1 min
Working with the farmers for over a decade and a half, I have seen many interventions focusing on improving knowledge of farmers on good agricultural practices failed with little or no significant impact at the farm level. That is, with the knowledge garnered, the farmers are still using previous seasons’ seeds, practicing rainfed farming, using synthetic pesticides indiscriminately, largely using crude implements for cultivation etc. Then, the question arises, is the knowledge transferred a fruitless effort or why has the knowledge garnered not resulted in a change in behavior?
Knowledge is a vital asset in achieving food security. However, it doesn't automatically translate into practice. There are several factors that could influence knowing into actual doing at the farm level. One of such factors is the influence of the extension agents to coach and handhold farmers in order to reinforce the knowledge shared. This provides more guidance to the farmers to transfer head knowledge into practical skills implementable on the farm. In addition, the costs of efforts in implementing knowledge could be higher than its returns. For instance, fertilizer microdosing (the method of adding small amounts of fertilizer to the planting hole) has shown to reduce the amounts of fertilizer used and drive down the cost of production. However, the majority of the farmers still find it difficult to adopt due to the duration it takes compared to broadcasting and the backache experienced after such activity.
In addition, accessibility and affordability of other materials to help translate knowledge to practice. For instance, hardly ever have I seen farmers who use personal protective equipment (PPE) during mixture and spraying of synthetic pesticides. This is because the majority of the farmers cannot afford buying it. Such knowledge remains in the head till who-knows-when. Therefore, it is important we support farmers beyond transferring the knowledge to them till they are empowered enough to use it in their day-to-day activities on the farm. This is when the impact can be felt in their productivity and efficiency.
In conclusion, as we provide training to the farmers to enable them to achieve higher productivity and efficiency, we should not forget that we are only increasing their head knowledge. Beyond the head knowledge, we need to handhold them to translate this head knowledge into practice at the farm level, where the impact is needed the most. Then, training programs for farmers would become more impactful and achieve more results toward food security. We need more doers on our farms who understand that food security is the goal. The journey has begun, let's make it count.
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
In addition, accessibility and affordability of other materials to help translate knowledge to practice. For instance, hardly ever have I seen farmers who use personal protective equipment (PPE) during mixture and spraying of synthetic pesticides. This is because the majority of the farmers cannot afford buying it. Such knowledge remains in the head till who-knows-when. Therefore, it is important we support farmers beyond transferring the knowledge to them till they are empowered enough to use it in their day-to-day activities on the farm. This is when the impact can be felt in their productivity and efficiency.
In conclusion, as we provide training to the farmers to enable them to achieve higher productivity and efficiency, we should not forget that we are only increasing their head knowledge. Beyond the head knowledge, we need to handhold them to translate this head knowledge into practice at the farm level, where the impact is needed the most. Then, training programs for farmers would become more impactful and achieve more results toward food security. We need more doers on our farms who understand that food security is the goal. The journey has begun, let's make it count.
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
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