Master Farmer: Teaching Small Farmers Management

by Bruce M. Lansdale

Book Overview

The story of postwar Greece holds invaluable lessons for many developing countries today. In 1947 Greece had just emerged from a decade of war and strife; its villagers were demoralized and fleeing... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813302773
• ISBN13: 9780813302775
• Release Date: November 1986
• Publisher: CRC Press
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

How close are you to your rural customer?

Please don't be mislead by the title "Master Farmer" because this book is about management and will be helpful to all nonprofits. It is addressed to development workers, those who train them and to those concerned with supporting rural community development efforts. On one of his sabbaticals, the author visited Ireland where he discovered the saying "Management is doing what you want with what you've got". As Director of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece, the author never had the resources he wanted but he did a superb job with what he had. He would stand up in front of a group of farmers and jokingly tell them "I am going to teach your cows to polka" and then teach the basics of management - Planning, Organization, Leadership, K(c)ontrol, and Adjustment. Hundreds can still remember him emphasizing the philosophy of the school - the head, the hands and the heart - by drawing a spidery man showing the over-evolvement of man from one with a big pair of hands, big heart and a modest sized head into one with a big head, but virtually no hands and little heart. While these lessons are invaluable for those working the land, the same lessons benefit the rural worker in other occupations.Lansdale also believes that "The story of postwar Greece holds invaluable lessons for many developing countries today. In 1947 Greece had just emerged from a decade of war and strife; its villagers were demoralized and fleeing rural life for the cities; and its farms were unable to produce adequate crops to feed its people. In less than forty years Greece has become a major exporter of foodstuffs, most villages have made the transition from underdeveloped to developing, and rural people no longer yearn to move to the cities." As I view the development efforts since the book was written in 1986, I cry at the money wasted because the decision-makers did not learn from Greece as a development model nor did they take to heart the wisdom in this book.Lansdale became famous for his Hodja stories and if he failed to include one in his frequent talks the audience would not let him leave the room. But for Lansdale Nazredin Hodja was not just a wise legend and a good laugh, he was the tool to bring home his message of training master farmers. Rural life in developing areas is centered on the peasant, a word used by Lansdale with affection, admiration and profound gratitude for their wisdom and what they taught him. That a peasant has something to teach a person with a university degree may seem strange, but Lansdale took to heart Deeming's adage "get close to the customer", listening rather than preaching, gaining insights and a depth of understanding which most of us would fail to appreciate. The author points out "Many Greek and foreign development workers came to the villages with the idealistic conviction that they understood the peasant's problems and could solve them. However, they soon realized how important it was for the peasants to learn to identify and so

Good for all nonprofits

Please don't be mislead by the title "Master Farmer" because this book is about management and will be helpful to all nonprofits. It is addressed to development workers, those who train them and to those concerned with supporting rural community development efforts. On one of his sabbaticals, the author visited Ireland where he discovered the saying "Management is doing what you want with what you've got". As Director of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece, the author never had the resources he wanted but he did a superb job with what he had. He would stand up in front of a group of farmers and jokingly tell them "I am going to teach your cows to polka" and then teach the basics of management - Planning, Organization, Leadership, K(c)ontrol, and Adjustment. Hundreds can still remember him emphasizing the philosophy of the school - the head, the hands and the heart - by drawing a spidery man showing the over-evolvement of man from one with a big pair of hands, big heart and a modest sized head into one with a big head, but virtually no hands and little heart. While these lessons are invaluable for those working the land, the same lessons benefit the rural worker in other occupations.Lansdale also believes that "The story of postwar Greece holds invaluable lessons for many developing countries today. In 1947 Greece had just emerged from a decade of war and strife; its villagers were demoralized and fleeing rural life for the cities; and its farms were unable to produce adequate crops to feed its people. In less than forty years Greece has become a major exporter of foodstuffs, most villages have made the transition from underdeveloped to developing, and rural people no longer yearn to move to the cities." As I view the development efforts since the book was written in 1986, I cry at the money wasted because the decision-makers did not learn from Greece as a development model nor did they take to heart the wisdom in this book.Lansdale became famous for his Hodja stories and if he failed to include one in his frequent talks the audience would not let him leave the room. But for Lansdale Nazredin Hodja was not just a wise legend and a good laugh, he was the tool to bring home his message of training master farmers. Rural life in developing areas is centered on the peasant, a word used by Lansdale with affection, admiration and profound gratitude for their wisdom and what they taught him. That a peasant has something to teach a person with a university degree may seem strange, but Lansdale took to heart Deeming's adage "get close to the customer", listening rather than preaching, gaining insights and a depth of understanding which most of us would fail to appreciate. The author points out "Many Greek and foreign development workers came to the villages with the idealistic conviction that they understood the peasant's problems and could solve them. However, they soon realized how important it was for the peasants to learn to identify and so