08 May

Nurturing learning through Farmers Field School to over 300 farmers in Morogoro region

Farmer Field Schools give farmers a forum to demonstrate modern techniques for farming while stimulating learning and experimentation. On April 20, 2024, SUGECO hosted a one-day Farmer Field School (FFS) for more than 300 youth farmers as part of the Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AIDI-II) Project, which is financed by USAID through AGRA. Participants in the FFS were exposed to various horticultural value chains and technologies at the SUGECO demonstration farms. The participants went to several farms that farmed peppers, tomatoes, habanero, cabbage in  screen house and open field crops.

To foster a learning environment, the participants were involved in participatory approaches. Using learning by doing, practical field exercises were carried out through direct observation and conversation with our experts.

The participants were thrilled to see young people and other farmers putting what they had learned in class into practice and sharing their desire to work in agriculture as agripreneurs. Their farms were established as part of the Kizimba Business Model (KBM) and AIDI projects, and their work has opened doors for other young farmers to learn from. This helped the participants understand that, with the right connections to resources such as money, land, markets, and other connections, young people may invest in agriculture and reap financial rewards.

With the FFS program, the participants strengthened their capacities by observing, evaluating, and committing to try out innovative concepts in their particular professions that will result in increased output and higher living standards and affirming their commitment to testing out innovative ideas in their industry that could boost production and enhance living standards.