Volunteer farmer trainers(VFTs): An effective extension approach for reaching and empowering farmers

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Key results
Relevance. Extension staff are few yet farming is
becoming more knowledge-intensive. VFT programs help
organizations reach more farmers and encourage farmers
to learn from each other.
Effectiveness. VFTs had trained an average of 54 farmers
during the month preceding the survey. Women trained as
many farmers as men though within a more limited area.
Gender. The approach empowers women and improves
their access to extension. Organizations are able to
achieve a 30 percent higher proportion of women among
farmer trainers than among their extension staff. But
proactive measures are needed for recruiting female farmer
trainers, such as targeting women’s groups.
Why become a farmer trainer? Access to knowledge and
altruism were the main reasons farmers become farmer
trainers (Table 1). Extension providers can make their
volunteer farmer trainer programs more effective and
sustainable by providing low-cost incentives such as
badges, certificates, community recognition and field tours.
Volunteer farmer trainers(VFTs): An
effective extension approach for
reaching and empowering farmers
Steven Franzel, Evelyne Kiptot, Josephine Kirui (ICRAF)
Eija Laitinen and Peter Kuria Githinji (HAMK)
End-users and impact
End users include
• extension managers, to encourage them to adopt the
approach and good practices in implementing it
• policy makers, to help them support the VFT approach
• researchers, on how to assess effectiveness of
extension approaches and sustainability
Organizations taking up the approach as a result, in part,
of our research include
1 African-wide association,
2 government agencies,
2 NGOs,
1 national farmers’ federation and
56 farmer cooperatives serving over 100,000
households in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
ICT tools are needed to reach a wider audience.
Figure 1. Volunteer farmer trainer in Uganda Photo: Pius Lutakome
Significance of the research results
Adoption of the VFT approach and good practices in
implementing it helps
• development organizations to reach more farmers
• to empower farmers as change agents
• to empower women, as long as organizations make
efforts to recruit more women as farmer trainers.
Dissemination of our results has helped lead to an
increased profile for the VFT approach in global debates as
evidenced by
- its uptake by the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory
Services in its 2015 Addis Ababa Declaration,
- reports on our results in
- the FAO 2014 State of Food and Agriculture
Report,
- the 2014 CGIAR Report on Consortium
Research Projects and in
- an article in the Manchester Guardian (UK).
Table 1. Motivations for farmers to become
and remain farmer trainers, East Africa Dairy
Development Project, Kenya (N=99)