This paper is about innovation management by smallholders in the Brazilian Nordeste. The objective of the referred study was to identify the role of farming families and their organisations in the development and dissemination of agricultural innovation. The first section introduces the background of innovation management with farmers' organisations and the birth of fanners' experimentation groups in the Agreste region of Paraíba State. The second section presents the support activities to these groups. The method used produced positive results in a short time, at a local scale, but with an important support effort in terms of fanners' training and institutional monitoring. The last section discusses the first results and lessons learnt: how can family fanners' organisations take on new roles, particularly with the management of on-farm experimentation groups ? How do the methods introduced in Paraíba Agreste help to re-think or to renew agriculture research and extension services ?.