ILR I

1. Farmer Field Schools A different research approach The FFS approach was developed by FAO in South East Asia in the late 80’s for small-scale rice farmers to investigate and learn for themselves the skills required for, and the benefits to be obtained from, adopting integrated pest management (IPM) practices in their paddy fields. During the 1990’s an estimated 2 million farmers were trained in South and South East Asia (Pontius et al., 2000). In Africa, FAO is currently working in over a dozen countries from Senegal to South Africa (Simpson & Owens, 2002). Information dissemination Knowledge generation The farmers, the extension officers and researchers are all stakeholders, participating from the initiation of the research (Lovell et al., 2002) Participatory data collection Lessons learned and outcomes • Better understanding of the modalities of the FFS methodology and livestock extension policies • Hands on experience in creating an environment where the poor are able to test and adapt technologies, with opportunities to feed back to researchers • Recognition of ILRI as an actor in developing extension methodologies Adoption of the livestock methodology • Kenyan Development Dairy Project: Land O’ Lakes funded by USAID • Special programme for Food Security (FAO) in Lesotho and Swaziland • Farming In Tsetse Control Area (FITCA) projects (Uganda ,Kenya and Tanzania) • CABI (Swiss grant project): Community Based Sustainable Resource Management Project in Pakistan ILRI International Livestock Research Institute Livestock Farmer Field Schools (FFS) Integrated Livestock Management Bruno Minjauw, Gertrude Buyu & Dannie Romney b.minjauw@cgiar.org Livestock FFS project • 3 year project funded by DFID-AHP and FAO • Under the umbrella of the Smallholder Dairy Project (MoA/KARI/ILRI). • Objective: Test and adapt the FFS methodology for livestock purposes taking the smallholder dairy production system as an example. • Twenty-four livestock FFS with similar characteristics and interests in dairy production were established in five different agro-ecological zones in Central, Rift Valley and Coastal Provinces of Kenya FFS Objectives FFS Techniques Participatory Epidemiology FFS Principles FFS Methodology To enhance farmer’s capacity to analyse their production systems and to identify their main constraints To test possible solutions suitable to their farming systems using comparative experiments Build on existing knowledge enabling farmers to adapt and/or adopt existing or new technologies, so that they become more responsive to changing conditions and take advantage of emerging opportunities FFS are based on an innovative, participatory and interactive learning approach in which farmers are empowered to direct the learning process Focus groups of 25-35 farmers with common interests Weekly meetings of 3-4 hours A grant or loan of 600 USD to finance their activities and the facilitation costs • Agro-ecological analysis (AESA) • Systematic observation • Problem identification • Introduction of recording systems & analyses of change • Participatory Technology Development (PTD) • Design comparative studies to test possible solutions or available technologies • Special topics • Ensure demand led information dissemination • Opportunities for non-livestock related issues Participatory epidemiology is based on participatory techniques for the harvesting of qualitative epidemiological data contained within community observations, existing veterinary knowledge and traditional oral history Participatory epidemiology techniques integrated in the training of trainer course Increase awareness of disease prevalence Better understanding of the farmer’s perception of disease risk What is relevant and meaningful is decided by the learner and must be discovered by the learner Learning is a consequence of experience Cooperative approaches are enabling Learning is an evolutionary process with open communication, confrontation, acceptance, respect and the right to makes mistakes Each person’s experience of reality is unique Next research questions New Scientific collaborations • What are the pros and cons of the FFS methodology in comparison with other extension approaches? • What are the policy and institutional parameters needed for successful implementation of FFS? • What are the minimum monitoring and evaluation techniques needed to improve the FFS? • How can we improve the sustainability of the FFS by testing alternative funding approaches? • Are FFS suitable network for epidemio-surveillance or market information dissemination? • What are the impacts of FFS on livelihoods in the short, medium and long term? • International Trypanotolerant Centre, • The Gambia • Institut Sénégalais de recherches agricoles (ISRA), Sénégal • Ministère de l’Agriculture et de L’ élevage, Benin • Dept. Vet. Parasit., Makerere University, Uganda • Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Animal Health and Welfare, Denmark Recognition as a relevant partner • Network for Smallholder Poultry Development, DANIDA • VETAID:'Mitigating the Effects of HIV/AIDS on Food Security and Agriculture in Eastern and Southern Africa‘, November 2003, Mozambique • Agricultural Support Programme (ASP) Kenya, DANIDA. “Working participatory – not a change of methods but of attitude”,January 2004, Kenya Additional roles of ILRI Building capacity, research support and technical backstopping to enable partners to test and adapt the FFS methodology to their environment Acknowledgements: All colleagues from the Ministry of Agriculture, ILRI, DFID-AHP and FAO and Dr Nancy McCarthy from IFPRI.