Farmer/Herder Education

Direct farmer/herder education projects

Projects which aim to increase farmer or herder knowledge labour under the name of extension projects and have a long and chequered history. When done well, direct work with farmers and herders can address problems identified by the farmers and herders themselves, possibly in response to changing demands from the market, and can help develop practical solutions. When done badly, messages from a centrally planned agriculture policy are broadcast unasked and unwanted to farmers who remain unreceptive to the advice they are being given.

Farmer/herder education is useful for things which farmers or herders do for themselves. What is appropriate for pastoralists who do most things to their animals themselves may not be appropriate for a settled farmer who pays someone else to do specialized tasks.

Successful examples of direct farmer training often involve an investigative phase (which may come from the working experience of a local vet or animal healthcare worker); an understanding of why things are being done the way they are, including time and financial constraints for the farmer/herder; and timing of interventions at appropriate and convenient times of the day, season and year. They will usually have simple, specific aims such as teaching good birthing practices and neo-natal care, or teaching the correct and timely use of wormers.

Examples of less useful projects include those which aim to teach donkey owners better harnessing practices using harnesses too expensive for owners to afford.

In East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea in the late 1980s, the Provincial Livestock Officer saw that the existing veterinary services (town-based, with a ruminant bias, and designed around the operational needs of veterinary service staff) had fallen out of line with the needs of village livestock owners who mostly keep pigs and poultry. During informal meetings, villagers identified internal parasites as the health problem of greatest concern, so simple in-village training was given on parasite control.