Volunteer Farmer Training: An Approach for Sustaining Agriculture Training in African Small Holder Farming Communities

Following the decline of investments in government extension services in Africa in the 1990s, community-owned extension services have become increasingly important. Without them, rural communities could be left with little to no support to improve their livelihoods and local economies. Farmers learn a lot from each other as neighbors, friends, and relatives. A successful innovation in one household can easily lead to other families replicating this innovation through peer learning and sharing. This is a powerful tool that can be tapped into by local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to create greater impact that lasts long after the project ends. Many different models and labels have been used to describe community-owned extension services such as “farmer-to-farmer” learning, “training of trainers,” “lead farmers,” “farmer promoters,” or “peer farmer trainers.” For this blog, we’ll stick with “Volunteer Farmer Trainers (VFTs).”

Many organizations with similar peer-learning models provide a fee to their farmer trainers to deliver formal training sessions. The approach we use at Ripple Effect is unique. VFTs share their skills in informal day-to-day interactions. For example, on their farms, at markets, in self-help groups, at places of worship, or when visiting friends. And it works, which begs the question — why do farmers volunteer?

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