Topic outline

Farmer Field School (FFS) is a participatory education approach that brings together a group of small-scale food producers to solve production problems through sustainable agriculture. The FFS approach offers space for hands-on group learning, enhancing skills for observation and critical analysis and improved decision making by local communities. This course provides guidance on the formulation of FFS programmes, from the identification of objectives and scope to data collection, activity planning, budgeting and the finalization of the project documents.

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This e-learning course is intended for programme formulators, funding organizations, FFS programme managers or field staff who wish to learn about formulating FFS programmes.

  • The definition of objectives and scope for FFS interventions.
  • The assessment of the local situation, including existing knowledge and skills gaps, local available capacity and the relevance of the FFS approach within a given context.
  • The planning and identification of key capacity development and support activities.
  • Costing and budgeting for different activities, staffing, and other programme support requirements.
  • The preparation of the final FFS project document.

This course consists of six lessons of approximately 40 minutes each:

  • Lesson 1 - Defining objectives and scope
  • Lesson 2 - Assessing the local situation
  • Lesson 3 - Planning capacity development activities
  • Lesson 4 - Planning support activities
  • Lesson 5 - Costing and budgeting
  • Lesson 6 - Finalizing the project document

This course runs on the latest versions of the major browsers, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

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Digital certification

This course offers certification. You will get your digital badge upon passing a final exam after completing the course and achieving a grade of at least 75%. Please click on the button below to complete the exam, or refer to our Certification section to learn more.

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  • Partners

    International Fund for Agricultural Development  Resilient food system