How do farmers change their practices at the farm level after co-design processes in Farmer Field Schools?

Abstract

CONTEXTFarmers are increasingly recognized as the designers of their own production systems, and face challenges that call for context-specific innovations. Co-designing innovations with farmers is one way to tailor options to local constraints and resources. However, studies on how farmers implement agroecological practices after a co-design process are rare, especially at the farm level. OBJECTIVEThis study analyses how farmers' implementation of technical innovations co-designed during Farmer Field Schools (FFS), an adult education and rural development approach, brings farmers to change their practices at the farm level. We also explore whether the potential to induce changes at the farm level varies with the cropping system targeted by the FFS or with the gender of participants. METHODSTo study the outcomes at the farm level of the co-design process in FFS, we established an analytical framework based on four sub-systems identified within family farming systems in the cotton growing area in West Africa: vegetable gardening, rainy season cropping, livestock management and organic fertilizer production. We applied the framework to a case study in northern Togo on FFS promoting the agroecological transition of family farms. Four FFS were sampled; three covered two different cropping systems (vegetable gardening and rainy season crops) in separate sessions while the fourth FFS only covered vegetable gardening. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 farmers (19 men, 11 women) all former participants in either vegetable gardening FFS (n = 8), rainy season cropping FFS (n = 10) or both (n = 12). The interviews took place two years after the end of FFS activities and covered changes in practices in the four farm sub-systems identified. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSOur results show that the changes in practices were not limited to the cropping system addressed during the FFS attended by each farmer. Participation in the FFS triggered changes in practices at the farm level in livestock systems and organic fertilizer production among the farmers we surveyed. The vegetable gardening FFS had a distinct effect on the development of vegetable gardening activities, but the effects of the rainy season crop FFS were less specific. Farmers who attended both FFS did not change more practices than farmers who attended only one FFS. The gender of the participants did not lead to more, less, or different changes in farm practices. SIGNIFICANCEOur framework reveals the systemic nature of the changes in practices in family farms. This was made possible by the collaborative implementation of the sampled FFS and the agroecological principles covered in the FFS curricula. This study provides insights for the implementation of co-design processes to support farmers in their processes of change in practices and redesign of their farming systems, which are crucial to agroecological transitions.