Institutionalizing farmer field schools: Twigire Muhinzi National Extension System in Rwanda

Neza, Brian Nicholas; Higiro, Joseph; Mwangi, Lucy Wangari; and Ochatum, Nathan. 2021. Institutionalizing farmer field schools: Twigire Muhinzi National Extension System in Rwanda. FAO Investment Centre Country Highlights 8. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7131en.

Investing in farmers – or agriculture human capital – is crucial to addressing challenges in our agri-food systems. A global study carried out by the FAO Investment Centre and the International Food Research Institute, with support from the CGIAR Research Programme on Policies, Institutions and Markets and the FAO Research and Extension Unit, looks at agriculture human capital investments, from trends to promising initiatives. One of the nine featured case studies is the Twigire Muhinzi National Extension System in Rwanda. Twigire Muhinzi is the government’s homegrown, decentralized and farmer-oriented national system based on two complementary types of farmer-to-farmer extension approaches: farmer promoters and farmer field schools. The model showcases how an extension approach can improve farmer skills, knowledge and empowerment and thus lead to enhanced adoption of relevant technologies and practices. In Rwanda, mainstreaming the farmer field school approach into the national extension system along with financial support from public-private partnerships contributed to its scaling up. This publication is part of the Country Investment Highlights series under the FAO Investment Centre's Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.