Small Holder Farmer Field School-a Curriculum to Support Soil Health Technologies and Farmer Innovation.

Small holder farmer field school - A curriculum to support soil health technologies and farmer innovation.

Vicki Morrone*, Hannah Livuzi-Munthali, and Sieglinde Snapp

Vicki Morrone-Department of Community Sustainability, Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI 48824.  Africa RISING Malawi.

Hannah Livuze-Munthali-Africa RISING Malawi Extension, Lilongwe, Malawi

Snapp-Department of Soil, Plant and Microbiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. Africa RISING-Malawi

Malawi is one of six countries participating in USAID Africa RISING project (AR). Each country has its own agriculture technical areas to support smallholder farm families. The focus of AR Malawi is to improve soil health and family livelihoods through integration of legume species with the staple crop, maize. Now that 1500 farmers have participated in Mother Baby Trials over the three years, the goal is to extend the outreach capacity to 3000 farmers per year using the approach of Farmer Field Schools, which will provide technical support and to learn by trying and experimentation. Throughout this project, the farmers have been encouraged to innovate and adapt technologies to best fit their needs and resources. The Farmer Field School modules were developed to guide farmers who have been implementing Baby Trials to lead groups of 15-20 farmers with emphasis on soil health. Farmer-To-Farmer Extension will be implemented through this approach. Malawi regional extension staff, local extension field staff and Baby Trial Farmers participated in this review of the FFS curriculum and handbook through focus group meetings. Their comments and input were collected and categorized into technical content or delivery approach.  A qualitative analysis of the recommendations and comments has been conducted based on input of the three review group-types and two categories; technical content and farmer field school delivery approach.  The draft and final version of the Farmer Field School Manual will be presented to demonstrate the input from the various teams.