Agropastoral Consultant

Company Description

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity, with a focus on vulnerable and under-served populations. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work. 

EDC is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.

We are looking for candidates who share EDC’s commitment and understand the importance of cultural responsiveness in today’s context.

Project Description

The USAID South Sudan Youth Empowerment Activity [USAID YEA] supports South Sudanese youth and communities to develop, promote and strengthen the skills and assets of youth, and to create an enabling environment for the youth to be productive and positively contribute to their communities.

The purpose of USAID YEA is to support and empower at-risk out-of-school youth ages 15-29 with focus on developing the basic education and foundational skills of youth, strengthening employment skills for improved livelihoods, and supporting the creation of an enabling environment for improved youth productivity. Gain the necessary skills they need to lead productive lives, gain employment, and positively contribute to their communities with the following intended results:

• Improved youth access to functional literacy, numeracy, soft and life skills
• Increase youth entrepreneurial, employment, and vocational opportunities.
• Increasing behavior changes among youth to make positive adolescent reproductive health choices.
• Improve social cohesion among youth and their communities.

USAID YEA is implemented through a consortium led by EDC and comprised of at least 7 national and international NGOs. It supports service delivery via over 100 community-based organizations and entities, currently in eight counties.

USAID YEA provides six to nine months training to youth on functional literacy, numeracy, soft and life skills, Be Your Own Boss entrepreneurial skills. This should be followed by a practical short agro-pastoral skills training and support to be delivered by community-based agriculture extension workers/youth trainers.

Agricultural Context

To ensure high productivity in agriculture and livelihoods among the youth, effective and efficient strategy, skilled trainers equipped with the right materials are key. High quality youth training on the good agronomic practices is essential in enhancing the knowledge and skill of agriculture extension workers/youth trainers to support and encourage youth to adopt new/improved farming practices that result in improved production and productivity on their farms. These programs should include climate smart / environmental green concepts.

The ability of the agriculture extension workers/youth trainers to pass knowledge, skills and information to youth participants is critical in building and improving youth participants productivity. Understanding and effectively providing quality agriculture extension support and training is critical. However, the extension services, like many other services in the country, are almost lacking if any at all, the extension staff have limited understanding, exposure and experience in GAP or set of hands-on skills.

Job Description

USAID YEA is looking for a National Individual Consultant for the development of a basic Agropastoral Curriculum, a training strategy, and trainer of trainers on Good Agronomic practices of selected agricultural enterprises.

Scope of Work

This consultancy is a higher-level assignment based in Juba requiring a very good understanding of the agriculture extension system in South Sudan and very good knowledge of developing agricultural extension curriculum and training strategy, and content development for wide range of agricultural enterprises. It also requires an understanding of innovative climate smart / environmental green concepts.

The consultant will be required to elaborate a high standard curriculum linked to a flexible and adaptable training strategy for the EDC project on youth livelihoods. The consultant will be expected to work closely with the existing EDC Livelihoods team, who are also agro-pastoral experts, to develop the following:

• A curriculum for the EDC Livelihoods / Agropastoral training of the youth graduates who have completed a life skills and Be Your Own Boss entrepreneurial skills. This is envisaged as short practical training courses delivered practically in short sessions, and followed by six months on site support. [selected topics below]. The curriculum will be delivered by the EDC agriculture extension workers.
• Produce quality training materials and content to be used for implementing agricultural and livelihoods training for the youths.
• A strategy and implementation guide that aligns with the USAID YEA implementation methodology.
• Assist to train and qualify the EDC Livelihoods Team and seven EDC Livelihoods Field Officers [trainers of trainers] who will train extension workers who in turn implement the training with the participating youth based on their interests in the selected topics/enterprises.

Topics of interest for content development immediately

• Vegetable production and marketing (general)
• Fishing

Secondary Topics for later development

• Field crop production (groundnuts, maize, and sorghum)
• Poultry production (improving local breeds)
• Goat farming (improving local breeds)
• Beekeeping
• Climate smart agriculture
• Training and extension skills
• Simple household nutrition guide

Key Deliverables

• A clearly articulated training curriculum, training strategy and schedule/calendar, for each of the topics mentioned above.
• A simplified training content with appropriate pictorials that is easily understood by semiliterate and illiterate youth farmers.
• Condensed trainers guide providing the mode of delivery, materials needed, methodology, time allocation per content as well as proposed calendar in the year.
• Training schedule for the trainers (EDC technical team who will in turn train the extension workers at the state/county levels) at least a five-day training of trainers’ orientation.
• Delivery the training in a participatory manner
• Prepare a training report and submit it within 5 working days after successful completion of the training in class training of trainers.

Work Arrangement and Schedule

Since the exact workload can only be estimated, the below mentioned information is maximum, indicated by using the term “up to”. The selected consultant will be asked to keep a clear record of the actual workload, which will serve as a basis for the invoicing and try to stick to the allocated days amount of time as much as possible. A full day is equal to 8 hours of dedicated work on the assignment. The consultant will be required to consult regularly and provide regular updates to EDC-YEA livelihoods team. The consultant is required to work constructively and in the spirit of teamwork, participatorily and in an empowering manner with EDC USAID YEA. A participative consultative process of frequent check in a discussion is expected.

The consultant work is foreseen to take a maximum of 25 days including two days as summarized below.

Duration of the Work: Up to 25 days

Activity and days allocated (up to):

1. Debriefing and project understanding with the EDC team (1 day)
2. Presentation of the inception report for the work delivery and strategy (1 day)
3. Strategy and curriculum development (3 days)
4. Development of training materials/contents (10 days)
5. Planning for the training of training delivery (1 day)
6. Delivery of the training of trainer (TOT) (6 days)
7. Report writing for the TOT (2 days)
8. Final debriefing with the EDC technical team (1 day)

The training organization, planning and venue will be supported by the EDC admin team as well as the livelihoods technical team in Juba.

Qualifications

Experience

• An experience of 5-10 years in relevant field and in South Sudan;
• Proven experience in successful training facilitation and mentoring skills for trainers;
• Experience in developing and writing agriculture curriculum for less skilled youth;
• Experience in developing agriculture training and extension strategy, curriculum, designing training contents, manuals, and guidelines;
• Experience in training trainers in the field of agriculture and related fields.

Core Competences

• Very good understanding of the local agroecological zones of the following states (Central and Eastern Equatoria, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei,)
• Good understanding of participatory training and coaching capacity
• Very good writing and reporting skills
• Good command of English (written and spoken)

Additional Information

Reporting

The consultant will work under the supervision of the livelihoods and entrepreneurship coordinator, S/he and technically, shall consult and closely work in collaboration and guidance of the livelihoods technical team in Juba and in the field through participatory and empowering processes.

Consultancy Fee Costing Items

The consultancy fee is based on expertise and experience, interested candidates should submit technical and finance proposal including the total consultancy fee, bearing specific cost category as listed below.

Tax Obligation

The consultancy fee will be subjected to applicable 20% tax as per taxation rule. Payment to the consultant shall be upon the submission of assignment completion report and acceptance by the project. Payment shall be made via bank transfer.

• Expert fees (25 days) – This can only be reimbursed against proof of payment- receipts
• Communication (lumpsum) – No proof of payment required
• Transportation (lumpsum) – proof of payment required
• Medical (lumpsum) – No proof of payment required

Application Instructions:

Interested individual consultants are requested to submit the following documents:

• Motivation letter
• Updated CVs highlighting only relevant competency, expertise, and experience.
• Two page sample of previously developed material [two pages only]
• Technical proposal detailing how the job will be executed. [400 words only]
• Financial proposal with all related expected costs

VACANCY CLOSING DATE: 17 November, 2023

Due to the volume of applications submitted, only finalists will be notified. No phone calls, please.

EDC is committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce and ensuring an equitable and highly inclusive work environment. EDC is a smoke-free workplace, and offers a supportive work environment, competitive salary, and excellent benefits. Women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

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