The farmer field school approach is one of the strategies adopted by the PRSA Niger to support the dissemination and large-scale application of knowledge, technologies and Climate Change Intelligent Agriculture (CCIA), with the aim of increasing the resilience and adaptation of producers in the target regions.
With this in mind, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, through the General Directorate of Agriculture, has signed a 960-producer partnership agreement with the FSRP-Niger to support the implementation of technical capacity-building activities for players in the cowpea and onion sectors, leading to the adoption and gradual intensification of production systems, reinforced by the structuring and development of the target onion and cowpea sectors.
The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach is the framework used for the large-scale dissemination and application of knowledge, technologies and Climate Intelligent Agriculture (CIA) approaches in the PRSA Niger intervention zone.
For the 2023/2024 agricultural season, the PRSA/Niger has set up 30 CEP in the project's 4 intervention zones, namely Diffa, Tillabéry, Tahoua and Zinder.
The implementation cycle for these school fields will cover the period from April to October 2023 for the target crops, in particular cowpeas and onions.
The implementation of these school fields was preceded by the upstream training of 30 Facilitators, who are responsible for the technical implementation and supervision of producers.
At the current stage of the implementation process, 960 farmers have been made aware of the techniques and practices being demonstrated on site and trained by the facilitators. The Tsaida Nomade site (Tahoua Region, Bouza Department, Tama Rural Commune) is home to a training field for demonstrating the performance of the improved Niébe TN5-78 variety at the flowering stage. These farmers are now equipped as local experts to apply and disseminate these technologies in their own fields; to contribute to increasing their own resilience in the face of crises and natural disasters; and to ensure regular monitoring of field school activities at all levels.
