Do Farmer Field School Graduates Retain and Share What They Learn? An Investigation in Iloilo, Philippines

Learning to Think for Ourselves: Knowledge Improvement and Social Benefits among Farmer Field School Participants in Cameroon

“…Studies on FFS diffusion, however, show disappointing results in terms of the effectiveness of farmer-tofarmer diffusion and the type of knowledge FFS participants share. Research conducted in West Africa (Simpson & Owens, 2002), the Phillippines (Rola et al, 2002) and Sri Lanka (Tripp et al, 2005) suggests that FFS participants are more likely to share practices and skills and less likely to discuss abstract concepts and principles with other farmers. The effectiveness of farmer-tofarmer diffusion was called into question by a study which showed that the knowledge of secondary recipients on key technical topics was not significantly better than that of a control group of farmers (Rola et al, 2002).…”

“…Research conducted in West Africa (Simpson & Owens, 2002), the Phillippines (Rola et al, 2002) and Sri Lanka (Tripp et al, 2005) suggests that FFS participants are more likely to share practices and skills and less likely to discuss abstract concepts and principles with other farmers. The effectiveness of farmer-tofarmer diffusion was called into question by a study which showed that the knowledge of secondary recipients on key technical topics was not significantly better than that of a control group of farmers (Rola et al, 2002). However, besides observations made in Ghana and Mali that some FFS farmers "established close, almost apprentice-ship type, relations with one or two other farmers" (Simpson & Owens, 2002, p. 32), the literatures provides little discussion of whether the way in which farmers share knowledge (e.g.…”

User participation in watershed management and research

“…Thus research is needed on how to develop locally-relevant ways of teaching basic principles of agro-ecosystem behavior, as well as simple indicators and measurement methods that can be used to help users monitor the outcome of their management efforts. Farmer Field Schools are one methodology that has been shown to be effective in increasing farmer understanding of complex issues like pest ecology or integrated crop management (Rola et al 2001;van de Fliert et al 2001). Methodologies are also available for the development of local indicators of the quality of watershed resources such as soils (Turcios et al 1999).…”

The Impacts of Farmer Field School Training on Knowledge and Farm Technology Adoption: Evidence from Smallholder Maize Farmers in Oromia, Ethiopia

“…However, studies reveal that although knowledge is important as predisposition in adopting farm technologies, there are other conditioning factors which influence the timing and amount of technology adoptions (Feder, Just, & Zilberman, 1985;Rola et al, 2002;Feder et al, 2004;Duflo et al, 2006;Todo & Takahashi, 2011). They suggest that lack of knowledge is just one of these factors hindering technology adoption, but not necessarily the only factor.…”