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Farmer to Farmer East Africa
Volunteer Assignment Scope of Work
NOTE: SCOPE OF WORK AWAITING FINAL EDITS
Assignment SummaryAssignment Code / TZ 88
Country / Tanzania
Country Project / Tanzania F2F Grains Project
Host Organization / Caritas Mbeya – Integrated Rural Development Plan (IRDP) – Bara Parish
Assignment Title / Farming as business, value addition and the importance of women issues consideration in agricultural development
Assignment objective / o Improvement of small holder farmers’ skills so as to do farming as business as opposed to the current peasant mentality where proper planning and business projections is seldom practiced
o To facilitate the community for a clearer understanding of the importance of women inclusion in decision making that also works to maximize production and profit from farming
Desired skills / Small holder farmer agribusiness development expert with experience and knowledge of the African farming system
Assignment preferred dates / Anytime from September 2016
A. Background
The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) East Africa program is a program that uses short-term US volunteer expertise to assist small holder farmers and small scale processors in East Africa to improve their agricultural business practices through volunteer assignments conducted with host organizations. For Tanzania, Catholic Relief Services’ F2F project objective is to support low-income smallholder farmers to improve access and utilization of markets and credit so as to broaden their participation in the maize, beans and rice value chains as producers and service providers.
The grains value chain is a main target for the CRS F2F to channel technical assistance because maize, rice and beans are key food staples for the majority of Tanzanians. Strategic interventions in these value chains also have great potential to contribute to USAID goals; in this case, the goal of sustainably reducing poverty and food insecurity by increasing productivity and profitability of maize, beans and rice crops. The key challenges experienced by small scale cereals farmers include limited access to market information, poor pricing, limited access to agricultural credit for farm inputs, and poorly organized, low-functioning farmer associations/cooperatives.
Our host for this assignment is the Caritas Development Office, Diocese of Mbeya. It is a coordinating and facilitating body of the Catholic Diocese of Mbeya, working in partnership with local organizations and communities through training, awareness creation, capacity building, fundraising, research, lobbying and advocacy, and other ways of technical support to strengthen their effectiveness in helping them utilize their resources to meet their basic needs for justice and well-being.
Currently, the organization is in Phase V of its’ Integrated Rural Development Plan (IRDP) which was begun in 1999 through the support of Misereor of Aachen Germany. This plan targets vulnerable households to increase incomes, resilience, food security, and livelihoods. This IRDP initially described the parish and village infrastructure that the CRS F2F program used for the first scope of work, which was organizational development and association strengthening. The key objective of the assignment was the improved leadership and management, enhanced group dynamics and cohesion, association strengthening and cooperation for smallholder farmer groups of Bara, Ikonya, and Iporoto within the Baraa Parish.
Volunteer Michael Zeigler; provided the training to the Bara Parish from August 17th – 28th 2015 in the two villages of Iporoto and Bara while Ikonya was not covered due to the immense distance involved to reach it . Participatory methodology was used during the training whereby training venues and schedules were arranged by Caritas Extension officer in collaboration with village and farmer groups’ leaders in each respective village. SWOT analysis was carried out in each village so as to give an overview on the prevailing situation to the volunteer. Following this exercise, various topics were discussed based on the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats stipulated by the farmers.
Following the training, Caritas Mbeya has reported very good progress with the groups to include; formation of one additional farmer group at Iporoto village called Safina; some farmer groups have started collective farm input procurement, some have started collective marketing where they are at an advanced process of signing a buyer contract with a big buyer, some groups have revisited their constitutions to better address their needs like establishing a clear criteria for one to be elected as a leader, and one group, Alintula has established a beans production farm as a joint group activity. In spite of the success observed so far there are still challenges to be addressed as identified by Caritas.
B: ISSUE DESCRIPTION
As he was winding up his assignment; Mike Zeigler made the following observations that he advised that Caritas continue efforts:
o Farmer’s organization was still a key challenge that needed more support. While farmer groups were organised to some extent, they were not yet strong enough for registration. To register groups, requirements included consistency in membership and committed leadership. He observed that 70% of targeted farmer groups could not be registered because of inconsistencies in leadership and membership.
o Groups often missed a reliable binding force, a purpose that is of interest to all group members.
o He noted that collective marketing was such a binding force; however, marketing was still a challenge to many groups; they were also not yet able to sell their produce collectively, and were not yet able to meet market requirements.
o To some degree the Bara Parish farmer groups are addressing some of the above concerns as per previous discussions in this document even though more efforts are justified.
o On its part, Caritas through a participatory needs assessment identified; farming as a business concepts; simplified method of soil testing to farmers; poultry and dairy goat keeping; gender equity in development; food processing for added value among others as priority capacity areas for the farmer groups.
o Condensing the observations of Mike and the needs assessment conducted the F2F team advised on concentrating on farming as business; food processing and gender in development training to farmer groups as the most logical follow on training since the subjects would cover many of the issues identified earlier by volunteer and Caritas.
C: OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The key objective of this volunteer assignment is to build the capacity of farmers in Bara Parish to strengthen their business acumen for profitable small farmer business. More specifically the volunteer will deliver on the following topics;
- Small farm business budgeting – matching with the farming calendar – where is the most money spent and when?
- Small farms record keeping; for cost –benefit analysis and demonstration of this to farmers
- Farm business marketing – when is the best time to sell off the products? Elaborate using visual aids or any other means for farmers to clearly see how business flows throughout the year
- Understanding supply and demand as pertains to their various enterprises (since these are mixed farmers)
- Timing and choice of enterprise for maximum economic returns
- Benefits of collective agro-input purchase and collective marketing as opposed to individual action –(to emphasize on association rather than individual action)
- Food processing –value addition as alternative means of increasing farm profits
- The role of women in agriculture and the importance of considering women in all aspects of the farming business
The training will take place at identified common places within the villages that Caritas has identified as priority.
Host contribution – In addition to supporting CRS efforts in the evaluation conducted and needs assessment for this scope of work, Caritas will coordinate the field work using its extension support system, provide accommodation for the volunteer at the Baraa Parish priest house and provide all possible hospitality. Caritas will also cost share on transport to the various sites as necessary.
D: ANTICIPATED RESULTS FROM THE ASSIGNMENT
The primary immediate anticipated result of the training is improved knowledge of operating small scale farms as small business rather than the current way of doing it as subsistence. The farmers will improve their ability to plan farming activities, allowing them to fetch better prices in the market. Building on the collective efforts already started on input procurement and marketing the groups are expected to strengthen on the cooperative movement, eventually functioning as strong farmer cooperatives. Women participation in all aspects of decision making is expected to enhance contributing to more efficiency. All the above will contribute to improved income and a higher level of resilience for farmers and their families.
E: SCHEDULE OF VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY IN TANZANIA
The volunteer will be expected to spend about 14 working days on the assignment, firstly reaching out to the existing farmers’ to understand the farmer situation and dynamics, conduct /verify the learning needs assessment with the target trainees and then refining the teaching /learning material. Following this, the volunteer working with the Caritas field staff will finalize the training schedule followed by the actual training. The actual training topics and duration details will be worked out once the volunteer is on site.
F. DESIRABLE VOLUNTEER SKILLS
The volunteer will have good skills on small holder farmer agribusiness development with some experience and knowledge of the African farming system. More specifically the volunteer should have the following attributes;
o Expertise in farming for profit
o Formal qualifications in agribusiness development, farm business management, agricultural development or production economics
o Wide experience in agribusiness extension related to developing market-oriented smallholder agriculture in developing countries
o Other beneficial skills may include experience in training, extension and communication methods and excellent hands-on experience in assessing target group needs with rural audience
o Prior experience on the same subject with farmer to farmer program is an advantage
G: ACCOMODATION AND OTHER IN-COUNTRY LOGISTICS
In Dar es Salaam the volunteer will stay at the Amariah Boutique Hotel; Tel: +255 22 2701787/
+255 22 2774970 Mobile: +255 789 471461 /+255 712 471461 Email: / http://www.3star.co.tz/AMARIAH/MIKOCHENI/index.html
while in Mbeya city, the volunteer will stay at the Peace of Mind Rest House, P. O. Box 2573 Mbeya cell phone +255 754 277410 email: on arrival to Mbeya moving to Baraa village following day where he will stay at the Parish Priest residence.
All logistics will be organized by CRS and host. Except for the village Parish priest accommodation, all the other proposed facilities have basic amenities of water, electricity, self-contained rooms, wireless internet access and/or modem and have reliable security. CRS will pay for hotel accommodation, and provide volunteer with per diems to cater for meals and other incidentals. CRS will also facilitate daily transport for the volunteer as needed for the successful completion of the assignment. The volunteer should be aware that the accommodation at the village is very basic with no assurance of electricity, running water and internet.
H: RECOMMENDED ASSIGNMENT PREPARATION
As part of preparation for the work ahead the volunteer should familiarize with USAID Feed the Future program, the EARO and Tanzania F2F grains program proposal and scope of work for this particular assignment. It is also advisable that the volunteer read and familiarize with Tanzania, its development challenges and opportunities. For any printed material these will be printed at CRS office in Dar es Salaam prior to commencement of the assignment. Flip charts, markers, masking tapes will be provided by CRS. Volunteers are not advised to rely on LCD projections as the main method of training because full time electricity is not guaranteed.
I: KEY CONTACTS
CRS Baltimore / CRS EA Regional OfficeMaria Figueroa
Volunteer Coordinator
Farmer-to-Farmer East Africa
228 W. Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-951-7366
Email: / Nyambura Theuri
Deputy Project Director
EA Farmer-to-Farmer Program
P.O. Box 49675 – 00100
Nairobi, Kenya
St. Augustine Court Karuna Close Road
Email:
CRS Tanzania
Mary Kabatange
Farmer-to-Farmer Program Country Director
Plot # Migombani Street, Regent Estate, Mikocheni
P. O. Box 34701 Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Office Tel: +255 22 2773141
Mobile cell phone +255 758 820025
Email: / Conor Walsh
Country Representative
CRS Tanzania
Plot # Migombani Street, Regent Estate, Mikocheni
P. O. Box 34701 Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Office Tel +255 22 2773141
Mob: +255 754 930966
Email:
Mr. Edgar S. Mangasila
Director, Caritas Mbeya
P.O. Box 179, Mbeya, Tanzania.
Tel: 025 2503452
Fax: 025 2500903
Cell phone: +255 754 413154