Over the past twelve months, the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with insecurity in the Tahoua and Tillabéri regions, have hampered the monitoring and support activities of the agropastoral field schools. Indeed, the suspension of field missions has not allowed master trainers to provide facilitators with the necessary coaching for the conduct of CEAPs in this area.
To remedy this situation, FAO organized a coaching workshop for 49 facilitators in three rooms in the city of Tahoua from 26/07/21 to 06/08/21. The coaching was focused on each facilitator, emphasizing the identification of his or her strengths, weaknesses, blockages, and abilities in mastering technical content and facilitating the FFS.
In addition, the coaching workshop provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress of APFS activities, identify problems encountered and make proposals for necessary improvements. It also allowed to refresh the facilitators on some key elements of the APFS approach, not sufficiently mastered, and on the methodology of the Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSCA).
The coaching workshop for facilitators is part of the GCP/SFW/516/EC project entitled "Strengthening the resilience of cross-border pastoral and agro-pastoral populations in priority areas of the Sahel", funded by the European Union for the period from October 1, 2018 to March 31, 2022. The project operates in the cross-border areas of three Sahelian countries, namely Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. In the specific case of Niger, the project's interventions affect 49 villages in the regions of Tahoua and Tillabéri.