In March 2023, was held the first workshop of the year in Tambacounda to set up the farmers’ field schools.

What is a farmer field school (FFS)?

Our ambition with the FFS was to create a meeting place between organic cotton farmers and experts in the field of organic cotton growing. The work of GESAMTMASCHE is to facilitate the encounter between the two actors. The framework of the field school is not just theory but rather a framework of exchange which allows resolving the problems of the farmers in their fields. Thus, the exchanges do not take place in a classroom but in the farmer’s field, hence the term farmers field school.

Before starting the workshops, a meeting was scheduled between the different actors: SODEFITEX, FNPC and GESAMTMASCHE. This meeting allowed the parties to review the activities that will be carried out during the workshops but also to introduce the new partners who have joined our project: Eléphant Vert Sénégal (manufacturer of organic fertilizer) and Veratech Sénégal (manufacturer of neemoil).

The workshops were held in the villages of Missirah, Koussanar and Koungheul and allowed the farmers selected by SODEFITEX to understand the functioning of a farmer’s field school. Our team took the time in each village to explain the objectives of a farmer’s field school and the requirements in terms of number of attendees, proximity of the farmers residence to the farmers’ fields school (less than 7 km), … Because the farmers should gather once a week during the FFS’ season it is important that they live near the field chosen to be the field school.

The project experts were also able to discuss the following topics with the farmers:

– The situation of organic cotton and the evolution of the organic fiber market

– Land preparation, seed selection, and density management

– Pest and weed management

– Soil fertility management

– The technical data sheet for organic cotton production and the organization of production

We took advantage of the FFS to organize an awareness campaign in the villages around the farmers’ field schools. The aim of this awareness campaign was to present the field school project to the organic cotton farmers of the surrounding villages in order to allow them to join the FFS.

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