Strengthening sheep production system in Azerbaijan through farmer field schools

Breeding and raising sheep are complex tasks requiring rich, traditional experience. In this aspect, Farmer Field School (FFS) platforms are now helping farmers’ education and empowerment in Azerbaijan and assist them in achieving sustainable food production and improve livelihoods through testing, validating, and adopting good agricultural and marketing practices.

The concept of Farmer Field School is an innovative participatory education approach that brings together a group of small-scale food producers to solve production problems through sustainable agriculture. Developed and tested by FAO in various countries, the FFS approach offers space for hands-on group learning, enhancing skills for observation and critical analysis, and improved decision-making by local communities. Its specialty lies in the fact that FFS facilitators and trainers need to have a different attitude, as they need to take on the role of a “facilitator” rather than that of a “teacher.”

In Azerbaijan, FAO presented the Facilitators' guide for sheep-related Farmer Field Schools (FFS) under the FAO–Azerbaijan Partnership Programme project “Development and application of sustainable sheep production and food value chains.” The project meant to develop knowledge of various value chain actors, depending on the needs, through the Farmer Field School approach. The project targeted three distinct pilot sites, with different value chains (sheep meat, milk, and wool).  

“In the publication, traditional knowledge is merged with international expertise and practices, and farmers can choose and select the most suitable practices and technologies,” said Eran Raizman, senior animal health and production officer at FAO. “These can be modified to suit their local conditions and needs, with the ultimate idea of improving their resilience and livelihoods.”

The publicaton provides information to local farmers, analyses their production systems, and identifies the main constraints in sheep production. It also facilitates possible solutions that can be tested and adapted within the FFS experiments.

9 March 2022, Baku, Azerbaijan