Do Farmer Field School Graduates Retain and Share What They Learn? An Investigation in Iloilo, Philippines

TLDR

The farmer field school (FFS) is a season‑long, participatory training that can be costly, yet if graduates retain and share their knowledge through inexpensive informal channels, FFS could become a scalable, cost‑effective extension method. The study aims to determine whether FFS graduates retain and disseminate the basic knowledge they acquire. The authors conducted a case study of 307 rice farmers in Iloilo, Philippines, comparing knowledge scores between FFS and non‑FFS farmers. Graduates scored higher than non‑FFS farmers but showed minimal diffusion to others, while old and new graduates had similar scores, indicating knowledge retention.

Abstract

The farmer field school (FFS) is a season long training of farmers involving participatory activities, hands-on analysis and decision making. Because it requires significant investments in time, trainers and other facilities, the approach can be an expensive way of diffusing new science-based knowledge and other information to farmers. However, if field school graduates themselves are able to retain and disseminate their FFS-acquired knowledge and experiences - particularly through their informal communication channels that are relatively cheap to use and maintain - then FFS can become a cost-effective and viable approach to agricultural extension on a large scale. This paper, a case study of 307 rice farmers in Iloilo, Philippines, investigates whether FFS graduates retain and diffuse the basic knowledge that they learn in a regular field school. From comparing knowledge scores on topics typically covered in a field school for different groups of FFS and non-FFS farmers, results show that while FFS graduates have generally higher knowledge scores than their non-FFS counterparts, there is very little diffusion of FFS-acquired knowledge from field school graduates to other community members. However, it appears that there are no significant differences in the knowledge scores of old and new FFS graduates, suggesting that graduates retain their field school acquired knowledge.