Proceeding APPPC Regional Workshop on Empowering Farmers through IPM-FFS Training in Support of Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production

<p style="text-align: justify;">The APPPC workshop proceeding on empowring farmers through IPM-FFS training in support of sustainable intensification of crop production was held&nbsp;in Kathmandu, Nepal from 27 February to 2 March 2017. The workshop&nbsp;attended by 30 participants (including 7 women) from 13 Asian countries. It was organized by the Standing Committee on IPM of the Asia and Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC)&nbsp;and the Plant Protection Directorate in Kathmandu. Delegates from participating countries review up-to-date developments of farmer empowerment approaches&nbsp;through the implementation of the&nbsp;Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in the region.&nbsp;They shared experiences and lessons learned from various country practices of FFS. It was noted that FFS has become the mainstream approach for developing capacities of farmers and communities in discovery-based learning and has been included in various programmes such as food and nutrition security, health (plant, soil, human or environment) management, livestock, water management, climate adaptation, etc. Notable progress of institutionalization and networking of FFS has been made in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. More and more local communities, CSOs and GOs are closely collaborating in the promotion of ecological approaches through empowerment of farmers by using the participatory approach of FFS, which contributes to the implementation of the Save and Grow strategy. Participants were briefed on the FAO FFS Guidance Document which provides a framework of FFS and operational guidelines to FFS facilitators, trainers, supporters, policy makers and various stakeholders for promoting quality FFS. The workshop also included a field visit to successful IPM-FFS groups in Kavre District of Nepal. During the field visit participants observed a number of farmer-led experimental trials on soil and plant health associated with using composts, botanical pesticides, entomophthogenic nematodes, balanced fertilization, various cultivations, etc. FFS facilitators played a key role at community level in implementing field research under the supervision of agriculture and plant protection officers. Finally, the workshop finished with plenary discussions on key issues such as how to define follow-up strategies to continue IPM-FFS development and innovation in support of Save and Grow for sustainable intensification of crop production. The detail of the proceeding as attach</p>