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The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach was fi rst introduced in Kenya in 1995 through a project of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Western Kenya. Since then, several projects have been successfully implemented in the country using various different entry points.

"Lessons from the field" provides an overview of experiences from 12 projects and programmes across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Each case addresses an aspect of climate change adaptation and mitigation, disaster risk management and food security in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors. The documented experiences range [...]

Farmer Field Schools have proven to be a very effective method of incorporating food safety aspects into farming practices. This manual is a reference guide for the inclusion of food safety aspects in Farmer Field School (FFS) programmes. Health (consumer protection) is the main entry point for food safety in [...]

Sixty-five farmers reported on pesticide use and the signs and symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning when using two different plant protection strategies: in 2003 using chemical controls and in 2004 using an approach to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) based on an ecological analysis of the field conditions. Exposure to organophosphates was [...]

In recent years, IPM extension came to mean FFS (farmer field school). Most studies of FFS pilot projects suggest that IPM helps farmers to lower costs or to increase yields, although the farmers pass on little of their new knowledge to their neighbours, which limits the cost-effectiveness of FFS. Some [...]

IPM Programs in Asia, including on rice, cotton and vegetables, have been broadly based on three dimensions. First is a solid IPM science basis including ecological interaction, plant physiology and soil-plant interactions. Second is policy for IPM, especially elimination of pesticide subsidies which cause over-use of pesticides and disrupt natural enemies [...]

This chapter explores intensive hands-on occupational education for farmers in selected European, African, Latin American countries and in south India. An Indian case study of Farmer Field Schools for Integrated Pest and Production Management (IPPM) to ensure food security and livelihood improvement is presented, to introduce discussion of the role [...]

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Farmer Field School approach in terms of examining farmers’ selection criteria, their profile and FFS implementation. It was also sought to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of FFS members and nonmembers regarding coffee management practices with reference to coffee [...]

Re-use of nutrients within farming systems contributes to sustainable food production in nutrient limited production systems. Re-use is established when nutrients pass through several farm compartments before they leave the farm via marketable products. In this paper re-use of nitrogen is examined as an indicator for sustainable soil fertility management. [...]