With the ultimate objective of eradicating poverty and enhancing livelihood in the dryland region, the project engages farmers in various forums. An exploratory survey within the community was done to understand the way of farming within the community and their socio-economic set up. This was to provide the information on the best approach reaching out to the community by identifying their needs, challenges, what they already know and what was lacking to ensure the project is an effective change agent. About 400 households within the sub-County were engaged during the survey. This provided the clear footprints on which and how the technologies are to be promoted effectively.
Farmers field days have been organized with the aim of exhibiting the technologies to the community. During the farmers’ field day, up to 700 farmers have been invited where they are taken through the demonstrations plots both on-station and on-farm to see for themselves the performance of the technologies being promoted by the project. During the field days, the farmers also get to interact with other stakeholders in agricultural sectors and other like-minded stakeholders with the goal of improving their living standards.
The project has also organized farmers training workshops where they are trained on the best farming practices in addition to training on the project’s best bet technology implantation. About 80 farmers and stakeholders have been trained through these workshops.
Plate 4 Session during an explanatory survey and focal group discussion with the community
Plate 5 Various activities during the farmers' field day
