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IFPRI ForumDespite the tremendous need for extension approaches that help reduce poverty in rural Sub-Saharan Africa, most have met with only limited success. Extension programs help farmers by encouraging and assisting them to innovate in order to improve their livelihoods and reduce poverty.
A popular model at the moment is the farmer field schools approach, based on adult-education principles such as experiential learning. Farmer field schools are intensive, season-long programs that enable farmers to meet regularly to learn about and experiment with a given topic. The schools have had remarkable impact in terms of reducing farmers' use of pesticides, increasing their on-farm productivity, improving their knowledge base, and empowering rural communities. However, these impacts have not translated into changes beyond the local level, according to IFPRI researcher Kristin Davis.
"Several studies suggest that the schools are having limited or no effect on the agricultural sector's economic performance, on the sustainable use of the environment, on rural health, and on the dissemination of information by school participants to other farmers," she says. "These limitations have not been addressed, even though farmer field schools are being aggressively promoted by donors, governments, and nongovernmental organizations as the next best thing in extension."
IFPRI has been trying to fill the knowledge gap by conducting research on the schools' impact on genetic diversity in Mali. It also recently developed a framework for conducting research on extension methods, including farmer field schools, to help extension stakeholders and policymakers move beyond "best practices" to "best fits." The research will provide strategies for adapting the farmer field school approach to specific local circumstances, thus providing solutions to problems at the local level. Finally, IFPRI hopes to provide policymakers with evidence on the effectiveness of the approach by assessing the potential of farmer field schools to fight poverty and foster innovation.
This article was derived from a commentary by Kristin Davis in the Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, vol. 13, spring 2006 (www.aiaee.org). For further information: Kristin Davis, k.davis@cgiar.org.