Résumé
In Morocco, a new public policy for the agricultural sector raises once again the question of which type of development is needed for family farmers, and what may be done to support such development. The cooperation between farmer organizations and a group of research and training institutions led to activities undertaken in common in irrigation schemes and to the set up of a nationwide network of farmer organizations. The article analyses the farmers' learning, and the way such learning is used during the cooperation process, in order to meet involved persons' expectations and to ensure the sustainability of the network. Farmer learning involved various dimensions: technical, psychosocial (especially the capacity to compare oneself to other farmers and an improved self-esteem), and organizational, which led to improved capacity for collective action. The way the learning that took place was used back to drive the process highlights the issue of the link between individuals and groups, especially the balance to find between training leaders and building networks of local groups. Such an approach, thanks to the learning taking place and increased farmers' autonomy, could support family farmers' participation in the building of public policies regarding agriculture and rural development.