A Series of Lectures By Mr. Allah Dad Khan Provincial Director IPM ( Master Trainer ) KPK Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) Islamabad Pakistan

2. Farmer Field Schools
( On Livestock )
A Series of Lectures
By
Mr. Allah Dad Khan Provincial
Director IPM KPK MINFAL
Pakistan

4. Content
The FFS are based on a solid tested curriculum,
which covers the entire crop/livestock cycle. The
field guides, study fields plus a collection of
group dynamic exercises provide the basis for
the field school curriculum. These materials are
used according to their appropriateness.

5. Training in the farmer field school
Training in the farmer field school is experiential
and discovery based. The training activities are
designed to have participants learn by doing.
Most of the training time is spent in the field.
Exchange of information and generation of
knowledge are facilitated through sharing
observations, brainstorming and long
discussions.

6. Methodology
A corner stone of the FFS methodology is agro-
ecosystems analysis (AESA) that is the
establishment by observation of the interaction
between crop/livestock and other biotic and
abiotic factors co-existing in the field. This
involves regular (usually weekly) observations of
the livestock. Participants work in sub groups of
4 or 5 and learn how to make and record
detailed observations includin

7. Live weight gain
• ¨ Milk production
• ¨ Incidence of disease
• ¨ Treatment frequency
• ¨ Presence of ecto and endoparasite
• ¨ Evaluation of infrastructures
• ¨ Weather conditions
• ¨ Overall health status
• ¨ Growth stage and production level of fodder
crop

8. Management Decision
The farmers then take management decisions
based on these observations. An important
aspect of FFS is helping and encouraging farmers
conduct their own experiments, to test out
ecological livestock management methods.

9. Management Decision
There are no standard recommendations or
packages of technology offered. Farmer groups
collectively decide which methods or aspects of
livestock management should be studied and
undertake action based on their own findings. In
this way, farmers become active learners and
independent decision-makers through a process
of learning by doing.

10. Management Decision
These, together with a group dynamic activity
and a special topic concerning what is
happening in the field, form the core of the field
school curriculum

11. AESA
FFS day is divided into: ¨ AESA and its relevance
to animal husbandry ¨ PTD activity ¨ Group
dynamic activity ¨ Special topic related to
specific village level conditions or problems

12. Schedule
Field school schedule FFS meets for half a day on
the mutually agreed days between the farmers
and the facilitators.

13. • A typical day for a field school is divided into: ¨
Prayer/roll call ¨ Review of the previous FFS
day ¨ Briefing on today’s activities ¨ Field
observation of the livestock or the fodder field
¨ Discussion and presentation of field
observation for decision making ¨ Group
dynamic activity in small or large groups ¨
Special topic activity and discussion in the
small or large group. ¨ Planning for next week
¨ Summary and closure