Whereas the conventional technology transfer approach focuses primarily on developing and transforming technologies that work for farmers, the FFS approach, on the other hand, empowers farmers to become better decision-makers towards developing or adapting technologies that work and are acceptable to them. Farmers, agro-pastoralists, and fisherfolk worldwide have benefited from the unique ability of FFS programs to address their technological, social, and economic needs. As a result of this success, the demand for FFS programs continues to increase. In some countries like Kenya, the approach is institutionalized in extension systems and NGO programs. Since then, member countries in the Eastern African subregion have expressed their interest in scaling up existing FFS initiatives and integrating the methodology in national extension policies, strategies, and programs. In response to this need, the FAO Subregional Office for Eastern Africa (SFE) developed a project, titled, “Institutionalization of Field Schools (FS) in Extension Curricula of Institutions of Higher Learning in Eastern Africa”, aimed at developing and putting into practice a contextualized and practical approach to mainstream FFS into the agricultural extension.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Report of the knowledge exchange on the promotion of efficient rice farming practices, farmer field school curriculum development, and value chains, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 26-29 September 2016 2016
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    A total of 33 participants (10 women) participated in the Regional Rice Initiative – Workshop cum Study Tour on knowledge exchange on Farmer Field School curriculum development for promotion of efficient rice farming practices and value chains. Field visits were made to Sleman (Rice-Fish farming and “jajar legowo”) and Boyalali (organic rice value chains) organized by FAO Indonesia in collaboration with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and the international civil society organization Vredeseilanden (VECO) and its local partner CSO Aliansi Petani Padi Organik Boyolali (APOLLI). Following the study tour, the regional workshop was held to: (1) facilitate the regional exchange of knowledge and experiences on sustainable intensification of rice production, including Rice-Fish farming systems and rice value chains; and (2) take stock of Farmer Field School curricula currently available, introduce the FFS Guidance Document and identify opportunities for strengthening of the FFS cu rricula. The participants included representatives from government and civil society organization implementing partners and principal investigators engaged in results assessment in pilot RRI-Phase 2 countries (Indonesia, Lao PDR and Philippines). Results of the assessment studies will be communicated to national and local government for informing policy and for mobilization of funding support for up-scaling of the RRI Farmers Field Schools on Save and Grow-Sustainable Intensification of Rice Pro duction.

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