Farmer Field Schools demonstrating conservation agriculture with trees to scale up soil conservation
Full Solution
Tadala Farmer Filed Schools members in their commercial enterprise (banana field)
FAO
In Ntcheu District, Malawi, a Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) project, supported by FAO, IUCN, WRI, GIZ and funded by BMUV, empowers local communities through Farmer Field Schools (FFS). Addressing challenges such as low community engagement, unsustainable land use, and economic pressures, the project leverages local leaders and lead farmers to build capacity and ownership of restoration practices. FFS blends traditional knowledge with sustainable techniques, demonstrating economic and environmental benefits that align with community needs. By providing hands-on training in agroforestry and soil conservation, FFS increases yields and offers alternative incomes, reducing reliance on deforestation-driven practices. Through strong support systems, continuous monitoring, and strategic alignment with local socio-economic goals, the project creates a replicable, resilient model that fosters both ecological restoration and socio-economic growth, enhancing resilience against climate impacts and safeguarding vital water resources.
Last update: 24 Feb 2025
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Context
Challenges addressed
Initial challenges included low local engagement in sustainable resource management, exacerbated by limited access to training and financial support. Economic pressures led many households to engage in unsustainable practices, such as illegal charcoal production, worsening deforestation and erosion. Inadequate and unsustainable agricultural techniques further degraded soil quality and threatened water resources critical for community livelihoods. These challenges, compounded by a lack of institutional support for conservation, emphasized the need for community-driven solutions like the Farmer Field Schools to foster ownership and sustainable practices.
Location
Ntcheu, Malawi
East and South Africa
Process
Summary of the process
First, ensuring local leadership and community buy-in builds trust and encourages active participation. Selecting and training lead farmers adds a layer of local expertise, as these champions mentor others and encourage peer-to-peer learning. Practical, hands-on learning through demonstration days reinforces this knowledge and makes new practices accessible and actionable. The integration of traditional knowledge with modern methods ensures that FLR techniques are culturally relevant, increasing community acceptance. Addressing socio-economic needs by promoting income-generating activities motivates commitment by demonstrating tangible benefits such as increased yields and food security. Finally, strong support systems and continuous monitoring sustain progress, allowing for timely adjustments and ongoing encouragement.
Building Blocks
Establishing local leadership and community-buy in
The first step is to engage local leaders, traditional authorities, and respected community members. By involving them from the start, the project gains trust and ensures alignment with community values. These leaders promote community buy-in and support for FFS, reinforcing the importance of restoration activities and encouraging widespread participation. This step ensures that the lead farmers chosen are acceptable by the entire community.
Enabling factors
Key to this initial step is engaging local leaders early on to build trust and ensure alignment with community values. Regular meetings with village chiefs, community representatives, and influential figures help establish project credibility and relevance. The active involvement of respected figures encourages wider community participation and commitment to FLR practices, as leaders can mobilize and inspire residents to take ownership of restoration activities. This foundational support is essential for gaining both legitimacy and momentum for FFS within the community.
Lesson learned
When local leaders are engaged early, the community is more likely to accept and sustain FFS initiatives. Building on trusted leadership fosters long-term commitment to restoration.
Selecting and Training of Lead Farmers
Choosing lead farmers who act as champions for FFS is a critical step. Lead farmers are selected based on community recommendations and receive additional training to guide FFS sessions. They serve as role models, facilitate peer learning, and ensure that new techniques are correctly implemented. Lead farmers help maintain motivation and act as local points of contact for any issues that arise.
Enabling factors
Selecting lead farmers from within the community is crucial, as these individuals are respected and trusted by their peers. Training for lead farmers is supported by technical expertise from project partners (e.g., FAO, IUCN), who provide knowledge on sustainable practices and techniques. These lead farmers act as both role models and facilitators, bridging the gap between formal training and community-level implementation. Their position as local champions allows them to encourage participation, maintain motivation, and ensure that sustainable practices are being correctly followed by FFS participants.
Lesson learned
Empowering respected individuals as lead farmers boosts local credibility of FFS and ensures that skills and knowledge are effectively transferred.
Conducting Demonstration Days and Hands-On Learning
FFS emphasizes hands-on training through demonstration days where participants practice sustainable techniques like soil conservation, agroforestry, and erosion control. These field-based sessions allow farmers to learn by doing, improving retention and adoption of new practices.
Enabling factors
The success of demonstration days relies on providing accessible plots and necessary materials (such as seeds, tools, and equipment) that allow farmers to engage directly with FLR techniques. External support from partners helps ensure that FFS are equipped with resources to run effective, hands-on sessions. Additionally, experienced facilitators guide these practical sessions, ensuring that participants understand the application and benefits of each technique, from soil conservation to agroforestry. This approach increases confidence among participants and reinforces learning by allowing them to see and feel the results of their efforts in real-time
Lesson learned
Hands-on learning is more impactful than theory alone. Demonstration days help farmers see immediate results, which increases confidence in applying the techniques on their own land.
Integrating Traditional Knowledge and Sustainable Practices
FFS combines traditional land management practices with sustainable FLR techniques, allowing communities to build on their existing knowledge. This integration respects cultural practices and promotes acceptance, facilitating the transition to sustainable land management. This step is also essential when communities make comparisons between what they are learning and their own knowledge/skills/practices.
Enabling factors
A key component of FFS success is the integration of traditional knowledge, achieved through open dialogue with local elders and knowledge holders. Facilitators and project leaders are encouraged to understand and respect existing land use practices, which helps to integrate these practices with modern sustainable techniques. This culturally sensitive approach facilitates the acceptance of new methods, while increasing their effectiveness by building on familiar practices. Support from project partners ensures that traditional methods are respected and combined with ecological restoration techniques, increasing both community buy-in and practical relevance.
Lesson learned
Combining traditional and modern practices makes FLR more relevant to local contexts. When restoration techniques resonate with familiar practices, communities are more likely to engage in and adopt FLR activities because these methods feel accessible and practical. When local knowledge forms the basis of the restoration approach, communities feel that they are partners rather than passive recipients of aid. This sense of ownership is essential for the long-term management of restored areas, as communities feel personally responsible for maintaining and protecting these landscapes. Traditional knowledge also often includes time-tested methods that are well suited to the local environment, such as specific planting cycles or water conservation practices adapted to seasonal weather patterns.
Addressing Socio-Economic Needs Through Livelihood Alter-natives
This building block aligns Farmer Field School (FFS) activities with the economic needs of local communities by introducing sustainable livelihood options. By teaching agroforestry, diversified crops and other commercial enterprises, FFS help farmers improve soil health, increase crop yields and find alternatives to unsustainable practices such as charcoal production. This approach provides economic incentives to adopt sustainable practices, demonstrating that FLR can improve both environmental and economic well-being.
Enabling factors
Financial and logistical support from project partners enables the initial implementation of agroforestry and income-generating activities. Training on alternative livelihoods through FFS demonstrates the economic value of sustainable practices, making them more attractive to farmers.
Lesson learned
Aligning FLR activities with local economic needs is essential for long-term success. When farmers see improved yields and increased incomes, they are more likely to adopt sustainable practices. Ensuring that restoration efforts contribute to immediate livelihood improvements motivates community members to actively participate in FLR.
Establishing Strong Support Systems and Monitoring
Ongoing support and monitoring ensure that FFS efforts are sustained over time. External partners provide technical guidance, while local governance structures, like Village Natural Resources Committees, maintain accountability. Regular monitoring allows for adjustments based on feedback
Enabling factors
Ongoing support from FAO, IUCN and BMUV funding ensures that the FFS model is well resourced and technically guided during the establishment phase. Local governance structures, such as Village Natural Resource Committees, will be established to maintain accountability and monitor progress within the community. These committees help to coordinate activities, track restoration milestones and maintain community commitments. Regular monitoring allows for adaptation based on feedback, ensuring that FFS activities remain effective and relevant. Ongoing engagement with external partners provides additional guidance, reinforcing community-led monitoring and helping to address emerging challenges.
Lesson learned
Long-term success depends on sustained support and adaptive management. Building local capacity for monitoring and maintenance creates a lasting impact beyond the initial project phase.
Impacts
The AREECA project, through the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in Ntcheu District has successfully established 37 Farmer Field Schools (FFS), involving 926 local farmers trained in sustainable practices. Of these participants, 584 were women, with 299 adult females and 247 female youths, highlighting the program’s commitment to gender inclusion. Each FFS appointed a lead farmer, resulting in 37 local leaders (23 males and 14 females) trained to champion restoration practices within their communities.
Ecologically, the project has achieved significant gains in landscape restoration and natural resource management. The reforestation and soil conservation efforts promoted through FFS have led to increased vegetation cover, reduced soil erosion, and improved water retention in the Mpira Dam catchment area. These ecological benefits protect local water sources, ensuring a more consistent water supply for agriculture and household use. The adoption of agroforestry and sustainable farming practices has also enhanced soil health and biodiversity, creating a more resilient landscape capable of withstanding climate stresses. Through FFS only over 1000 ha has been successfully restored. The combined social and ecological impacts underscore the FLR project's role in building sustainable, community-driven restoration efforts.
Beneficiaries
- 37 direct rural communities in Ntcheu District
- 20.000 indirect individuals reached across Mpira Catchment
- Environment through restoration interventions
- 926 local farmers trained in sustainable practices (63% women)
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 1 – No poverty
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 15 – Life on land
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the goals
Story
Peace Kamuyambeni (in dress) welcomes attendees to a field day
FAO
Peace Kamuyambeni , a lead farmer, leads Eneya Community members in Restoration interventions through Farmer Filed School studies in Ntcheu district.
Countless technologies on modern agriculture have been developed and promoted to the farming communities across Malawi. The focus has been on technologies that promote crop production due to the dominant nature of projects on agriculture production. Despite the rampant proliferation of field days, adoption of technologies remain a challenge. Moreover, it is rare, to witness field days on land restoration efforts. One FFS set up in the course of the AREECA project is Tikondane FFS in Enya Village
To promote problem solving at local level, Tikondane FFS carried out a study on soil improvement using different fertility fisixing tree secies such as Gliridia sepium, pigeon pea, Sesbania sesban and tehrosia volgelii. The objective was to find out the performance of these species when intercropped with maize with focus on maize yield. This helps individuals make informed decision on adoption of FLR interventions.
Peace Kamuymabeni successfully led her group on 25 members (female only then) to set up the study with assistance from extension officers in 2022/2023 season. To promote adotion of the successful technologies, Peace was the first lead farmer to organize a field day at her FFS study in Eneya Community to show case the performance of the study.
At a field day focused on FLR, lead farmers showcased interventions such as tree‑crop interplanting with fertilizer trees, riverbank rehabilitation, community woodlots, homestead orchards, and integrated pest/disease management to restore degraded areas and boost tree cover. Participants learned early detection techniques for pests and diseases and were introduced to free plant clinics for support. Sibongire Butao of Tikondane-Eneya FFS stated, "The field day has come at the right time, last season we faced pest attack on some nursery seedlings and now we have wider knowledge on early detection and access for remedy." Laurent Nkhoma, representing Ntcheu’s Chief Agriculture Officer, added, "Field days are practical classrooms where farmers learn effective techniques from peers and experts. This event has taught us workable FLR interventions that must be championed in this era of climate change. I urge those not yet implementing FLR to adopt them." In Eneya, Peace Kamuyambeni facilitated the outplanting of 15,000 tree seedlings and 700 bamboo; 71 women, 62 men attended.
Connect with contributors
Other contributors
Harrington Nyirenda
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Priscah Munthali
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Christopher Katema
World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
