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The Empowerment Route to Well-being: An Analysis of Farmer Field Schools in East Africa

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  • Friis-Hansen, Esbern
  • Duveskog, Deborah

Abstract

The study explores empowerment and well-being related outcomes of Farmer Field Schools (FFS), an extension approach that has gained popularity with agriculture development programs in many African countries. This is done by examining the empirical relationships between FFS participation and increased well-being; as well as FFS participation and empowerment; and finally between empowerment and enhanced well-being. Data analysis from the two thousand household questionnaires show a relationship between these aspects, despite contextual differences in the three countries studied. It is thereby argued that there could be scope to talk about an empowerment route to well-being. The paper further suggests that the most significant impact of FFS could be viewed in terms of building the capacity of local people to make choices and make decisions that ultimately lead to increased uptake of agricultural innovations, access to services, and market access as well as collective action. A major conclusion of the study is that agricultural development programs should focus more on processes of empowering farmers as opposed to technical solutions that characterize most programs, in order to create an appropriate mix of technological and social advancement for a development process that is sustainable in nature.

Suggested Citation

  • Friis-Hansen, Esbern & Duveskog, Deborah, 2012. "The Empowerment Route to Well-being: An Analysis of Farmer Field Schools in East Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 414-427.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:2:p:414-427
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.05.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Rahi Jain & Prashant Narnaware, 2018. "Role of Local Context in the Success of Farmer Collectives: A Review," Millennial Asia, , vol. 9(3), pages 318-335, December.
    2. Jinyang Cai & Fengxiang Ding & Yu Hong & Ruifa Hu, 2021. "An Impact Analysis of Farmer Field Schools on Hog Productivity: Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, October.
    3. Andreas Scheba, 2017. "Conservation agriculture and sustainable development in Africa: insights from Tanzania," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 209-219, November.
    4. Shames, Seth & Bernier, Quinn & Masiga, Moses, 2013. "Development of a participatory action research approach for four agricultural carbon projects in east Africa," CAPRi working papers 113, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Jing Jian Xiao & Piotr Bialowolski, 2023. "Consumer Financial Capability and Quality of Life: a Global Perspective," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 365-391, February.
    6. Larsen, Anna Folke & Lilleør, Helene Bie, 2014. "Beyond the Field: The Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Food Security and Poverty Alleviation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 843-859.
    7. Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan & Keshav Lall Maharjan, 2022. "Impact of Farmer Field School on Crop Income, Agroecology, and Farmer’s Behavior in Farming: A Case Study on Cumilla District in Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Joanna Chilemba & Catherine Ragasa, 2020. "The Impact on Farmer Incomes of a Nationwide Scaling Up of the Farmer Business School Program: Lessons and Insights from Central Malawi," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 906-938, September.
    9. Daniela Craveiro & Sibila Marques & Ana Marreiros & Ruth Bell & Matluba Khan & Cristina Godinho & Sonia Quiroga & Cristina Suárez, 2019. "Equity, Health, and Sustainability with PROVE: The Evaluation of a Portuguese Program for a Short Distance Supply Chain of Fruits and Vegetables," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Humphries, Sally & Classen, Lauren & Jiménez, José & Sierra, Fredy & Gallardo, Omar & Gómez, Marvin, 2012. "Opening Cracks for the Transgression of Social Boundaries: An Evaluation of the Gender Impacts of Farmer Research Teams in Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 2078-2095.
    11. Tambo, Justice A. & Wünscher, Tobias, 2014. "Building farmers’ capacity for innovation generation: what are the determining factors?," 88th Annual Conference, April 9-11, 2014, AgroParisTech, Paris, France 170351, Agricultural Economics Society.
    12. Evita Pangaribowo & Nicolas Gerber & Pascal Tillie, 2013. "Assessing the FNS impacts of technological and institutional innovations and future innovation trends," FOODSECURE Working papers 11, LEI Wageningen UR.
    13. B. Bala & S. Majumder & S. Altaf Hossain & M. Haque & M. Hossain, 2013. "Exploring development strategies of agricultural systems of Hill Tracts of Chittagong in Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 949-966, August.
    14. A. Galiè & N. Teufel & L. Korir & I. Baltenweck & A. Webb Girard & P. Dominguez-Salas & K. M. Yount, 2019. "The Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 799-825, April.
    15. Guo, Jianxin & Jin, Songqing & Chen, Lei & Wang, Min & Zhang, Junfeng & Sun, Sufen, 2015. "The Effects of Distance Education on Agricultural Performance and Household Income: Evidence from Suburban Beijing," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205754, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Fischer, Klara, 2016. "Why new crop technology is not scale-neutral—A critique of the expectations for a crop-based African Green Revolution," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1185-1194.
    17. World Bank Group, 2014. "Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in World Bank Group Operations," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21113, December.
    18. Henk Berg & Suzanne Phillips & Marcel Dicke & Marjon Fredrix, 2020. "Impacts of farmer field schools in the human, social, natural and financial domain: a qualitative review," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1443-1459, December.
    19. Tambo, Justice A. & Wünscher, Tobias, 2014. "Building Farmers’ Capacity For Innovation Generation: What Are The Determining Factors?," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182810, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Jinyang Cai & Guanming Shi & Ruifa Hu, 2016. "An Impact Analysis of Farmer Field School in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-14, February.
    21. Périnelle, Anne & Meynard, Jean-Marc & Scopel, Eric, 2021. "Combining on-farm innovation tracking and participatory prototyping trials to develop legume-based cropping systems in West Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    22. Chrysanthi Charatsari & Evagelos D. Lioutas & Alex Koutsouris, 2020. "Farmer field schools and the co-creation of knowledge and innovation: the mediating role of social capital," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1139-1154, December.
    23. Dolinska, Aleksandra, 2017. "Bringing farmers into the game. Strengthening farmers' role in the innovation process through a simulation game, a case from Tunisia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 129-139.
    24. Xiuling Ding & Qian Lu & Lipeng Li & Apurbo Sarkar & Hua Li, 2022. "Evaluating the Impact of Institutional Performance and Government Trust on Farmers’ Subjective Well-Being: A Case of Urban–Rural Welfare Gap Perception and Family Economic Status in Shaanxi, Sichuan a," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    25. Bakker, Teatske & Dugué, Patrick & de Tourdonnet, Stéphane, 2022. "How do farmers change their practices at the farm level after co-design processes in Farmer Field Schools?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).

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