Strengthening Professional Capacity

Training at learning Farms

To effectively share knowledge with a wide range of practitioners, we maintain learning farms in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, and Uganda. These farms test and showcase best vegetable production practices and enable our staff, outside agricultural extension workers, and other stakeholders to learn practical skills directly in the field.

We established four new learning farms in 2022—in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Tanzania. Learning farms in Ghana and Indonesia are planned for 2023.

Training of trainers—which expands our impact well beyond the farmers we can directly reach—is a priority for our learning farms. In fact, the new learning farm in Myanmar was created specifically to prepare young people as community trainers.

At the newly constructed learning farm in Odisha, India, we trained budding agronomists from Utkal University and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in improved agricultural practices this year. In Nigeria, we regularly using our learning farm located at Ahmadu Bello University to train subject matter specialists from the Kaduna State Ministry of Agriculture.

Our learning farm staff in West Nile, Uganda, have provided advanced training to vegetable sector professionals from other countries in the region, including South Sudan. This year, the Uganda team worked closely with the University of Juba to establish a learning farm on campus, laying the foundation for practical learning opportunities for faculty, staff, students, and agricultural specialists in South Sudan.

While our learning farms are hubs for increasing professional capacity within the vegetable sector, our country teams also provide training at partner sites and other locations.

building Agro-input dealers’ capacity

Local agricultural-input dealers are often trusted sources of information for farmers, but many shop owners and employees do not have the expertise to provide good guidance.

Our comprehensive in-person training in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Nigeria gives agro-input dealers the knowledge and resources they need to provide their customers with accurate information on crop choices, fertilizers, supplies, and pest and disease management. Online certification for agro-input dealers is also a key part of our General Vegetable Production digital learning program.