session 6.3 farmer to farmer extension in cameroon
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Farmer-to-farmer extension: a viable option to enhance
agricultural dissemination? Evidence from Cameroon
Ann Degrande, Sygnola Tsafack, Steven Franzel and Brent Simpson
World Congress on AgroforestryDelhi, 10-13 February 2014
INTRODUCTION
2
Staggering Production, Declining Resource Base & Enduring Poverty
Low adoption of agricultural innovations
Ineffective dissemination methods
Effective and low cost ways of disseminating agricultural innovations
Why growing interest in research on extension approaches?
Underfunded national agric
extension services
Little knowledge on how farmers access and spread information and material
Why involve Community-Based organisations in agricultural extension?
• Not all extension services need to be organised or executed by government agencies
DECENTRALISATION AND DEMAND-DRIVEN
ORGANISATIONAL PLURALISM
EMPOWERMENT PARTICIPATORY
APPROACHES
• Not all aspects of extension are pure public goods
PRIVATISATIONFEE-FOR-SERVICE
PUBLIC PROVISION
Public sector finance essential in countries with many subsistence farmers
ICRAF
Other Rese
arch Orga
nisation
Governmen
t exte
nsion ag
ent
NGO/CIG/ fa
rmer
group
Fellow fa
rmer
in villag
e
Fellow fa
rmer
outside v
illage
Media
Relay O
rganisa
tion0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
project village
witness village
Source of agroforestry information
% o
f res
pond
ents
Sources of information on agroforestry
Wide range of sources of information
Fellow farmers and farmer groups are important
sources of information
Source: Degrande et al., 2013. Adoption Survey
METHODOLOGY
6
ObjectivesTo characterise and assess farmer-to-farmer extension
approaches in Cameroon and determine which practices are most effective under varying
circumstances
– Assess experience of different types of extension services in using F2F extension
– Determine perceived effectiveness of F2F extension– Determine motivation of lead farmers involved– Identify benefits and challenges
Organisations surveyedIdentified as potential
151
Contacted 119
Using F2F 47
Selected 31
Interviewed 25= 53%
RESULTS
9
Importance of F2F extension in Cameroon
government agricultural extension in Cameroon (2009 FAO data)
• Total economic active population in agriculture: 3,568,000
• Government extension staff: 1651
Þ 1 extension worker for 2161 farmers
Farmer-to-farmer extension (study done by ICRAF in 2013)
• 47 organisations involved with F2F extension in 7 regions– 60% national/local NGOs– 24% international NGOs – 16% Farmer Organisations– 0% Governmental Organisations– 0 % private sector
• 388 lead farmers/farmer trainers; => 1/3 women
=> 1 field staff for ± 17 LF=> 1 LF for:
± 4 groups/communities + indiv farmers training and advising ± 220 farmers
=> 50% of them do weekly visits
Who is lead farmer?
Lead Farmer32%
Model Farmer
8%Village Based
Program Promoter
4%
Locally based
trainer, farmer trainer
28%
Contact farmer
4%
Local an-imator, facilita-
tor, techni-
cian, Re-source person
24%
Different names used in F2F extension
Educated
Past performance, honest
Resident farmer
Capacity to learn
Interested
Able to read and write
Availability
Good communicator
Good behaviour, trustworthy
Hard working/role model
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Criteria to select lead farmers
Number of organisations
What are LF doing?
1. Train farmers2. Conduct follow-up
visits3. Mobilise communities
for meetings and demonstrations
4. Provide technical advise
• Training– Initial training– In-service training– External learning opportunities
• Extension material: brochures, posters, leaflets, …
• Inputs for demonstration: seeds, fertilisers, nursery material, …
• Transport (29%) and communication (37%)
• Reimbursement of expenses incurred to attend meetings and trainings organised by organisations
What support are LF getting?
Motivation of lead farmers
Main reasons to BECOME a lead farmer
Main reasons to REMAIN a lead farmer
According to organisations
According to lead farmers
1. Altruism 1. Early access to new technology
2. Job benefits 2. Income generating potential
3. Income generating potential
3. Altruism
According to organisations
According to lead farmers
1. Income generating potential
1. Altruism
2. Job benefits 2. Job benefits
3. Early access to new technology
3. Early access to new technology
Advantages of F2F extension approach
Increase
d cover
age
More susta
inable
Less c
ostly
Increase
d adoption of in
novations
Builds lo
cal ca
pacity
Increase
d relev
ance
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Institutional perspectiveLead farmer perspective
Advantages of F2F approach
% o
f res
pons
es
Overall performance appreciation : 7.5/10organisationsLead farmers
CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS
15
• Lead farmers do a wonderful job, but their role is not sufficiently known/recognised/supported
• Major challenges:– Selecting lead farmers– Motivating lead farmers (financial and non-financial incentives)– Technical and logistical support to lead farmers– Approach is not institutionalised/harmonised; very few organisations
have written guidelines on their F2F extension approach– Record keeping and monitoring and evaluation of F2F– Identifying farmers’ training needs and designing appropriate
training modules and material for lead farmers to use– Creating synergies with other agricultural advisory services and
notably with government extension services
With thanks !For more information: [email protected]