🌱 RECODA Initiative · Tanzania
Transforming Smallholder Agriculture in Tanzania
RIPAT is a proven participatory approach that empowers small-scale farmers through group learning, a basket of technology options, and self-reliance.
Scroll
35 Members Per Group
2 Groups Per Village
12+ RIPAT Features
Free RIPAT Manual Download
Rockwool Foundation Supported
Northern Tanzania & Beyond
Help-to-Self-Help Philosophy
35 Members Per Group
2 Groups Per Village
12+ RIPAT Features
Free RIPAT Manual Download
Rockwool Foundation Supported
Northern Tanzania & Beyond
Help-to-Self-Help Philosophy
20+
Years of Impact
Welcome to RIPAT
A Participatory Path Out of Poverty
RIPAT (Rural Initiatives for Participatory Agricultural Transformation) is a proven approach developed among small-scale farmers in Northern Tanzania by RECODA, under the Rockwool Foundation partnership.
It bridges the gap between available agricultural technologies and farmer adoption — using group-based learning, participatory demonstrations, and a genuine basket of choices tailored to each community.
Group-based Learning
Basket of Options
Self-Reliance (HSH)
Government Partnership
VSLA Micro-Finance
Drought Management
RIPAT in Numbers
Impact at a Glance
35
Farmers
per Group
per Group
Members per Farmer Group
70
Households
per Village
per Village
2 Groups × 35 Members
12+
Key RIPAT
Features
Features
Pillars of the Approach
20+
Years of
RECODA Impact
RECODA Impact
Serving Tanzanian Farmers
RIPAT Strategic Areas
What RIPAT Does
Six interconnected areas that transform agricultural communities from the ground up.
Community Mobilization
Sensitizing communities and forming farmer groups of 35 members per village.
Farmer Field Schools
Group demonstration plots for joint experiential learning and technology trials.
Basket of Options
Tailor-made technology menus so each farmer chooses what fits their context.
Drought Management
4-stage drought cycle training with crop-livestock integration and diversification.
Village Savings (VSLA)
Community micro-finance for rural farmers excluded from formal banking.
Value Chain Analysis
From production to market — training on post-harvest handling and marketing.
Horticultural Value Chains
Agricultural Focus Areas
Improved Bananas
High-yield banana varieties with full value chain development and business plans.
Orange Sweet Potato
OFSP for nutrition security — rich in Vitamin A and drought resilient.
Maize & Legumes
Conservation agriculture — maize intercropped with legumes under CA principles.
Dairy Goats
Improved dairy goat breeds under zero grazing in a solidarity chain model.
The RIPAT Approach
Best of Both Extension Methods
RIPAT blends the structured top-down "Training and Visit (T&V)" method with the farmer-centred bottom-up "Farmer Field School (FFS)" — creating a pragmatic model that reaches farmers with knowledge they find relevant and choose to adopt.
Like a truck — or a camel — RIPAT can carry various types of new knowledge and technology interventions, adapting to any agro-ecological zone.
Training & Visit (T&V)
Farmer Field School (FFS)
Help-to-Self-Help
Local Gov. Partnership
"This is an excellent, easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide on how organizations working with small-scale farmers should approach their task."
— Prof. Amon Z. Mattee, Sokoine University of AgricultureWhat Great People Say
Reviews & Endorsements
"
In Arumeru and Karatu districts I witnessed farmers using the RIPAT approach to substantially increase their productivity and incomes in banana production; to improve their levels of innovation, participation, and ownership of their projects; and hence to transform their lives.
"
The RIPAT Manual is a must-read for extension service providers. The group approach creates cohesion and builds confidence among poor resource farmers and brings in the "YES WE CAN" spirit that reduces dependence on free handouts.
"
For a long time in Tanzania there has not been any such manual to guide extension work and this will certainly fill the gap. This is a must-have resource book for all extension and rural development practitioners.
Our Partners
Development Partners
Resources
Featured Downloads
Free Download
RIPAT Manual (Free Download)
The complete step-by-step RIPAT implementation guide for practitioners.
Free Download
RIPAT in Tanzania — Research Overview
Peer-reviewed research documenting RIPAT impact in Arumeru and Karatu districts.