Group Unveils Field Business School For Agric Extension Workers

An international organisation, Catalysing Strengthened Policy Action for Healthy Diets and Resilience (CASCADE) has launched the Farmer Field Business School (FFBS) approach for agriculture extension workers and women in Bauchi, Jigawa, Kebbi and Nasarawa states.

The new approach was launched at a four-day training for trainers on the FFBS approach implemented by CARE with funding from The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bauchi.

The senior technical adviser of CARE-USA, Frantz Siede, said the training is to equip the project, programme and partners with skills to implement the components of the FFBS.

He said, “Other objectives are to support participants to develop a process using the cropping cycle to implement FFBS with savings and producer groups, livestock and other types of value chain groups as well as enable them to adapt the approach for nutrition outcomes through livelihood programming.”

He said they introduced an updated approach away from agriculture extension to now include gender, nutrition and monitoring and evaluation.

Siede said the monitoring and evaluation facilitation techniques will ensure that when passing down knowledge and skills acquired it takes care of building capacity and empowerment.

The policy advocacy specialist of CASCADE, The Netherlands, Joshua Chibuyi, said the programme which is multi-sectoral is community driven which is why it leverages existing structure in countries. “We focus on empowering communities and ensure that their needs are addressed,” he added.

The project manager of CASCADE, Bauchi, Isaac Ishaya, said the project interest is targeting and building women by enhancing production systems at household levels.

The president of the Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigeria Universities, Professor James Jayeoba, said they were at the training as observers and to understudy the Farmer Field Business School Approach in order to step it down to their undergraduate students’ curriculum.