Farmer Field School for extension workers
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With the purpose of helping smallholder farmers in building knowledge and skills and making their farms more profitable, the Farm Field School (FFS) approach have been applied in Sierra Leone for over ten years. FAO and MAFFS have cooperated in the implemented the FFS approach for farmers based on an innovative, participatory and interactive learning approach. As a result, smallholder farmers are learning to investigate and acquiring skills for production technologies and marketing t echniques. This guide is meant for those involved in facilitating the continuation of the learning process for farmers graduated in FFS, grouped in FBOs and managing ABCs. The tools and principles provided here improve planning and analyses of field studies and prepare trainers to facilitate scientific method to farmers. Farmers are and will be a driving force for community development in Sierra Leone. In the FFS, farmers learn about the basic principles and processes in their crop e cosystem. They do simple studies, compare treatments, and learn through their own observations. They learn to ask and answer questions by finding out themselves. However, experience has shown that FFS graduates often require follow-up training to develop their newly acquired knowledge and skills according to the local circumstances. The innovation process associated with the use of modern cultivation techniques (sowing, fertilizers, etc.) need to enter the “confirmation phase stage” where farmers can clearly recognize the benefits of using the innovation. Once the confirmation stage is in place, the farmers will be able to integrate the innovation into the routine farming practices and promote the innovation to other farmers in the village.