Farmer Field School (FFS) is a participatory education approach that brings together a group of
small-scale food producers to solve production problems through sustainable agriculture. The
FFS approach offers space for hands-on group learning, enhancing skills for observation and
critical analysis and improved decision making by local communities (FAO).
SAWIE adopted the FFS approach for training and capacity building of smallholder farmers in
climate smart agriculture practices. It started this journey in Oct 2021. It has organised over
dozen farmer field schools covering Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, Sunflower and horticulture
crops
It has successfully organized such sessions benefiting local farmers through FFS at Zaidi Farm.
It has attracted local farmers, researchers, and the agritech community. The FFS implemented a
participatory learning approach to train farmers by offering a farm walk, asking questions, and
observing the impact of interventions.
The key emphasis of the interventions includes minimum soil disturbance, maintaining soil cover
with crop residues, use of crop rotation, and crop diversification.
The FFS plays a crucial role in facilitating the bottom-up collaborative approach linking
smallholder farmers, research, and financial institutions coming together to talk to each other
and develop follow-on opportunities