全球农民田间学校平台

农民田间学校是什么?

农民田间学校是以学员为中心的学习模式。采用参与式方法,创造有利于学习的环境:学员可以在无风险的环境下分享知识和经验。通过直接观察、讨论和决策的实际田间操作方法鼓励学员“边做边学”。在当地生态系统和社会经济环境下通过田间操作,试验、验证和融合当地知识与外部科学见解。以社区为基础对问题进行分析是农民田间学校小组因地制宜制定具体课程的出发点。农民田间学校涉及更加广泛的技术问题:土壤、作物和水资源管理,种子繁育和品种测试、病虫害综合治理、农牧、水产养殖、农林业、营养、价值链、与市场接轨等。

粮农组织和其他发展组织一直在超过90个国家对农民田间学校进行宣传,推动农民田间学校在应对一系列广泛问题和技术难题发挥积极作用。

农民田间学校为实践型小组学习提供场地,提高当地农民的批判分析与决策能力。农民田间学校活动主要在田间展开,包括根据当地具体情况开展解决问题的试验。学员能够通过观察、分析并将新想法应用于自己的田间地头,以提高能力水平,促进农业生产,改善民生。农民田间学校积极推动了个人、家庭和社区能力和凝聚力。

农民田间学校的学习计划时长是由相关生物周期的整个生产周期决定。在一个典型的农民田间学校里,一群农民、牧民或渔民会在经过训练的引导员的指导下,在当地环境下定期见面。这些学员会围绕学习主题,提出关于当地生产系统的观点,对旨在解决问题的两个或两个以上的实践方法进行观察并对产生的效果进行比较,其中一个实践方法会是当地的实践方法,另一个则是建议采用的“最佳实践”方法。学员通过农业生态系统分析方法,在田地里进行观察和分析,开展讨论并做出决定。

生产季结束后,农民田间学校小组会有一个“田间日”活动,与当地主管部门、农业从业者和其他农民分享发现与成果。也鼓励农民田间学校之间进行互访。在参加农民田间学校后开展的许多活动促进了社区的发展。

高质量农民田间学校计划的一个重要环节就是培训将能够支持农民田间学校发展的引导员。“农民田间学校培训师”活动为引导员提供以田间操作为基础、理论与实践相结合且时长为一个生产周期的培训,以帮助引导员做好准备。引导员一般是非政府组织工作人员、推广员、农民组织职工和农民。有些农民田间学校计划重点培训当地农民成为引导员。这将进一步提高活动的效果,因为这将激励这些农民学到有用的技能和知识,回家与他人分享。这会加强社区的“获得感” ,也能够促进可持续发展。通过在国际和区域层面推动在农民田间学校计划发展方面有着成功经验的国家派出培训师进行互动交流,也能够保证培训的质量。

农民田间学校国家计划不仅仅是数个农民田间学校的集合——农民田间学校国家计划主要是在多层面积累社会和人力资金,拓宽与“社区倾听者俱乐部”等其他参与式、以社区为基础的倡议的合作。经过一段时间的发展后,农民田间学校国家计划还会包括获取信用和复原力资金的内容,还会与价值链、营养教育活动和政策支持联系起来。

农民田间学校不仅能够提高农民的技术能力和决策水平,还能对社区和家庭之间的互动产生重要影响。农民田间学校加强了社区关系,促进倾听他人观点,形成和表达个人见解,通过沟通和学习寻求共同的解决方案。

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A whole production cycle, related to the relevant biological cycle, sets the duration of an FFS learning programme. In a typical FFS, a group of farmers/herders/fishermen meet regularly in a local field setting, under the guidance of a trained facilitator. They make observations on the local production system, focussing on the topic of study and observe and compare the effects of two or more alternative practices aiming to address the problem, one following local practice, the other testing the proposed ‘best practice’.

Participants discuss and take decision by conducting observations and analysis directly on the plots, through Agro Eco System Analysis (AESA). At the end of the season, the FFS group holds a field day to share findings with local authorities, agriculture workers and other farmers. Exchange visits with other FFS are also encouraged. Post FFS activities enhance community development. An essential element of good quality FFS programs is the training of facilitators who will support the process of FFS. ‘FFS Master Trainers’ prepare facilitators in season long field based programmes complementing practice with theory. Facilitators typically include NGO and extension workers, farmer organization’s staff and farmers.

Some FFS programs focus on training local farmers as facilitators. This may lead to higher levels of success as farmers are motivated to return home with useful skills and knowledge to share. This strengthens community ownership and may be a source of sustainability. The high quality of training may be ensured with exchange of Master Trainers, at international and at regional level, from countries with good experience in FFS program development.

FFS national programmes are more than just a collection of FFS— they typically work at multiple levels to build social and human capital and broaden their collaboration with other participatory, community-based initiatives, such as the Community Listeners’ Clubs. Over time, they have also included access to credit and resilience funds, linkages to value chains, nutritional education activities and policy support.

FFS have proved to strengthen not only technical skills and decision-making capacities of farmers, but also to significantly influence the community as well as intra-household dynamics. FFS strengthen community relations and the capacity of listening to others’ opinion, to formulate and express personal points of view and to find together a common solution through the process of communication and learning.


Farmers taking the lead: 30 years of Farmer Field Schools

Key Resources

This brochure captures the major developments of the farmer field school over 30 years, highlighting innovations in different regions and contexts. This document summarizes key messages on FFS and provides insights for new directions 

Success stories

Here you may find a selection of stories from the field, reporting experiences of FFS participants, or facilitators, or FFS experts.

Read more stories