Taking the cow to school
| Farmers Field Schools began in Indonesia about two decades ago under the auspices of the FAO and have since spread to other parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa. They have been remarkably successful. In essence, the idea is that a group of between 25 and 30 farmers meet once a week and conduct experiments and field trials to discover for themselves the best ways to manage their crops. Highly structured, with group chairman, secretary, treasurer and small, weekly financial contributions from all members, each group decides what problems they need to address and, with the support of a facilitator, embarks upon a programme of activities. Integrated pest management is a popular theme. Specialist advisors are brought in as necessary and paid out of the School's fund. |
The timetable is precise. Those attending the meeting speak succinctly and to the point. They all, well nearly all, participate in the discussions which are open, friendly, courteous and constructive. By the end of the morning all feel they have gained by taking part and they leave with a clear idea of the action to take before the next meeting. Is this a group of power-pointed presenters, electrical leads snaking out from every port on their computers in a high tech conference setting? By no means because, for a start, there is no electricity and, even if there were, it would be unnecessary for today's event. We are in the village of Rongai, a few miles from the town of Nakuru in Kenya's Rift Valley, and we are attending a farmers' field school that is breaking new ground.
Farmers field schools are now well-established and well-known. There are 500 or so in Kenya alone (see box). What marks out "Olrongai FFS" as different is that its members are concentrating their field school activities on their dairy cattle. This is not quite as straightforward as it might at first seem. Whereas it is perfectly legitimate, for example, to divide a plot of maize and treat one part with chemical insecticide, and leave the other untreated, one cannot experiment on cows in this way. Obviously no risks can be taken with large livestock. Secondly, crops are, by and large, grown in one relatively short season and the impact of any given type of management can be quickly seen. Such is not the case with cattle. And yet any group needs to meet regularly if it is to remain a cohesive unit and maintain the interest and commitment of its members. Would there be enough to do in a livestock farmers' field school? It was to answer some of these questions that the UK government's Department for International Development, agreed to fund a three-year project through its smallholder dairy development programme (based at ILRI in Nairobi) working closely with the extension services of Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture.
One year into the project and the success has been remarkable. Olrongai is one of ten livestock farmers field schools in Kenya and the number is soon to double. They cover a wide geographical area so that they can be tested in a range of farming conditions. Members, all of whom must be owners of between one and five cattle, meet once a week, each member taking it in turns to host the event.
The
first activity is to examine the cattle, noting the condition of the animal
and its housing against a checklist .The findings are then presented by
one member of the group and all decide on what future course of action
should be recommended. If requested, the facilitator may offer advice.
The choice of facilitators has been absolutely key to the present success,
says project leader Bruno Minjauw. They have been selected by the Extension
Service for their willingness to take on extra duties and work with farmers
in the very different way that the field school philosophy requires. They
receive two weeks' training under the project and experience a farmers'
field school in action, albeit one working on crops rather than livestock.
Walter Siro, facilitator at Rongai, admits that the style is very different
to the old training and visit type of extension with which he began his
career but he also says that he finds it far better.
The beauty of the approach is that farmers identify the problems
that concern them and work collectively to find solutions. Farmers in
Olrongai FFS, for example, experience severe water shortage for part of
the year which makes growing fodder difficult - or so they thought. But
now they are testing a variety of fodder plants and ways of managing them,
and they have begun to dig huge water collecting reservoirs to collect
runoff water from the nearby hill.
Another problem facing the group has been getting their milk accepted by the local dairy. Indeed the morning's special topic has been on mastitis, the control of which should help to improve milk quality. And as Alice Kibugi, a member of the group and a teacher at the nearby school, points out, "We can solve our problems together but if one is going this way and another, another, we don't see any benefit."
The project has provided start up money for each group - $600 - and this should last at least one year after which the group is expected to be self-financing. The money pays for the presence of the facilitator and other specialist advice, and for special activities that the group undertakes such as the need to buy impermeable liners for the newly dug water reservoirs.
Whether a livestock farmers field school will work as well in a pastoralist farming system remains to be seen but the smallholder dairy farmers of Olrongai FFS are certainly convinced of its value to them. And for the visitor, privileged to join the school for a morning, there are also valuable lessons: progress is not impeded by a lack of high tech paraphernalia and, one suspects, may well be promoted.
