FAO strengthens capacity of Agriculture Extension and Training Agency in Farmer Field Schools approach

Hammamet, September, 2022. The FAO representation in Tunisia within the framework of the project "Improvement of water efficiency and productivity and its sustainability in the NENA region" organized a national training workshop on the methodology of Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. Held from the 5^th to the 9^th ofSeptember, the training brought together about thirty extension workers from different governorates of the country, affiliated to the Agriculture Extension and Training Agency (AVFA). The main objective of this workshop was to familiarize the stakeholders with this extension approach and ultimately create a pool of national experts capable of conducting sessions and accompanying farmers in the implementation of agricultural best practices important to the development of their activities and the preservation of natural resources.

Becoming an FFs facilitator: A multi-step process

The farmers' field schools approach offers a collective and concrete learning process based on experimentation, which allows local populations to improve their critical analysis and decision-making skills: a concept where the facilitator plays a key role. "To guarantee the success of the implementation of a field school and its sustainability, a series of steps must be respected," says Haoua Amrouni, an FFs expert and trainer conducting the session. "First of all, the facilitator needs to master the general concepts, and understand what facilitation game is about and play the along. Then come the steps of how to conduct the sessions and what are the tools necessary to support the groups. Finally, all future facilitators must integrate participatory monitoring and evaluation mechanisms into the FFs cycle. It is important to keep in mind that testing farmers' knowledge and the impact of the action itself can also be fun: techniques such as the ballot box test or individual interviews can be very useful tools," adds Ms. Amrouni. Throughout the training session, all participants were introduced to the theoretical concepts related to the adoption of the approach as well as all the technical, organizational and logistical aspects related to it.

FFS: a Learning by doing approach

To help the participants better understand FFS approach implementation at its different levels, a curriculum combining theoretical and practical aspects was proposed. The fourth day of the training was devoted to a practical staging exercise within an olive trees field in the governorate of Kairouan. Through a role-playing exercise (facilitators, co-facilitators and even farmers of the nearby fields), each participant put into practice his first learnings and was able to face the challenges of the field.

Like a usual FFS session, the participants were divided into three groups and worked first on the analysis of the agro-ecosystem, then on a group dynamics exercise and finally on the specific topic of the olive fly, one of the most dreaded pests of the olive tree.

An experience to be valued and replicated

The FFs approach has been adopted by the WEPSNENA project, since 2019, in Tunisia in the two governorates of Jendouba and Kairouan for olive tree plantations. Based on the enhancement of local knowledge and practices and the exchange of experience it has witnessed a real success with Tunisian olive farmers. To replicate this success for other vital crops in Tunisia such as date palm, the project has invited to the training session researchers from the Regional Center for Research in Oasis Agriculture (CRRAO). The aim is to put at the service of farmers, the results of research and best practices related to improving water productivity in agriculture. 

This activity is carried out within the framework of the regional project (WEPSNENA) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.