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This report unpacks and explores farmer-managed seed systems and their contribution to food and seed sovereignty, including the benefits they provide to farming communities as a part of their sociocultural, economic, spiritual and ecological livelihoods. The report highlights, exposes and explores how these systems work. It builds on reports of [...]

In this module we will prepare the Farmer Field School (FFS) site and the plots of land on which we will do the fieldwork and testing of lines for the next season. The way we design the plots and allocate each of the lines that we sow should minimize the [...]

This manual provides instructions and background for the SD=HS Training of Trainers (ToT) courses. In these courses (which mostly take up around three weeks), trainers are prepared to facilitate a season of Farmer Field School activities on Participatory Plant Breeding. Topics include the organisation of a Farmer Field School, the [...]

The book systematizes experiences of hundreds of Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in Colombia, developed by FAO and other institutions, in multiple social projects to strengthen communities and family farming organizations. These efforts were aimed at promoting food security, self- consumption, livelihoods, social inclusion of ethnic groups, sustainable intensification [...]

Recurrent drought, degraded rangelands and reduced access to traditional grazing lands have left pastoral communities in the Horn of Africa’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) more vulnerable and facing severe livestock feed shortages. During dry spells, pastoral communities suffer from food and nutrition insecurity, as well as shrinking incomes occasioned [...]

This curriculum focuses on how to grow beans and other legumes for seed, since it is difficult to find a large selection of varieties available to plant that are good for the soil and eating. This guide also provides information on how to grow seed that can be sold through [...]

Key guidelines and advice on effectively and sustainably managing FAW include: Visit the field and look at the status of the crop: its health and signs of presence of the FAW. Farmers can take direct action by crushing egg masses and young larvae. FAW damage can look alarming, but maize plants have [...]

The farmer field school (FFS) concept has been widely adopted, and such schools have the reputation of strengthening farmers’ capacity to innovate. Although their impact has been studied widely, what is involved in their scaling and in their becoming an integral part of agricultural innovation systems has been studied [...]

Video recorded during the webinar organized by FAO and Dgroups on 22 March 2018 explaining the role of discussion groups to strengthen practitioners' networks and exchange of knowldge.

Case study Science Field Shops (SFSs) in Indonesia promote farmers’ agrometeorological learning enabling them to adapt their farming activities to cope with increasing climate variability. Seven climate services forming the core of SFSs are based on transdisciplinary collaboration between farmers and scientists.