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FIPS-Africa innovated and supports a network of self-employed village-based advisors (VBAs) who offer on-going training and advice, and access to good and services. Because this is all offered on farm, traditional barriers to women’s involvement in training or farmer groups is overcome. Around 60% of the farmers FIP-Africa supports are women. The training approach is inclusive, aiding all farmers in the villages – including women farmers and marginalized low-income farming families.
Farmers select the VBAs, ensuring they are trusted and knowledgeable about local farming conditions and practices. FIPS-Africa then trains the VBAs on a range of agricultural options and management practices suited to their specific villages.
The options that VBAs offer to smallholder farmers meet the farmers’ food security and income objectives. The options also build on opportunities from the agroecological zone conditions and the local prevailing market opportunities.
VBAs provide inputs (such as improved seed), services (such as livestock vaccination) and advice on good farming practices to smallholder farmers. These microbusinesses offer the double benefit of creating income generating opportunities for VBAs and building a sustainable system for delivering agricultural extension services and options.
The VBAs offer farmers options such as improving livestock breeds, improved seed for cereals, legumes, and vegetative propagated crops; advice on, and access to crop nutrition products; and innovations such as deep tillage methods; and crop/grain protection. The village-based advisors earn commission from the sale of goods and services – which helps to make this delivery model sustainable. This model is most successful when farmers are involved in some higher value crops or livestock production. This tends to increased demand for inputs and services from VBAs by farmers who are seeing a significant increase in their on-farm incomes – making a win-win situation.
The self-employed VBAs form a network that has extensive access to farmers. This makes FIPS-Africa a significant partner for agri-input companies looking for cost-effective ways to move their products to scale. Similarly, FIPS-Africa works with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and international research agencies to get their research into use.
Village-based advisors are dedicated to supporting other farmers in their communities. Although they are self-employed, they prioritize inclusive and pro-poor working practices. They understand that women, young people, and resource-constrained farming families often cannot afford expensive technologies at the outset. For instance, while a farmer may not initially be able to buy seeds and fertilizer for maize cultivation, she might be able to vaccinate her chickens instead. After selling her chickens, she can then purchase the necessary inputs. This approach could initially help her address food security, and over time, she will be introduced to technologies and options that enhance her resilience. be introduced to technologies and options that enhance her resilience.
All technologies and options chosen by FIPS-Africa result from a comprehensive farmer needs assessment.
Village-based advisors (VBAs) disseminate agricultural options and technologies to all farmers in a village through the trial pack method. A trial pack typically contains 25-100 grams of seed of an improved crop variety. The trial pack gives all farmers in a village, whether they are male or female, young or old, or wealthy or poor, the opportunity to “learn-by-doing” on their farm with a new variety with little risk.
Engaging VBAs in the distribution of trial packs ensures widespread and inclusive access to agricultural options and technologies. This method enables marginalized farmers—including women, the poor, and the elderly – to trial and adopt transformative agricultural practices directly on their land. Such inclusivity is achieved by the model’s unique approach of demonstrating technologies and options through both ‘Mother Demos’ and ‘Baby Demos.’ These demos are complemented by the distribution of trial packs (small packs), allowing individual farmers to learn by doing on their farms.
The trial pack (small pack) is effective in creating demand for improved varieties, and farmers invariably return to the VBA to purchase larger quantities of seed or livestock breeds.
For self-pollinated and vegetatively propagated crops, farmers often multiply seeds to increase the quantity of planting material and expand cultivation to improve their food security.
