GFRAS Webinar, May 25th 2021

1. Agroecology & Extension:
The Case of ‘Green Extension’ in Lao PDR
GFRAS Webinar, May 25th 2021
Souvanthong Namvong
National Project Director,
Dept. Technical Extension and Agro-Processing
Andrew Bartlett
Team Leader & Policy Adviser,
Helvetas

2. What is Green Extension?
 GE has been developed and implemented by the
Lao Upland Rural Advisory Service (LURAS)
 This agroecological approach has been endorsed by
the Lao Min. of Agriculture & Forestry (MAF) and
contributes to the strategic goal of “developing
clean, safe and sustainable agriculture”
 GE builds on 20 years cooperation between the
MAF Extension Department and Helvetas,
supported throughout this period by SDC
 The approach also incorporates lessons from many
other organisations, eg. FAO IPM Field Schools,
CIRAD Conservation Agriculture, JICA promotion of
SRI and organic projects by various NGOs
 In addition, GE applies the principles of the GFRAS
New Extensionist
'Green Extension' (GE)
is a type of rural advisory
service that supports the
scaling up of sustainable
agriculture by facilitating
socio-ecological learning
among farmers

3. Why we need Green
Extension in Laos
 Laos is a mountainous country with many
ethnic groups. Farming systems are
highly diverse. General recommend-
ations have limited value
 Commercialisation has increased incomes
but created many problems including
loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and
threats to human health
 New challenges are emerging: irregular
weather, outbreaks of pests and
diseases, market fluctuations
 In short: we need an approach that
improves the resilience of rural
communities

4. Green Extension is a holistic approach
 GE supports farmers in analysing
local problems and opportunities,
and testing alternative practices
under local conditions
 GE is not a single approach or
blueprint for achieving sustainability.
It includes many different methods
that are used to promote various types
of content
 What these GE methods
have in common is the
creation, sharing and
application of local
knowledge

5. The key to GE is the
learning process
 In past, farmers were ‘targets’ of
recommendations by outside experts
 Socio-ecological learning is different:
 'Social learning' means rural people are
active in the generation and sharing of
knowledge
 'Ecological learning' means innovations
are tested under local conditions and
take account of interactions within the
farming system
 The most important steps in process:
 Community-based planning
 Participatory Action Research (PAR)
 Farmer-to Farmer Exchanges (F2F)

6. The challenge to GE is how to scale up
 In Laos, as elsewhere, past efforts
to promote agroecology have often
worked in pilot projects but failed
at scale
 Or, if applied at scale, they become
a blueprint which is not adapted to
diverse local conditions
 LURAS has been addressing this
challenge through a combination of
‘Learning Centres’ and ‘Learning
Multipliers’
 Farmer-generated knowledge is
shared through various means, so
others can test and adapt (not just
adopt!)
Action
Research
Technical
Support
Community
Facilities
Group
Development
Learning Centres
Learning Multipliers
Farmer to Farmer:
Exchanges & Networks
Extension Training Materials:
Print & Video Guidelines
Each Centre
= 20 to 200
Farmers
x 10
Digital Dissemination:
Social Media and TV
x 100
x 1,000

7. Example:
GE with coffee farmers
 Coffee grown under natural forest in upland Laos
helps increase incomes AND protect biodiversity
 PAR by farmers at the coffee learning centre in
Keoset includes:
 Study on effect of different compost on yields and sugar
content of beans
 Testing different processing techniques to add value
 Producing low-cost traps for Coffee Berry Borer
 F2F has involved
 Visits by hundreds of farmers from other areas
 Hosting a Young Farmer Forum
 Collaborating in production and testing of manuals and
videos
 Read more : www.LaoCoffee.org

8. Lessons Learned
 Important to recognize coffee is part of
an integrated system. Farmers also
produce rice, cattle and seasonal veg.
 Farmers welcome chance to increase
income from green products instead of
growing chemical-intensive crops like
maize
 Action research provides greater
opportunities for engagement with
women who are involved in all steps of
production and processing
 Youth also play important role as village
facilitators
 Collaboration with private sector also
important in identifying problems and
opportunities for value addition
 Role of extension worker change to
facilitator and networker. They are NOT
the experts on coffee

9. Thank you