Agrotechnology

The impact of Farmer Field School approach on small-scale farmers sense of agency of the study group participation on home gardening in the Alice of the Eastern Cape

International Conference on Agri Biotech & Environmental Engineering

September 11-12, 2017 San Antonio, USA

Asanda Apleni

University of Fort Hare, South Africa

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Agrotechnology

Abstract:

This paper investigates the impact of the Farmer Field School approach on famersâ?? sense of agency and experiential aspects of study group participation on home gardening. Farmer Field Schools were devised in the 1980s by the Food and Agriculture Organization as a form of adult education in agriculture. It is a group-based approach in which a facilitator meets with farmers on a regular basis and sets in motion a process by which farmers learn how to learn, both from themselves or from one another. It remains an open question whether the Farmer Field School approach could be a solution to South Africaâ??s abiding problem of weak agricultural extension. In early 2015, the University of Fort Hare and the Nkonkobe Farmersâ?? Association initiated a number of study groups in the Alice area, based largely on Farmer Field School principles. These study groups consisted mainly of home gardeners. The results present the findings from initial research into the impact of these study groups after they had been running for about two years. The research consisted of a survey of all the study group participants involved with home gardens, including some who joined the groups in 2015 but quit from them in or by 2016. The focus of the research is on the impact of study group participation on membersâ?? perceived knowledge and production levels.