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This paper reports on how the farmer field school (FFS) approach has been used to successfully catalyse important changes among stakeholders in the savannah zones of West Africa. Improved agronomic practices, better decision-making skills and diversification of smallholder farms in developing countries are shown to provide farmers the opportunity to [...]

The FFS method was introduced and adapted to potato-related problems in Peru by the International Potato Center (CIP) and the NGO CARE-Peru in 1997. Since then, a scaling-up process of the methodology has taken place following three phases: 1) validation (1997-1999) in which CIP and CARE adapted and assessed FFS; [...]

The main purpose of this Evaluation was to analyse and to document – in a gender perspective – the results and the lessons learned from using the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in the Agriculture Sector Programme Support Phase II (ASPS II) in Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) and the [...]

A people-centred IPM movement has grown in Asia since the 1980s, and is now spreading to parts of Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. During this period, many variants have evolved, and continue to evolve, within the specific natural and operational environments of different countries, cultures, and communities. From [...]

Cassava is a major crop used for human consumption, animal feed and bioenergy production, with about 3 million smallholder farmers in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) deriving their livelihoods from the crop. In 2008, the cassava pink mealybug (CM) invaded Thailand, resulting in extensive crop damage. To combat it, the [...]

This paper describes and highlights lessons learned from several research and development organisations in western Kenya using different community-based approaches to scale up agroforestry and other biological options to improve soil fertility among resource- poor smallholders. The main benefits of such approaches are that the link between farmers, government extension, [...]

In view of the market failures and the state failures inherent in providing agricultural extension, community-based approaches, which involve farmers‘ groups, have gained increasing importance in recent years as a ―third way‖ to provide this service. The paper discusses the conceptual underpinnings of community-based extension approaches, highlights theoretical and practical [...]

The purpose of this book is to provide information on how to transform and strengthen pluralistic agricultural extension and advisory systems in moving toward the broader goal of increasing farm income and improving rural livelihoods. The focus of this book is primarily on the technical knowledge, management skills, and information services that small-scale farm [...]

The Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP) has been implementing IPM farmer field schools (FFS) with small scale farmers in Eastern Uganda since 2001. This study assesses the impact of cowpea-specific IPM FFS on IPM knowledge and the theoretical link between increased knowledge on the adoption of [...]

This paper aims to ascertain why farmers are not accessing information and where information gaps exist, despite the variety of extension approaches in India. Using information provision and access as the basis for analysis, the paper reviews some of the major agricultural extension programs in India by considering their ability [...]