FAO Farmer Field School has strengthened female livestock keepers with techniques for identification of infections to producing avoid contaminated milk.

With simple and adoptable husbandry techniques promoted by FAO’s Farmer Field School (FFS), Fatima Al Youssef became a skilled livestock keeper who is capable of dealing with various livestock keeping challenges.  Now, together with her husband, Fatima is planning to go beyond her farm practices and get into the market. Her newly acquired knowledge on producing healthy animal feed and fodder storage techniques has helped her cow produce more milk of better quality. The know-how sessions received enabled her to become a competitive milk producer, who can provide extra independent income for her family. Fatima – as a livestock keeper and a mother of two young children - has been enrolled along with fifteen other female livestock keepers to attend the FAO Farmer Field School in Abu Jrien, Rural Aleppo. The smile on her face tells a lot about her experience at the school. Fodder supply is not always available and often of poor quality; Fatima has learnt to make fodder mixtures on her own, setting the proportions and calculating the quantities her cow needs to be healthy. She said that the fodder mixtures produced are better than the ones available in the market. “My cow is now producing better milk, I can tell with the better taste and I can make better cheese for my family,” said Fatima cheerfully.  The FFS has also served to upgrade feeding practices, which reduced fodder loss, depletion of reserves and the consequent cost of production. “In my barn, it was difficult for my cow to get its feed, because I used to place the fodder at an extremely lower level, which also caused fodder loss. At FFS I have learnt useful livestock keeping tips like raising the fodder tank, which allowed my cow to eat more comfortably,” Fatima added.  The integration of topics presented by FAO Farmer Field School has also strengthened Fatima, and her fellow female livestock keepers, with techniques for the identification of infections, which often cause contaminated milk that is not fit for human consumption. Those simple techniques made easier early identification of any infection with a fast full recovery of the animal. Group discussions at FFS enriched Fatima’s connection with her surrounding environment. She was happy to share ideas and practices with her neighbouring female livestock keepers. Exchanging ideas and experiences among participants at the school was another advantage of attending FFS. “I enjoy discussions with my neighbours during the class, it opens my eyes to other useful ideas. I remember that one day during an FFS session, my colleague Husama proposed milking the cow using different quarters each time during the milking phase. It was a piece of great advice which we all used in our barns,” said Fatima. There has been a horizontal spread of skills learnt at the FFS. Fatima and other farmers are happy to apply different farming techniques and so upgrade their skills. FAO’s Farmer Field School (FFS), through the Smallholder Support Program, has disseminated better farming and livestock keeping practices among vulnerable farmers in rural Aleppo, Hassakeh, and Deir Ez-Zor Governorates, with a possibility of further expansion. It has used simple and adoptable participatory techniques to help livestock keepers enhance and sustain their feed and food productions and become self-reliant. In 2021, the Organization established more than fifty schools in the targeted governorates, reaching more than 400 households across the targeted areas.  This will be a model worth broader adoption.