Nutrition and Farmer Field Schools
Malnutrition is a burden beard nowadays by one in three people in all countries . Some expressions of malnutrition are chronic hunger, micronutrient deficiency, child stunting and/or obesity. To counter this trend, sustainable food systems for healthy diets and improved nutrition are promoted by FAO worldwide.
FAO promotes sustainable food systems for improved nutrition, recognizing that agricultural interventions must go beyond production to influence food choices, dietary practices, and behaviours.
Provision of field advisory services plays a critical role in linking production and consumption and in strengthening nutrition awareness among smallholder farmers. In this context, the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach has proven to be an effective platform for integrating agriculture, nutrition and behaviour change through participatory, experiential learning.
FFS contribute to:
- Promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture
- Strengthening dietary diversity through production diversification
- Improving food preparation, storage and hygiene practices
- Supporting behavioural change for healthier diets
FFS experiences integrating nutrition can be broadly categorized into two main types:
- FFS with a primary focus on nutrition
- FFS addressing other themes (e.g. crop production, climate, pest management) where nutrition is integrated as a special topic
FFS focused on nutrition
Nutrition-focused FFS aim to prevent malnutrition by addressing its underlying causes related to food availability, dietary practices, knowledge and behaviours. They combine agricultural and health perspectives and emphasize hands-on, behaviour-oriented learning.
The main components include:
- Context analysis and baseline assessment: understanding dietary habits, malnutrition issues, food availability, and community practices, including barriers such as gender roles, cultural norms, and access to resources
- Training of facilitators: strengthening skills in nutrition, behaviour change and participatory learning, often supported by nutritionists
- Context-specific curriculum: based on community needs, local food systems and seasonal availability
- Practical learning activities: including diversified crop and livestock production, homestead gardens, cooking demonstrations, food processing and preservation, and hygiene practices
These activities help improve dietary diversity, food utilization and nutrition-related behaviours at household and community level.
Nutrition as a special topic in FFS
In many programmes, nutrition is integrated into FFS that focus on other themes such as crop production, pest management or climate resilience.
This is done by:
- Linking production decisions to dietary diversity
- Promoting nutrient-rich and locally available foods, including underutilized species
- Integrating food preparation, storage and hygiene practices into regular sessions
- Using hands-on exercises and demonstrations to support behaviour change
Nutrition learning is embedded throughout the FFS cycle, making it practical, continuous and locally relevant.
Key principles
Across both approaches, integrating nutrition in FFS relies on:
- Learning by doing and participatory experimentation
- Behaviour change approaches to improve diets and practices
- Linking agriculture, nutrition and health
- Promoting dietary diversity and biodiversity
- Considering gender roles and inequalities
- Connecting to local food systems and markets
Improving nutrition through the Batwa’s traditional foodways in Uganda
The NGO Development in Gardening, partnered with the Batwa, an Indigenous community in Uganda facing severe marginalization, land loss and chronic food insecurity, to co-design a Farmer Field School approach that links nutrition, livelihoods and cultural identity.
Initially, FFS focused on conventional vegetable production. However, community feedback—particularly from elders—revealed a strong loss of access to traditional forest foods, which were key to their diets and nutrition. In response, the programme was redesigned to place indigenous food systems at its core.
Through innovative “Forest Discovery Walks”, Batwa elders guided FFS participants to identify and collect wild seedlings. These were then tested and domesticated in FFS demonstration plots, leading to the successful cultivation of 26 indigenous, nutrient-rich foods, including dark leafy greens with high nutritional value.
The project also invested in:
- Intergenerational knowledge transfer, with elders training youth on traditional foods and practices
- Behaviour change and nutrition education, through cooking demonstrations, radio programmes and community outreach
- Market integration, increasing demand for indigenous foods beyond the Batwa community
This integrated approach delivered strong, measurable results:
- Significant improvement in nutrition knowledge (89% of farmers, up from 23%)
- Dramatic reduction in household food insecurity and expenditure on fruits and vegetables
- Widespread adoption of diverse home gardens, including 12 indigenous foods now regularly produced and sold
- Enhanced social inclusion, with Batwa farmers becoming valued suppliers and knowledge holders in local markets
This experience highlights the potential of FFS as a scalable approach to restore resilient, nutrition-sensitive food systems while empowering marginalized communities.