Participatory Approaches in Extension Education

1. Farmer Field Schools (FFS)

• Concept: Farmers learn by doing through field-based discovery learning.
• Origin: Started in Indonesia in 1989 under FAO’s IPM program for rice.
• Method:
  • Groups of 20–25 farmers meet weekly in their fields.
  • Observe, analyze, and make crop management decisions.
  • Facilitator guides but farmers decide.
• Principle: “Farmers are experts of their own fields.”
• Impact:
  • Improved pest management & reduced pesticide use.
  • Built confidence and leadership among farmers.

2. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

• Concept: A set of participatory tools and methods for rural people to share, analyze, and enhance their knowledge of life and conditions.
• Introduced by: Robert Chambers (1980s).
• Tools/Methods:
  • Mapping (social maps, resource maps).
  • Transect Walks (walking across the village to understand resources).
  • Seasonal Calendars (to analyze crop cycles, labor, income, diseases).
  • Ranking & Scoring (priority ranking, preference ranking).
  • Venn Diagrams (institutions and their importance).
• Principle: “Handing over the stick to farmers” (farmers lead, outsiders facilitate).
• Uses in India: Watershed management, community development, need assessment for extension programs.

Tools o Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

i) Mapping

• Types:
  • Social Map: Shows households, caste, religion, health centers, schools, etc. → Helps understand social structure.
  • Resource Map: Depicts land, water bodies, forests, roads, irrigation, crops, etc. → Helps in resource planning.
• Purpose: To visualize who has what and where.
• Participation: Villagers themselves draw the maps on the ground (using sticks, stones, rangoli powder, etc.), not the outsiders.

ii) Transect Walks

• Meaning: Walking systematically with villagers across the village/fields to observe and discuss resources, problems, and opportunities.
• Outcome: Transect diagram showing soil types, crops, trees, water, livestock, and constraints in each zone.
• Purpose: To get a first-hand understanding of the local situation.
• Advantage: Builds rapport + helps identify local innovations.

iii) Seasonal Calendars

• Meaning: Villagers prepare a calendar of activities/events across the year.
• Uses:
  • Cropping pattern (sowing → harvesting).
  • Labor demand.
  • Income/Expenditure cycle.
  • Disease outbreaks (human, animal, crop).
  • Rainfall patterns.
• Purpose: Helps in planning interventions (e.g., introducing new crops or controlling pests at the right time).

iv) Ranking & Scoring

• Types:
  • Preference Ranking: Farmers rank alternatives (e.g., crop varieties, seed sources, irrigation methods).
  • Wealth Ranking: Community classifies households (rich, medium, poor) based on agreed indicators.
  • Matrix Scoring: Farmers compare different options against multiple criteria (e.g., crop yield, taste, market price, input need).
• Purpose: Identifies priorities, preferences, and constraints of the community.

v) Venn Diagrams

• Meaning: Circles represent institutions, groups, or organizations related to the community.
  • Circle size = importance.
  • Circle distance from center = closeness of relationship.
• Purpose:
  • Understand institutional linkages (e.g., farmers → cooperative society, KVK, bank, panchayat).
  • Identify gaps in service delivery.

3. Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)

• Concept: Earlier approach than PRA (1970s–80s).
• Method: Quick data collection by outsiders with farmers’ help.
• Nature: Extractive → outsider-driven.
• Limitations: Less participatory compared to PRA; more like survey research.
• Use: Baseline surveys, quick assessments.

4. Participatory Technology Development (PTD)

• Concept: Farmers + researchers jointly develop and test technologies.
• Steps:
  • Identify farmers’ problems.
  • Joint experimentation.
  • Farmer evaluation.
  • Refinement & dissemination.
• Examples:
  • Soil fertility management.
  • Crop variety selection.
  • Indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) + modern science.

5. Farmer-to-Farmer Extension (F2F)

• Concept: Successful farmers act as extension agents for other farmers.
• Principle: Farmers learn better from peers than outsiders.
• Advantages:
  • Cost-effective.
  • Builds trust and adoption.
• Example: Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) promoting progressive farmers as role models.

6. Village Knowledge Centers / Community Information Centers

• Concept: ICT-based participatory hubs that provide real-time agricultural information.
• Services: Weather forecasts, market prices, government schemes, pest/disease alerts.
• Examples in India:
  • MS Swaminathan Research Foundation’s VKCs in Tamil Nadu.
  • Common Service Centers (CSCs) under Digital India.

7. Self-Help Groups (SHGs) & Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)

• Concept: Small groups of farmers (especially women in SHGs) that promote collective decision-making and action.
• Functions:
  • Savings and credit.
  • Collective purchase of inputs.
  • Collective marketing of produce.
• Example:
  • NABARD’s SHG-Bank linkage program (1992).
  • 10000 FPO scheme launched by Govt. of India (2020).

Difference between RRA and PRA