The Lead Farmer Approach: An Effective Way of Agricultural Technology Dissemination?

THE LEAD FARMER APPROACH: AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY DISSEMINATION? Isaac Chabata1, Judith J. de Wolf1 1International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), P.O. Box MP 228, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe, I.Chabata@cgiar.org The Lead Farmer model is a common agricultural extension approach in developing countries in Africa. Premised on the idea that many farmers can be reached without straining extension officers and project staff, the lead farmer approach is, arguably, a response to donor demands for impact at scale in absence of a well-resourced national extension service. Typically, the Lead Farmer approach works with groups of 15 to 30 smallholder farmers, with knowledge and skills, feedback from farmers, and sometimes input provision all being channelled through the group's leader. The Lead Farmer is the main contact for the project and partner organisations. The centrality of one individual in this dissemination approach, raises questions regarding their selection as leaders, bias and selection in the pass-on of information to and fro farmers, power distributions and dynamics within the groups, their durability, etc. In addition, it raises questions regarding the Lead Farmer as appropriate entry point for input distribution, collective marketing and other types of agricultural interventions. This paper explores the implementation of the Lead Farmer approach within the N2Africa project in Zimbabwe, a project that aims to disseminate legume technologies to small-scale African farmers to achieve goals of improving soil fertility, farmers’ livelihoods and food security in eight countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We analyse the effectiveness of this approach in the dissemination of legume technologies and conclude that this depends as much on the Lead Farmer as it does on the group. From case studies, it will be illustrated that characteristics as education and commitment of a Lead Farmer matter, as does for example collaboration of group members in other activities. While confirming the drawbacks of the approach, we also illustrate how increased sustainability of capacity building can be achieved and as such, the chance of successful interventions and enduring impact.