What is FFLG approach?
Farmer Family Learning Group approach is a participatory learning by doing process where smallholder organic farmers come together and with the guidance of a “facilitator” find feasible solutions to improve their farming based on what is naturally and locally available on their farms. Where solutions are to be sought out side of the individual farm, the approach emphasizes not to think of “shopped” solutions but rather focus on solutions given by nature and human nurtured inter-farm interactions. Thus, the farmer family develops their farm not in isolation but as part of the system of different farms which are continuously interacting.
The farmers that come together develop a schedule to guide their joint action for working together through rotational visits (about four visits per month to different host farms). The FFLG group knows in advance what to expect next based on a thorough advance plan. The FFLG approach thus builds the capacity of farmers to manage their soils, crops, animals, markets, seeds, farmer institutions and develop their community.
The approach brings together the family as a “farming unit” thus when the family hosts the FFLG members, each member of the host family participates in the “hosting” such that the work left on the host farm as agreed with the FFLG will be the responsibility of the entire farm and the spirit of family ownership of the farm is hence forth emphasised/nurtured.
In simple terms, the FFLG can be broken into:
Farmers (depend on the production of vegetables, crops, and animals for a living)
Families (in a household including both wife, husband, children, and grandparents, because farming is a family business.
Learning (mutual exchange of knowledge, skills, and experience to implement new ways of improving life in all livelihood aspects)
Groups (a number of persons that agree to work together for a joint purpose.
How is FFLG formed?
1. Ensure the external facilitators have attended a full course on the FFLG approach. You can access the training guide in the attached link at the end of this post.
2. Conducting sensitisation meetings for farmer families or existing farmers’ groups
3. FFLG members elect the internal facilitator
4. Development of the FFLG action plan for rotational visits
5. Implementation of the FFLG meetings and rotational visit/ introduce organic farming methods to the FFLGs.
6. Facilitate the implementation of good governance, management and record keeping practice among the FFLGs.
7. Monitoring and evaluation, replanning etc.
Core values of FFLG
Many values are expected but listed here are those without which the FFLG approach wouldn’t suffice:
1. Voluntarism: It is important for FFLG members to understand the benefit of being part of the group so that they do not have expectations of monetary form.
2. Trust: mmebers are to be faithfull and encouraging each other. The trust building is a process that may be stimulated by various activities.
3. Transparency: Based on documentation and declaration of information, the business of FFLG is known to everyone in the community.
4. Respect: Members to relate to each other respectfully and react with each other with appreciations.
5. Ownership: Ensure member have a joint ownership of the group.
6. Equality: Members join with different capacity and background but are all equal value to the group despite their gender, origin, religion, culture etc.
FFLG composition.
Leadership in the FFLG:
It is always good to practice to tell all members democratically elect their leaders and the commonly adopted leadership positions in the FFLG includes:
1. Chairperson
2. Vice chairperson
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer
5. Gender representative
Committees mostly includes:
1. Farmers advisory services committee
2. Monitoring and evaluation
3. Quality and value addition
4. Investment committee
5. Marketing committee.
Rotational visit in FFLGs
After the farmer families agree to work together as an FFLG, they start to visit each other to learn and work practically on every family farm. as a unique farming system. This comes from the fact that each family farm is different from the others in several aspects including available labor, the soils, slope, animals and several other elements in the farm and therefore there is no universal/central/ demonstration training can practically be implemented on different farms in exactly the same way.
The first visit to the host farm is normally done by the facilitator before other members of the FFLG can visit. This gives the facilitator prior knowledge about the host farm and therefore puts the facilitator in a position to understand the dynamics of the farm and knowledge to guide on the questions that will arise from the host family and hosted FFLG.
