Limited access to timely extension services on agriculture, forestry and general natural resources management negatively affects adoption of suitable interventions for natural resource management and livelihoods by rural communities in Malawi. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the increasing gap in interaction between extension staff and farmers further threatening extension service delivery. Climate change poses an enormous risk leading to catastrophic impacts on forest landscapes and subsequently, food production.  Sustainable agricultural production for the present and future generations, based on the sound management of natural resources, depends highly on the improved access of producers to appropriate knowledge, suitable interventions, technologies, and collective action. 

It is in this context that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Malawi, through the Alliance for Restoration of Forest Landscapes and Ecosystems in Africa (AREECA), developing capacities of Government staff and farmers, to accelerate restoration and sustainable management of degraded landscapes in the Mpira dam catchment area of Ntcheu district. This is being implemented using the farmer field school (FFS) approach. 

“We are using the FFS extension methodology as one of the platforms to reach out to rural communities within the Mpira dam catchment area with extension messages on forest landscape restoration [FLR] interventions. This is only one of the components which AREECA is using to reach out to 18 000 households,” says Priscah Munthali, FAO Project Coordinator. 

FFS is a participatory learning approach, which reinforces the traditional provision of agricultural advisory and extension services, enabling smallholder farmers to acquire new skills and knowledge. 

Ensuring farmers are in the forefront for technology generation and dissemination 

The capacity development initiative is in line with current calls for a paradigm shift to involve communities as food producers and direct natural resources users in technology development. Ensuring that farmers are on the front line when it comes to technology generation and dissemination also provides a means to address the disconnect between the technologies developed by scientists and the actual problems which farmers face in their respective localities, a challenge which is associated with conventional research. 

So far, FAO and Government through AREECA have trained 10 specialists in various sectors including agriculture, forestry, and community development from the district and 15 extension workers, supporting communities in Mpira dam catchment area in the first phase of the capacity building. The training covered the whole FFS life cycle with specifics on FFS establishment and agroecosystem analysis. 

The role of the trained technical staff will be to backstop interventions, while the extension workers will roll out training on the FFS methodology to farmers within the catchment.  Groups of small-scale agricultural producers will thus be empowered to design tailor-made interventions through the participatory FFS approach. Overall, the project is targeting training of 450 lead farmers, who will then champion the FFS approach and share the knowledge and skills among their peers.   

”I have realized that farmers are equally important research counterparts in problem identification and design of appropriate solutions for problems faced in agricultural and natural resources management. I will ensure I impart this principle to the farmers and the establishment of the FFSs will be based on this,’’ said Fred Kokha, an Agricultural Extension Development Officer for Tsangano Extension Planning Area in Ntcheu district. 

To date, FAO and the Government of Malawi have supported the establishment of over 12 000 FFSs with over 336 000 farmers trained in the approach. This has been achieved with financial assistance from the German Agency for International Cooperation, the European Union, the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the Government of Flanders and through the Flexible Multi-partner Mechanism. 

More on AREECA:  AREECA is a multi-partner regional programme funded by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) that aims to increase the economic, ecological and climate-related benefits from forest and landscape restoration (FLR). The project is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. It is being implemented from 2021 to 2024 by FAO, the World Resources Institute, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, The World Bank, African Union Development Agency - NEPAD and the Government of Malawi. It aims at restoring 25 000 ha of degraded land in Malawi by the close of the project. The activities being implemented will contribute to Malawi’s ambitious target of restoration of 4.5 million hectares under the Bonn Challenge and the AFR100 initiative. 

Click here to access the original source of this article.  

Harrington Nyirenda (FAO), Towela Munthali (FAO), Priscah Munthali (FAO), Luis Amaya (FAO) and Faustine Zoveda (FAO)