Farmer field schools key in boosting agric output

AGRICULTURE is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future.

The agriculture sector has the potential to contribute up to 20 percent of gross domestic product and provide employment to more than 70 percent of the population, and about 60 percent of all raw materials for the industry.

The performance of the sector has a ripple effect on the rest of the economy. Government expects the sector to grow to a US$13,75 billion economy by 2025. This is after the sector, in 2021, hit the initial target of US$8,2 billion, underpinned by increased productivity and production across all the value chains.

The growth was driven by successful implementation of the Agriculture Recovery and Growth Plan; and the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy — which seeks to revive, restructure, reform, rebuild and transform agriculture and engender value addition, food security, import substitution, and export diversification, among other things.

Critics of the land reform programme were forced to eat humble pie after Zimbabwe produced a record tobacco crop in 198 years, with 85 percent of it coming from smallholder farmers, of which 60 percent of them are beneficiaries of the programme.

The country also shamed pessimists when it saved about US$300 million in import costs following a record wheat harvest last year of over 375 000 tonnes. Cotton production rose by 61 percent this year, courtesy of the Presidential Cotton Input Scheme that motivated farmers to take up production of the white gold.

The Second Republic is moving on several fronts to push production to new heights. These include the provision of subsidised inputs, farm mechanisation programmes and the motorisation of extension officers.

However, Government is taking the provision of extension services a notch higher by introducing farmer field schools across the country.

Early this week, scores of farmer field school master trainers graduated after undergoing rigorous training. This is in preparation for the scaling up of farmer field school programmes across the country. Government is targeting 35 000 farmer field schools, that is, one for each village. Farmer field schools are crucial in mainstreaming and disseminating information and technologies to farmers in rural setups.

The farmer field school is an innovative and participatory approach to agricultural extension and education. It is a group-based learning process that is aimed at empowering farmers by enhancing their knowledge, skills, and decision-making abilities in sustainable farming practices. Farmer field school programmes are typically conducted in rural areas, where small-scale farmers face various challenges such as limited access to information, inadequate resources and environmental constraints.

The concept of farmer field schools is said to have originated in the late 1980s in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia and Thailand.

It was developed as a response to the shortcomings of traditional top-down extension approaches that often failed to address the specific needs and realities of farmers.

Farmer field school programmes are usually designed to be farmer-centred, participatory and experiential, allowing farmers to learn from their own experiences and experiment with new techniques in their own fields.

The main objective of a farmer field school is to improve farmers’ understanding of ecological principles and sustainable farming practices. The curriculum usually covers a wide range of topics that include crop production, pest management, soil fertility management, water management, post-harvest handling, marketing and entrepreneurship.

The learning process is facilitated by trained extension workers or facilitators, who guide farmers through a series of practical exercises and discussions.

One key feature of the schools is use of demonstration plots within farmers’ own fields. These plots serve as living laboratories, where farmers can observe different farming techniques and compare the results.

By actively participating in the management of these plots, farmers gain hands-on experience and develop critical thinking skills that enable them to make informed decisions about their own farming practices. In an effort to increase production, the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) has set up demonstration plots in all cotton-producing areas, where farmers are educated on the best practices of producing white gold of high quality, which would fetch better prices and, ultimately, increase incomes. In addition to practical skills development, farmer field schools also promote social learning and knowledge sharing among participants. Farmers are encouraged to exchange ideas, share experiences and collectively solve problems through group discussions and peerto-peer learning. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment among farmers, as they become active agents of change in their communities.

The impact of farmer field schools has been widely recognised and documented. Studies have shown that farmer field schools can lead to significant improvements in farmers’ knowledge, skills and productivity.

By adopting sustainable farming practices, farmers can reduce their reliance on external inputs, minimise environmental degradation and enhance the resilience of their farming systems to climate change. Moreover, farmer field schools have been found to contribute to poverty reduction, food security and rural development by increasing farmers’ incomes and improving their livelihoods.

Underpinned by various interventions by the Government, Zimbabwe is going to smash all production records, leading to agricultural development and rural industrialisation, which would catalyse the envisaged attainment of an upper middle-class economy by 2030.