Training Manual on Vegetable and Rice Cultivation Through Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices

Abstract

This training manual on the cultivation of vegetables and rice through Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices is specifi cally developed for the largely illiterate farmers in Sierra Leone.However, it is equally very useful for literate farmers and farm resource and service providers.It is organized in modules, and each module is a stand-alone guide in a specifi c area of CSA.Even so, the modules throughout the manual are reinforcingly inter-connected.This builds the needed fl exibility into the manual for use both as a personal reading material and as a training tool.The general layout is structured such that each module is complete with background information fi tted to the concept and process of climate change.Here, the main causes of climate change are discussed.This is followed by a discussion on climate change reduction measures.All of this is put into crop-specifi c context to guide the farmers to see very clearly the underlying causes and mitigation measures of climate change.In this case, specifi c vegetables such as onion, hot pepper, and Irish potato are emphasized.Also, rice cultivation and specifi cally Inland Valley Swamp (IVS) rice is prioritized.A broad mode of presenting the content was the preferred choice because of its appeal to various calibers of readers.This was covered as infographics, pictorial presentations, bullet points, and short notes.This mix of context-building is the singular strength of this training manual.Each module also has a pre-session evaluation designed to know who the trainees are in terms of background knowledge in climate change and CSA.This is deliberately put into the model to help the trainer know what the trainees know about the specifi c issues covered under that module.There is also a post-session evaluation that tells the trainer exactly what the trainees have learned in a completed training session.This informs the trainer on the decision to redo some parts of the module, all of the module, or to move on to the next module.It is hoped that the picking apart and joining together done in this manual can yield the desired effect where the trainers, the trainees, and the general readership fi nd the knowledge sought about the causes of and solutions to climate change in relation to rice and vegetable crop cultivation.