GTZ-ITFSP
P.O. Box 47051
Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 2 524658 or 524000
Fax: +254 2 524651 or 524001
E-mail:Meckert@cgiar.org

Farmer-to-farmer training

ITFSP believes that experienced and skilled farmers are usually the people best suited to train other farmers. All too often the farmers themselves, for whom the training is intended and who are the ones who will put the training into practice, are the last in the queue of those to be trained. This scheme puts farmers first-always. Following are its principles.

Putting farmers first
The hypothesis is that there are always farmers who have above-average skills, knowledge and talents for different farm enterprises. These farmers can motivate other farmers, help them improve their skills, and share their know-how. These farmers have been trained to be farmer trainers.

Training for skills development
ITFSP has developed on-the-job training for the identified farmers. They become recognized as certified farmer trainers for tree-crop extension. Extension workers change from working directly to helping the farmer trainers with their training programme and setting up a farmer network.

Providing extension services that farmers want
Local fruit trees that are easy to manage can be improved for better subsistence production, and the potential market is good for such fruits as mango, avocado, pawpaw and citrus. Learning grafting and budding techniques and being introduced to new, improved varieties that produce results quickly show farmers how much they can gain from growing trees as crops. Farmer trainers are encouraged to establish fruit tree nurseries, and they have been helped to set up mother-tree blocks of improved cultivars for producing scions. This system leads to a decentralized, demand-driven nursery network that can provide smallholder farmers with quality germplasm. ITFSP has introduced this participatory farm-analysis approach as a tool for identifying the most profitable tree-planting options.

Forming groups and networking
Groups of farmers who share an interest in growing fruit trees help sustain the training impetus and farmer enthusiasm. Small groups acting together can build and form a group that is large enough to command the supply of services that individual farmers in the groups require. This process will ultimately result in farmers registering their own business associations-viewed as the cornerstone necessary to lead smallholder farmers out of poverty, contribute to privatising extension services and making them demand oriented, lead to greater production and creative farmer schemes, and make accessible improved germplasm, inputs and financial markets.