Kulika Uganda teaches key farmers in ecological organic agriculture practices in order to pass on their knowledge and skills to other community members through farmer-to-farmer extension. The key farmers are trained to grow their own farms and to impart their knowledge and skills to group members. Kulika is now consciously positioning herself to intervene in boosting farmer-to-farmer extension through strengthening farmer groups, supporting an increase in production of marketable crops, and developing linkages to the market.

Farmer-to-farmer extension

This is an approach adopted by Kulika Uganda to train farmers by learning new ways of doing things from other model farmers. Model farmers establish highly efficient techniques of marketing farm innovations and encouraging other farmers to try them out. Extension through progressive model farmers focuses on technical help and support in the form of inputs and credit for selected progressive farmers.

Kulika Uganda has taught over 300 key farmers who have the role of training community people in ecological organic agriculture. The necessary farmers are scattered around the country and are in crucial community locations with suitable knowledge for higher farm productivity. To date, little has been done to drive the farmer-to-farmer extension to the next level. Other than capacity building, critical farmers and group members will be more organized to access the markets. For farmers to manage farming as a firm, some of the necessary support includes the selection of capital enterprises as well as the ongoing adoption of excellent agricultural practices. Kulika Uganda would thus augment the existing efforts of numerous partners to provide extension by leveraging the resourcefulness of key farmers in applying their knowledge and talents to assist fellow farmers. Through this project, Kulika will mainly emphasize alleviating the constraints identified above so that the already trained and energized key farmers realize and utilize the vast potential to deliver farmer-to-farmer extension to the group members and the surrounding communities and thus capture the available produce market.

Overall project objective: One of the purposes of educating key farmers was to disseminate their knowledge and skills among group members. With less perceived to have been achieved over the years, the effort is expected to work with key farmers and their members to develop groups, extend skills, boost output, and establish market linkages for the farmers.