Farmers teaching farmers: challenges and opportunities of using volunteer farmers in technology dissemination

Public sector extension services in developing countries can no longer meet the needs of smallscale farmers. As a result, there has been an increasing emphasis on farmer-led extension in rural development. One such approach that is being used by the East Africa Dairy Development project (EADD) to disseminate livestock feed technologies to dairy farmers in Kenya and Uganda is known as the farmer trainers' approach. It is a form of farmer-to-farmer extension where volunteer farmers host demonstration plots and take centre stage in information sharing. A study was initiated to assess the perspectives of trainers and trainees on the effectiveness of the approach. Group discussions were held with farmer trainers and trainees in eight sites in Kenya and Uganda. Factors that motivated farmers to become trainers included their desire to improve their living standards and those of others in their community, their knowledge/skills and their social status. Farmer trainers are not paid, they continue to train on a voluntary basis. The most important factors that motivate them include improved production (milk quantity and quality) and improved income from sale of seeds and services rendered such as hay baling, chuff cutter hire and silage making. The trainees are confident in the abilities of their trainers. An average of between 5 and 17 trainees are trained per month by each trainer in Uganda and Kenya, respectively. The topics/technologies disseminated include feed conservation, establishment and management of fodder shrubs, herbaceous legumes and grasses such as Rhodes and Napier. Most topics/technologies were rated highly in terms of relevance, understanding and ease of use. The challenges which must be addressed to increase the effectiveness of the approach, while at the same time building on its strengths, include: lack of transport, training materials and high expectations from trainees.

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