Implementation of the Plantwise-Kenya program: How does non-formal education influence agricultural extension agent and farmer knowledge?

• In Event: Non-formal education and school access in rural contexts

Abstract

Smallholder farmers rely on crops for income and food security. However, their ability to generate income and maintain food security is threatened by the presence of pests and diseases and correspondingly a general lack of knowledge and information to address these issues. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the implementation of Plantwise-Kenya influences extension agent and farmer knowledge. Plantwise is an innovative approach to addressing farmers’ plant health issues where farmers receive agricultural instruction through plant clinics. At the same time, data are gathered to implement a unique system of surveillance and vigilance of pests and diseases that could be incorporated into an area-wide system of pest management. This approach is different from the dominant extension approaches that have been used in recent decades, namely the training and visitation system (T&V). The T&V system of model of extension has been abandoned due to its financial unsustainability and its failure to meet the demands by farmers which were often for diversification and assistance associated with market orientation. In this paper we use baseline qualitative and farmer survey data and a knowledge assessment for a 4-year longitudinal study.

Farmers need to have various options for addressing pest and disease outbreaks that consider context-specific agricultural conditions and socio-economic circumstances (Danielsen et al. 2013). Maintaining and updating information on the types of pest and diseases and the means to address them is difficult in an increasingly shifting agricultural landscape, which is altered by changes in the agricultural economy due to globalization and new market pressures as well as climate change which affects weather patterns. Given this context, Plantwise-Kenya has sought to establish an improved means of managing crop protection in a manner that ultimately increases food security, alleviates poverty, and improves the livelihoods of Kenyan farmers. The activities of PW-K include: (i) institutional strengthening, (ii) the knowledge bank (a free and open-access online database of locally relevant plant health information), and (iii) field activities – that is, to establish and maintain a network of plant clinics that act as a physical interface between farmers and crop protection experts. The clinics are staffed by extension agents who work for the Ministry of Agriculture, but receive special training from PW-K to be plant doctors. Once trained, the plant doctors have the capacity to diagnose pests and diseases and to offer recommendations to farmers. The technical support aspect of the approach should work to strengthen farmers’ knowledge of crops and crop health, as well as to open possibilities for agricultural diversification and production.

The design of PW-K includes two primary non-formal education innovations that make it an interesting approach to addressing plant health issues. First, the training and method of agricultural instruction to farmers through plant clinics is distinct from the dominant approaches used in recent decades. Second, by virtue of the data gathering at plant clinics, PW-K is implementing a unique system of knowledge provision of information on pests and diseases that hopes to increase overall knowledge of and accessibility to plant health information.

To identify farm-level impacts, we primarily rely on a quantitative experimental approach based on the expansion of plant clinics in 2014 and 2015 throughout the country; our approach focuses on areas that have been randomly selected to receive new plant clinics. We collected baseline data and will do two rounds of follow-up data (at 12 and 36 months) on farm productivity and agricultural practices for 2,800 farm households. We also use qualitative methods to better understand why the intervention did or did not have an impact. Finally, the evaluation also includes an assessment of plant doctors’ knowledge of plant health and behaviour compared to extension agents not trained by the program to understand the benefits of the training.

Preliminary results from qualitative data and the knowledge assessment show a need for continuous plant doctor training and improved information provision. Plant doctors continually face unfamiliar problems and need to be regularly trained to update their diagnosis abilities. They also need regular access to updated information. Interviews with farmers suggest that plant clinics provide information that help farmers reduce damage to plants, and in some cases to increase yields. A key part of the support seems to be the timeliness of the assistance—it helps farmers’ yields when they can get help at the first sign of a pest or disease. These insights all suggests positive impacts of the plant clinics, but we will verify these farmer claims in the impact evaluation.

Authors

• Andrea Coombes, American Institutes for Research

• Juan Bonilla, AIR

• Paul Winters, American University