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he need to increase agricultural sustainability has induced the government of India to promote the adoption of integrated pest management (IPM). An evaluation of cotton-based conventional and IPM farming systems was conducted in India (2002–2004). The farmers managing the IPM farms had participated in discovery-based ecological training, namely Farmer Field [...]

A project in Ghana tried to encourage government extension agents to change their attitudes. Instead of merely teaching new techniques, they were supposed to engage rice farmers in a two-way learning experience. The extension agents accepted some of the project philosophy, but they still thought that the goal of the [...]

The study found that younger farmers who belong to other groups, such as savings and credit groups, tended to participate in field schools. Females made up 50 percent of FFS membership. Reasons for not joining an FFS included lack of time and information. FFSs were shown to be especially beneficial [...]

This paper describes and highlights lessons learned from several research and development organisations in western Kenya using different community-based approaches to scale up agroforestry and other biological options to improve soil fertility among resource- poor smallholders. The main benefits of such approaches are that the link between farmers, government extension, [...]

The use of synthetic pesticides among vegetable producers in urban and peri-urban Cotonou, Benin, has been increasing to the extent that certain insect pests have developed resistance to the pesticides. This paper assesses the impact of the farmer field school approach in an integrated pest management (IPM) project that aimed [...]

L’objectif de ce guide est de faciliter la planification et la mise en œuvre des sessions de formation. Il fait partie du cours de Gestion d’entreprises associatives rurales en agroalimentaire et a été conçu pour les facilitateurs qui possèdent des connaissances et une expérience en ce qui concerne les aspects techniques de la formation, [...]

In view of the market failures and the state failures inherent in providing agricultural extension, community-based approaches, which involve farmers‘ groups, have gained increasing importance in recent years as a ―third way‖ to provide this service. The paper discusses the conceptual underpinnings of community-based extension approaches, highlights theoretical and practical [...]

Les dix champs-écoles pilotes installés au Kasaï occidental en 2003 ont permis aux paysans membres d’expérimenter de nouveaux modes de gestion des cultures, et, leurs résultats ont été jugés satisfaisants. L’originalité et la simplicité des procédés utilisés favorisent, non seulement une meilleure appropriation des innovations, mais aussi une participation active [...]

L'expérimentation paysanne permet de mettre à la disposition des agriculteurs des options pertinentes d'adaptation pouvant les aider à accroître la résilience de leurs systèmes de production.