Cost and Benefits of Running a Tea-Based Farmer Field School in Kenya

Conventional approaches to agricultural extension based on top–down technology transfer and information dissemination models are inadequate to help smallholder farmers tackle increasingly complex agroclimatic adversities. Innovative service delivery alternatives, such as field schools, exist but are mostly implemented in isolationistic silos with little effort to integrate them for cost reduction and greater technical effectiveness. This article presents a proof-of-concept effort to develop an innovative, climate-resilient field school methodology, integrating the attributes of Farmers’ Field School, Climate Field School, Climate-Smart Agriculture and indigenous technical knowledge of weather indicators in one package to address the gaps, while sensitizing actors on implications for policy advocacy. Some 661 local facilitators, 32% of them women and 54% youth, were trained on the innovation across East Africa. The initiative has reached 36 agribusiness champions working with 237,250 smallholder farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Initial results show that the innovation is strengthening adaptation behaviour of agribusiness champions, farmers and supply chain actors, and reducing training costs. Preliminary findings indicate that the process is rapidly shaping group adaptive thinking. The integrated approach offers lessons to transform extension and to improve food security and resilience. The approach bundles the costs of previously separate processes into the cost of one joint, simultaneous process, while also strengthening technical service delivery through bundled messaging. Experience from this initiative can be leveraged to develop scalable participatory extension and training models, especially scaling out through farmer-to-farmer replication and scaling up through farmer group networks.

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Empowerment of Women in Farming

Jarial,

Abdullahi,

Kaur

et al. 2024

Advances in Environmental Engineering and Green Technologies

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Since its start in 1993, the Farmer Field School (FFS) programme has trained farmers to use fewer pesticides and integrated pest management (IPM) methods, which has led to higher crop yields and profits. Although women contribute significantly to agriculture, the term 'farmer' still has a male connotation whenever it is used. Therefore, the present systematic review examined the FFS impact and challenges on women farmers. FFS trained men; only after 2010 did women's integration in FFS increase. Impacts for both sexes included enhanced knowledge, incomes, sustainable practices, social capital, and food security. However, challenges persist in FFS, such as financial constraints, inadequate curricula, and gender barriers. Recommendations include tailoring FFS to women's needs, policy integration, multimodal training, rigorous impact evaluations, and exploring digital agriculture convergence. Inclusivity of men is crucial for gender equity and extend FFS's resources for sustainable agricultural development.

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Cost and Benefits of Running a Tea-Based Farmer Field School in Kenya

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Farmer field school: Non-formal education to enhance livelihoods of Indonesian farmer communities

Farmer field school: Non-formal education to enhance livelihoods of Indonesian farmer communities

Transforming Agricultural Extension Service Delivery through Innovative Bottom–Up Climate-Resilient Agribusiness Farmer Field Schools

Empowerment of Women in Farming

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