While it is now widely acknowledged that a smallholder-based, agro-ecological food production system is the best way to eradicate hunger and to reduce the impact of agriculture on climate change, less attention is given to the role farmers play in sharing the lessons they have learned. Building on a farmer-to-farmer approach, the Zimbabwe Organic Smallholder … Read more

For a very long time, rural extension in Latin America, and probably in most developing countries, has followed a transfer of technology (ToT) approach, aiming at transferring modern, input-based technologies from experts to farmers. This approach, also termed “diffusionism”, assumes that true knowledge lies solely in the hands of so-called experts, while farmers are perceived … Read more

Recent decades have seen an increasing recognition of the role that education plays in rural development. Some rural communities now have new buildings, new curricula, and new educational options, such as Farmer Field Schools. Yet, in many countries, the education system still falls short of what is needed, especially in terms of agriculture and meeting … Read more

Meenakshi Singh – Having grown up and studied in the enormous city of Mumbai, India, Meenakshi Singh and Umesh Chandrasekhar were looking for an alternative way of life. After spending eight years farming organically in the district of Dharmapuri, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, they decided to work with local farmers to … Read more

Not long ago, access to higher education in northern Ghana was impossible: the country’s universities were all located in the southern part of the country. This changed in 1992 with the establishment of the University for Development Studies (UDS). Unlike the other universities with single, large campuses located in the biggest cities, UDS has four … Read more

While I was studying at university and working at an NGO I started to develop a vision about sustainable farming. Then I realised that having an opinion about it is nice, but how about actually doing it? I decided I wanted to learn to farm. Klarien Klingen at the farmAt the Warmonderhof organic farming school … Read more

In the district of Lawra, Ghana, a group of female leaders is campaigning in their communities to convince other women to consume fresh and local foods on which no pesticides are used. My title in the community is ‘Pognaa’, which means traditional queen. Many families in the district where we live, Lawra, are not able … Read more