Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services(MEAS) Symposium, 2015

“Strengthening Extension and Advisory Services for Lasting Impacts”20 F Street Conference Center, Washington, D.C., June 3-5, 2015

Delivering the Farmbook Suite: Review of MEAS Pilot Project in

Kenya

Dr. Joyous S. Tata and Richard K. Githaiga

What is Farmbook Suite?

Consists of three ICT tools currently availablei. Map & Track ii. e-Learning (SMART Skills curriculum)iii. e-Biz Planner (formerly known as Farmbook)

One tool in study to be developed : Farmer feedback

All tools being shifted onto Android platforms Integrated data from all three Apps, stored and

analyzed in the cloud

Piloting eLearning in Kenya

Farmbook training in Nyeri, Kenya 2013

• Demand driven• Capacity building• Training• Mentoring• Evaluation • Field agents train

farmer groups• Map and Track to

monitor training delivered

Evaluating the MEAS project Goal – Assess the

challenges and impacts of the Farmbook Suite

Research Hypotheses1. Trainers – No significant difference between the impact of extension staff trained to use Farmbook on farmer livelihood and extension staff who have not received the training2. Farmers – No significant difference in productivity between farmers who have participated in Farmbook training and farmers who have not participated in the training

Data – questionnaires, focus groups, field activity reports, review workshops

Business planning with women farmers

Preliminary results Farmbook well received by

extension agents but they are constrained by:

Lack of devices Lack of funds to bring agents

in to county capital to get phones installed and trained

Sufficient funds to cover license costs

At the sub-national level in Kenya, counties have expressed interest in using Farmbook for:

Farmer registration Service delivery tracking Developing business plans

with farmers

Extension agents with farmer group

Thank you!