By Kondwani Magombo
Lilongwe, June 03, Mana: At least 44 extension staff from 4 Sustainable Agriculture Production Program (SAPP II) implementing districts of Mzimba, Dowa, Lilongwe and Balaka, are undergoing a five-day Farmer Field School (FFS) training in Mponela, Dowa, to help farmers explore technologies that can improve animal and crop production.
The training which opened on Monday and is expected to run up to Friday, has been organized by the Department of Agriculture Extension Services (DAES) with funds from SAPP II.
Speaking in an interview after the official opening, DAES Deputy Director, Kenneth Chaula described the training as crucial to the extension workers as it will allow them to establish FFSs with the farmers in their respective localities and districts.
“As frontline workers, the extension staff are the most critical link in the agriculture sector as they interface with farmers on the ground, and also interpret policy, hence the need for them to be trained,” explained Chaula.
He defined FFS as one of the approaches used in the ministry where the teacher is the enterprise being pursued, either crop, or livestock, and that the training is built around the life cycle of that particular enterprise, observing and noting lessons along the way.
Chaula challenged the extension workers to establish the “much needed FFS” to allow their farmers to test released technologies based on locality and needs within the district where SAPP is being implemented.
“As a country, we would want to increase productivity of all enterprises that are very critical to bring about food security and economic prosperity, as enshrined in MW2063 Agenda, Pillar 1,” said Chaula.
He continued: “Pillar 1 of the MW2063 aims to increase agricultural productivity and commercialization; this is where we want smallholder and commercial farmers to adopt and implement new technologies to increase yields for income.”
Lead facilitator of the training, Adam Kabango, said the one-week training is the first in a series of 3 similar trainings spread across the season, during which the extension staff are expected to establish and manage the FFSs in their respective localities and districts, and report progress in subsequent trainings.
“FFS are schools without walls; they are learning fields where farmers go to test and analyse farming systems and technologies to establish which ones are ideal for either crops, or livestock,” explained Kabango, who is also Principal Agriculture Officer responsible for extension methods, and he is, also, national farmer field school trainer in Malawi.
One of the extension workers, Grace Dayo, from Malingunde EPA, commended DAES for the training, saying the changes brought by climate change call for new technologies that need to be transferred to the farmers.
Dayo said the establishment FFS will help break resistance among farmers who believe old farming systems are still applicable and better than those released now.
“The challenge that we face with farmers is mindset change: they are, mostly, used to old ways of farming, despite the changes brought by climate change,” explained Dayo.
She added: “So, with the FFS, we will explore the technologies and draw the lessons together. That way, it’ll be easy for them to change their mindset.”
There are 660 FFSs across the country, but there are less such establishments in the SAPP II implementing districts and, according to the DAES Deputy Director, the Department is targeting establishment of 180 FFSs in the 4 SAPP II districts in the next 7 years.
