Urban and peri-urban horticulture Factsheet 2 Field schools for urban vegetable growers

Field schools are now widely used to enhance the knowledge and skills of small-scale farmers. But how can they be applied to horticulture in urban and peri-urban

areas? FAO

The Farmer Field School (FFS) management, irrigation, soil is a process of group-based conservation, variety selection and Key points learning originally developed by marketing. FAO in the late 1980s to promote A more recent development is Farmer field schools are a Integrated Pest Management the application of the FFS concept proven approach for reducing (IPM) in Asian fields. At field to urban and peri-urban horticulture. use and improving schools, farmers were able to In fact, research on field schools in the of yields in a deepen their knowledge of agro- urban settings is still very limited. variety of crops ecology, particularly the relationship But evidence suggests that FFS between insect pests and beneficial can be effective in enhancing Adapting FFS to urban insects, and adopt practices that urban vegetable growers’ skills horticulture must take into reduce the use of and and knowledge, and improving account the characteristics improve the sustainability of crop the quantity, quality and safety of that distinguish UPH from rural yields. horticultural produce, provided it crop production Over the past two decades, the takes into account characteristics FFS approach has been adopted that distinguish UPH, and UPH Participation of growers in field by development programmes for practitioners, from their rural schools may be an important small-scale agricultural producers counterparts. first step toward formation of in Africa, Asia and Latin America. producer organizations The focus of FFS has widened Tailoring FFS to the urban to cover a broad range of crops, environment including vegetables, cotton, Vegetable growers in urban cassava and cocoa, and to address settings often have less access to issues in land preparation, nursery agricultural support services, such

Farmer field schools – the basics A farmer field school is a season-long non-formal education programme usually conducted in producers’ own fields. Together, farmers study the development stages of their crops and related management practices. Basic features: • A group of producers, usually numbering 25 to 30, is involved • The field school lasts for one cropping season, from seeding/transplanting to harvest, and may include post-harvest operations and marketing • Participants have regular meetings during the cropping season • Each meeting includes an agro-ecosystem analysis activity • Participants conduct a study comparing their usual cultivation practices

FAO with improved practices • The field school covers topics that deal with specific issues identified by participants Farmers learn integrated pest • The school is guided by at least one trained facilitator, often a member of the group management in Bangladesh

Factsheet DAKAR-2-ENG.indd 1 10/11/10 11:24 as extension and seed supply, which may be targeted mainly at rural areas. They are far more likely to be growing crops on land without permits. Some may have no previous horticultural experience at Better bed all. Even rural people newly settled preparation in in cities who practise horticulture the Democratic may be unfamiliar with production Republic of Congo constraints particular to urban areas, such as limited availability of safe water, and specific plant pests and diseases.

In addition, urban vegetable FAO growers typically lack the social bonds that facilitate the organization Field schools for 9 000 vegetable growers An FAO-assisted project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has organized of farmer field schools in rural farmer field schools for more than 9 000 vegetable growers in five cities over the areas, schedules that prevent them past 10 years. To ensure the safety of produce, fields schools are used to introduced from attending meetings with other FAO’s Integrated Production and Pest Management (IPPM) approach, which growers. helps reduce the need for pesticides. The FFS programme covers a wide range All of those constraints were of other topics – from preparation of beds and correct plant spacing to irrigation management and the use of organic fertilizer. Field schools also conduct trials of highlighted by a project involving improved varieties and share results through Hortivar (www.fao.org/hortivar), vegetable growers on the outskirts FAO’s online, geo-referenced database on cultivar performance and appropriate of Lima. A study undertaken as cropping practices. part of the CGIAR’s Urban Harvest Initiative found that the growers were responding to increased pest and disease pressure with Another significant adaptation and inputs, and formal recognition widespread over-use of highly toxic was the selection of a site for the of what is still, in many cities, an pesticides. Contamination of lettuce, field school. While in rural areas, informal and often unrecognized cabbage and basil was so serious learning often takes place in the field activity. that it posed a threat not only to of a participating farmer, “distinct producers and their families but to attitudes towards individual and Further information traders and consumers. communal space” persuaded the Growing greener cities in the organizers to conduct schools on a Democratic Republic of the Congo Sensitizing growers plot provided by city authorities. (FAO, 2010) Although the government had The “urban farmer” field schools “Vegetable production systems as launched IPM programmes for rural proved highly successful. The livelihood strategies in Lima-Peru”, areas, urban growers were largely project reported that FFS led not by B. Arce, G. Prain, R. Valle, unfamiliar with the life cycles of only to a significant reduction N. Gonzales, in ISHS Acta insect pests, IPM concepts and in pesticide use by growers, Horticulturae 762 ecological agriculture. To build but encouraged them to form FAO Regional Vegetable IPM the growers’ capacity to analyse organizations for processing and programme in Asia: local agro-ecosystems and to test marketing their produce. http://www.vegetableipmasia.org/ production innovations, the project FAO says that encouraging the FAO Regional IPM programme in the began a programme of farmer participation of urban producers Near East: fields schools tailored to the urban in farmer field schools may be an http://www.ipm-neareast.com/ environment. important first step towards the Compared to field schools in development of formal organizations rural areas, more time had to be that can help them win greater dedicated to sensitizing growers to access to credit, extension advice the advantages of group learning. This extended “pre-school” phase also helped identify those growers with sufficient spare time to attend weekly half-day meetings Contact throughout the production season. Programme for Urban and Peri-urban Horticulture (UPH) Plant Production and Protection Division (AGP) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy

This factsheet was written by Marjon Fredrix and Luigi Castaldi, of FAO’s Plant Production email: [email protected] and Protection Division www.fao.org/ag/agp/greenercities/

Factsheet DAKAR-2-ENG.indd 2 10/11/10 11:24