INTEGRATED FARMER FIELD AND LEARNING SCHOOL (IFFLS)

Farmer Field & Learning School 

The Community Based Organization for Socio - Economic Development CBOSED) “Ineza” supported by Future Generations Alumni through a six- month project had built on previous Farmer Field and Learning School (FFLS) work while emphasizing on improving family best practices in nutrition, hygiene, health care seeking and saving. The project   has been implemented in Kamonyi District targeting COALEKA, Farmers’ cooperative members (930 farmers (522 men; 408 women). The Lessons learned  can offer valuable insights for future behavior change programming.  

Voluntary Savings & Loan

How did it work?  IFFLS is a key implementation model where farmers are the teachers. IFFLS Leaders were trained and used to train mothers and fathers farmers joined into FFLS groups on improved in puts and farming techniques, maintenance of marshland ,nutrition, hygiene and saving skills on a weekly basis. All FFLS’ mothers in their first 1,000 days of pregnancy have participated to Nutrition Weeks sessions. Nutrition is a community behavior. The only way to change child feeding behaviors is by helping the entire village (including fathers and male leaders) practice new feeding practices and change beliefs through group learning and support. Nutrition Weeks offered families hands-on practice of nutrition and maternal and IYCF behaviors every day for 5 days on a quarterly basis. 

Nutrition Week, Hygiene

Is it cost-effective?  Yes! Instead of recruiting paid trainers, existing sector and cell staff in charge of social affairs and cooperative Leaders, have been trained in how to best support the FFLS and Nutrition Weeks.  All farmers were joined and trained into Integrated FFLS groups, which were also made sustainable by the Cooperative.

Lessons learned: 

• The value of the integrated FFLS and NW interventions and the addition of Saving Learning through cooperative effort was appreciated by the district leaders   and all stakeholders interviewed, generating community wide interest and engagement, resulting in solidarity, gender equity with fathers taking responsibility for child feeding, and participating to NW sessions.
• Evidence from the final KPC report and OR Report indicate that both the Integrated FFLS strategy and the NW intervention resulted in successful capacity building and improved family practices among COALEKA Cooperative members in Kamonyi District,
• The most impressive outcomes were evidenced for nutrition interventions through the operations research study on NW, with meal frequency, dietary diversity and consumption of balanced food 
• Most of the stakeholder participants remarked that the NW was sustainable as it integrated existing community based development system entities to engage communities and promote nutrition best practices.

Quote from father participants to NW: “Previously they believed child rearing  was the role of women, now they are involved. They felt they should become advocates to engage other men in the interventions and change their mind set”. 

During the closing ceremony of the INEZA project materialized in the Open Day, the District Agronomist was impressed to see how mothers appreciated the project achievements and how the children were looking well-nourished and cleaned. He appreciated the growth of Savings groups, and encouraged participants to invite more youth.  He mentioned: “The attendance and expansion of NW sites was also a unique phenomenon in this project, which I believe was instrumental in inspiring communities for change. There is self confidence in the people, and they are motivated to bring change and improvement”