Methodological recommendations to better evaluate the effects of farmer field schools mobilized to support agroecological transitions

The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach, based on group experimentation of innovative practices and/or farming systems, is in line with participatory farm advisory efforts. This approach has an ambitious goal: strengthening farmers’ skills so that they can adapt their practices, or even invent new ones, and move towards more agroecological farming systems. Assessing such an advisory intervention poses significant challenges. This document aims to propose fresh ways to update FFS assessment methods, notably the study of changes in farming practices and the detailed analysis of FFS outcomes. Project designers, managers, and evaluators are the target audience for this document, which may also interest teachers, researchers, students, and policymakers. The elements of the FFS assessment methodology presented here stem from the collaboration between three institutions, CIRAD, FAO, and the NGO AVSF, and fieldwork carried out in cotton-growing areas of Burkina Faso and Togo between 2018 and 2019.