Commentary

The Farmer Field School: a method for enhancing the role of rural communities in malaria control ?

Henk van den Berg¹ and Bart GJ Knols^1,2

¹  Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 8031, 6700 EH, Wageningen, The Netherlands

²  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Agency's Laboratories Seibersdorf, Seibersdorf A-2444, Austria

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Malaria Journal 2006, 5:3doi:10.1186/1475-2875-5-3

Published:	19 January 2006

Abstract

Malaria has strong linkages with agriculture, and farmers in malarious regions have a central position in creating or controlling the conditions that favour disease transmission. An interdisciplinary and integrated approach is needed to involve farmers and more than one sector in control efforts. It is suggested that malaria control can benefit from a complementary intervention in rural development, the Farmer Field School (FFS) on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This is a form of education that uses experiential learning methods to build farmers' expertise, and has proven farm-level and empowerment effects. The benefits of incorporating malaria control into the IPM curriculum are discussed. An example of a combined health-agriculture curriculum, labeled Integrated Pest and Vector Management (IPVM), developed in Sri Lanka is presented. Institutional ownership and support for IPVM could potentially be spread over several public sectors requiring a process for institutional learning and reform.