Local economies, entrepreneurship and Farmer Field Schools

Why link FFS with business development and market linkages?

Smallholder producers make decisions every day about production, inputs, labour, timing, risk, sales, investment and the use of household resources, often in difficult and changing conditions. Their priorities may include earning a better income, improving food security, reducing risk, supporting their families and building a more secure livelihood. For some, this also means engaging more effectively with markets.

In this context, production knowledge on its own is often not enough. Producers may also need support to assess opportunities, weigh options, manage risk and make decisions that reflect their own realities, priorities and goals.

How are Farmer Field Schools integrating business and market components?

Farmer Field Schools can play an important role in this process. While FFS have traditionally been associated with production-focused learning, they also help producers build practical skills that matter more broadly. Through observation, experimentation and group learning, producers can try out new ideas, adapt them to their own context, and better understand how production choices connect with seasonality, timing, demand and market opportunities.

Many FFS programmes have also been linked, adapted or expanded to strengthen producers’ business capacities and market engagement in different ways. In some cases, business-related topics are integrated directly into the FFS cycle. In others, they are introduced through complementary approaches, follow-up support, tools, partnerships or wider project arrangements. The combination depends on the context, the constraints producers face, the opportunities available and the wider support system around the group.

There is no single model that works everywhere. Different combinations of FFS, business development and market linkage support can help producers pursue stronger and more resilient livelihood outcomes, while also contributing to the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life. In practice, these dimensions are often closely connected, and producers need to navigate both synergies and trade-offs when engaging with business and market opportunities.

Throughout the years, the FFS approach has also been adapted to better support business development and market linkage. As such, FAO developed the Farm Business School (FBS) approach to assist small-farmers in this process.  The Farm Business School is:

• ‘entrepreneurial’ and relies on simple decision support tools, checklists and strategic questions;
• focused on enhancing efficiency of productivity and on making “business choices” using a learning-by-doing approach and participatory methods.
• Click here to learn more about the FBS approach

Building knowledge and skills to make farms more profitable
FAO supported, adapted and implemented the FBS approach in dozens of countries, mostly in Asia and Africa, including Nepal, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Malawi.

An estimated 400 000 farmers – 20–40 % women – have been trained in business-oriented field school approaches. Farmer business schools, farmer marketing schools and related approaches continue to grow around the world.

Over the years, FBSs have shown to support farmers to benefit from global changes, by shifting the focus of extension services to support market-orientated farming.