The nine months training by IITA has produced some 100 professional farmers especially in the cocoa domain in Konye. The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has graduated the second batch of the Farmer Field School (FFS) in Konye - Meme Division. The nine months training of these FFS participants aims at producing professional farmers especially in the cocoa sector in Konye. These farmers came from some 14 Farmer Field Schools in the Sub-Division. The effort to train these farmers is put in by the Konye Area Farmers Cooperative (KONAFCOOP) to upgrade cocoa farming in the area.

According to the IITA Country Manager, Joseph Tsana Enama, IITA records hold that KONAFCOOP remains one of the cooperatives that produce positive results in terms of cocoa production in the South West Region. “They fully master the management of their farmers as well as marketing and they are the only cooperative society that can boast of paying bonuses to its farmers”, Joseph Tsana Enama stressed. Mr Tsana said these are some of the reasons which have encouraged IITA to carry out such FFS training in Konye. He disclosed that Farmer Field Schools are conducted on a farm where all activities are carried out during school sessions for a whole cropping season. Each FFS session focuses on elements such as agro-ecosystem analysis, data collection and implementation of a “Special topic”. The main beneficiaries are cocoa farmers who belong to farmer organisations. With this, priority is given to cooperatives for the management of their projects in a sustainable manner.

The FFS approach is a participatory training that can be considered both as an extension tool and a form of adult education. It consists of a group of farmers (20 - 30) from the same or nearby villages who meet regularly, guided by a trained facilitator during the course of a cropping cycle. The purpose of the school is to experiment with new production options. The Country Manager said the objectives of Cocoa FFS training are to enable farmers experiment on modern farm management practices in order to reduce their dependence on costly inputs like pesticides; improve their understanding of crop and pest management; empower farmers to become better experts and gain confidence in solving their problems.

It should be noted that since 2002, FFS has trained 9.248 farmers under the “Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP)”. While an additional 18.496 farmers benefited indirectly through farmer-to-farmer dissemination of information. At the end of the ceremony, the 100 participants received certificates and attestations of participation, farm tools among which wheel barrows, machetes, rain boats, cocoa spraying machines, and a motorbike for excellence.