provides
micro-credit and training. SEEDS employs a large number of agricultural extension
officers, and conducts training in subject such as village leadership, gender awareness
and management of small-scale enterprises. SEEDS has received financial support from a
number of donors including ADB, IFAD and GTZ .
In 1994/95, the FAO
Intercountry Programe organised the first season-long IPM Training of Trainers (TOT)
course in Sri Lanka. This was attended by 43 trainers, including Government officers from
23 districts plus 2 staff from Sarvodaya-SEEDS and 7 from CARE International. The 90-day course involved experienced IPM
trainers from Bangladesh, India and Philippines.
From 1995 to 1998,
SEEDs conducted 27 Farmer Field Schools (FFS) with the participation of 470 farmers of
which 43% were women. SEEDS used a cost-recovery scheme so that farmers paid part of the
cost of organising these FFS. Currently, another 18 FFS are being organised by SEEDS in 10
Districts. The FAO National IPM Expert, Mr. Hector Senerath, continues to liaise with
SEEDS and provide advice on organising FFS when needed.
SEEDS recently
carried out a study of the benefits of IPM and published a report with the title
"Measuring Cost Effectiveness: Field School Training Approach in Popularising IPM
among Paddy Farmers". The report notes that the cost of an 18-week FFS was $80 per
participant. Of this amount, SEEDS has been recovering $42 per farmer.
The benefits
mentioned by the farmers interviewed during the study included improved health,
recognition in the community, greater savings, and improved agricultural assets. The
report concludes that "when considering the annual income increase of farmers
practicing IPM, and the SEEDS cost per farmer trained, the Benefit-Cost Ratio is
7:1". The report went on to recommend that graduates of FFS should be encouraged to
train other farmers.
To contact SEEDS,
send an Email to reds@slt.lk Or fax Sri Lanka: (94)
1-731110 |
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Thai
Education - Thailand
Thai
Education (formerly World Education ASIA, WEA) is a non-profit organisation working to improve education in Thailand. As an
off-shoot of the Boston-based World Education Inc., which has been working in the country
for the last 30 years, Thai Education is supporting innovative field projects and policy reform in
the education sector, with a focus on environment-oriented curricula and non-formal
teaching methods.
In 1995 WEA started
working with the Principal and teachers of a Primary School in Nakornsawan Province who
wanted to use IPM as a vehicle for integrated learning. Although the participants of the
resulting Field School were only 10 and 11 years old, they had weekly sessions in a nearby
rice field and learned about pests and beneficial insects just like adult farmers. This
field experience also provided inputs into sessions on language, mathematics, science and
art. Older members of the community also became involved in the learning process.
The activities at
Wat Nong Mu school in Nakornsawan attracted the interest of higher officials in the
Ministry of Education. The Thai media also drew attention to the school in TV reports and
newspaper articles. By 1997, IPM activities were being carried out in seven schools in
Nakornsawan. In the following year, WEA started working with teachers in Chiang Rai
Province to start similar activities in local schools.
By 1998, NGOs in
Cambodia, Bangladesh and Philippines were also starting to introduce IPM into rural
schools as a vehicle for environmental education and community development. This led to an
international workshop in April of that year, organised by WEA, funded by FAO and CARE
International, and attended by teachers and NGO staff from 6 countries. The participants
visited schools in Nakornsawan and discussed issues such as training of teachers,
curriculum development and school-community linkages. They agreed to establish an informal
network which would foster further exchanges of ideas and experience.
In addition to the
activities with school children, World Education Asia has been facilitating the
development of IPM training for adults in Thailand. In 1998, with funding from FAO, WEA
conducted pilot Field
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