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This document focuses on the implementation phase of farmer field school (FFS) programmes and provides guidance and tools that will help farmer field schools to bring about the change expected by the programme and the communities it supports, by setting up a robust monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) system. It [...]

Forestry and agroforestry education and extension programmes for forest and farm communities have not kept up with needs in many places. However, the success of achieving international sustainability goals and implementing global commitments with respect to sustainable production, halting land degradation, ecosystem restoration and climate change mitigation is contingent on [...]

This document builds on efforts by practitioners to improve FFS processes and adopt to new ways of facilitating farmer field school (FFS) processes including during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when governments imposed lockdowns across the globe, which made normal face-to-face facilitation difficult. This document is primarily intended to [...]

Agricultural expansion is responsible for almost 90 percent of deforestation worldwide, making it a leading driver of biodiversity and habitat loss. Cropland expansion is the main driver, causing almost 50 percent of global deforestation, followed by livestock grazing, which accounts for 38.5 percent. This situation of great concern presents a [...]

Over the last three decades, Farmer Field Schools (FFS) have proven to be an effective discovery-learning-capacity building approach to help rural populations to innovate with more clarity and purpose while building the social skills needed for rural transformation and empowerment. The diverse forestry and agroforestry applications of the FFS demonstrate [...]

This guide zooms in on the Diagnostic phase module at the beginning of a Farmer Field School on Local Food Plants for Nutrition. This specific document is meant to help facilitators complete the diagnostic exercises which are part of a Farmer Field School (FFS). It summarizes the information on FFS diagnostic [...]

This guide zooms in on the Diagnostic phase module at the beginning of a Farmer Field School on Local Food Plants for Nutrition. This specific document is meant to help facilitators complete the diagnostic exercises which are part of a Farmer Field School (FFS). It summarizes the information on FFS diagnostic [...]

The online course “Farmer Field Schools on Farmer Seed Production and Marketing” is part of the program’s work on seed production for the local market. The objective of this work is (1) to improve farmers’ access to seed of well adapted crops and varieties not offered by the formal seed sector [...]

The agroecological transition implies rethinking the way farmers are supported in their changes in practices. Farmer Field Schools are an effective mechanism in this respect since they build farmers’ capacity to experiment, to produce knowledge and to innovate independently. However, it is essential that these advisory services are correctly implemented, [...]

The key to implementing FFS is thus to successfully launch an experimentation process based on collaboration between a group of farmers and a facilitator. The purpose of this document is to provide project managers, technicians and designers with practical information on how to use the FFS approach and adapt it [...]