4-K Club members should identify projects they want to undertake with the guidance of their leaders.
The extension service provider should help members secure certified seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, fingerlings, breeds of livestock, the right housing and tools. Collective purchases from the stockiest should be done to reduce on cost and ensure safe handling. NB: Pesticides can also be collectively purchased, stored and sprayed.
4-K Club members are expected to establish the identifed projects once they have acquired the necessary inputs required. At this point, they should rely on the extension service providers and other volunteer leaders who have the skill in setting up various agricultural projects
The sign board should be erected at the project site and should be conspicuously placed to stimulate public interest and for project ownership.
Record what has been learned from club activities, what the local club has done and the member’s role, what project is planned for the following year and suggestions to improve the Club Program for the following year. A member may attach a photograph of self with project to this page. Record each meeting date and place. Note what role the member played at the club meeting e.g. being an official giving demonstration or as a member.
IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING RECORDS
Makes it possible for members to compare their success or failure with others
Gives an account of acreage, inputs used, time of planting, stocking, weeding, feeding, spraying, yields, number of animals, breeds, production capacity among others
Enables a member to calculate costs of production, profits or losses from records
Gives the member an opportunity to identify mistakes and correct them in future
Gives an account for failures caused by drought, disease and insect damage
Gives a guide for future plans
Stimulates members to use improved agricultural practices
Teaches members to observe results and to make needed changes that they may not have seen
Trains members to take farming as a business
Assists members to plan and to think through a project to completion
Shows periodic performance progress
Contains activities such as demonstrations, field trips, local shows and district 4-K Club activities