National Consultant on Farmer Field School

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (“FAO” or “Organization”) is an intergovernmental organization with more than 194 member nations. Since its inception, FAO has worked to alleviate poverty and hunger by promoting agricultural development, improved nutrition and the pursuit of food security - defined as the access of all people at all times to the food they need for an active and healthy life. To achieve its goals, FAO cooperates with thousands of partners worldwide, from farmers’ groups to traders, from non-governmental organizations to other UN agencies, from development banks to agribusiness firms (further and more detailed information on FAO can be found on the internet site: http://www.fao.org). The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. FAO has been promoting Farmer Field School (FFS) over the past decades. FFS is an approach based on people-centred learning, which has been adopted to address a growing range of technical topics including but not limited to soil, crop and water management, seeds multiplication and varietal testing, integrated pest management, agropastoralism, aquaculture, agroforestry, nutrition, value chain, and link to markets, etc.

Reporting Lines

The national consultant on Farmer Field School will work under the overall supervision of the FAO representative to China (who is the project budget holder) and direct supervision of the project officers of the technical projects involved, as well as in close collaboration of the FAO project Lead Technical Officer (LTO), who would support the project implementation from the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Technical Focus

The technical focus of the work of the national consultant involves designing a FFS programme, developing human capacity for the FFSs, defining the FFS learning content, as well as monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the FFSs

Tasks and responsibilities

• Participate in the project inception workshop to present the participatory training approaches and discuss with the stakeholders about the training plan for the project. • Develop an overall training plan for the project based on inception workshop discussions and project design. • Lead the design and development of curriculum for the Training of Trainers (ToT) in cooperation with subject specialist, national project director and FAO. • Participate in all the ToT sessions, together with national subject specialists; • Manage, facilitate and monitor different sessions, developing the pre and post training tests, and lecturing on thematic areas as needed, during the TOT sessions. • Guide the development of the FFS plan and curriculum for ToT graduates who will carry out the FFSs sessions. • Assisting to monitor and evaluate the project’s knowledge transfer activities and review knowledge uptake under the project’s training programme. • Contribute to the baseline and endline surveys by providing pre-and post-training findings. • Advice on the design and start-up of awareness raising activities, educational campaigns, exchange visits, FFS field days, etc. at demonstration sites and FFS group plots for farmers to observe the project’s results, share the experience and test new and improved technologies and practices in their own fields. • Review the project’s draft training materials and provide recommendations for their improvement, with particular relevant to sections on TOT and FFS. • Participate in the project mid-term review missions. • Attend the project final review mission and deliver the presentation to review the participatory trainings and capacity building activities implemented under the project. • Compile the manual on TOT and FFS in close consultation with subject specialist and local stakeholders. • Prepare written reports in English within two weeks after completing each assignment and assisting to prepare other technical papers as required. The reports should give a clear summary of recommendations and points for follow-up by stakeholders.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in agricultural sciences or rural development; • At least 10 years of relevant experience in participatory trainings that adopts the FFS approach • Working knowledge of English and Chinese • Nationality of China or resident in the country with a regular work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills • Specific knowledge and skills in FFS facilitation and the design and implementation of TOT training of FFS facilitators; • Capability in mobilizing agricultural extensionists, local farmers, and other agricultural practitioners to effectively and efficiently engage in the participatory training sessions. • Excellent skills in report writing, training guidelines, and manual preparation; Familiarity with international development project design and implementations