Food Preservation/Fermentation Specialist

About ACTED

ACTED is an international NGO that has been registered in Leba­non since 2006. It has an established country office in Beirut as well as a field office in Akkar. More recently, it has been carrying out activities in the South, Akkar, Mount Lebanon and Tripoli.

ACTED works closely with local authorities and civil society stakeholders at the com­munity level to implement priori­ty humanitarian interventions such as emergency multi-purpose cash assis­tance, WASH projects (including disease monitoring and infrastructural and behavioural response), and Shelter interven­tions incorporating multiple modalities. ACTED is also implementing long-term development projects with focus on agriculture cooperatives to rehabilitate infrastructure, improv­e agricultural production, increase livelihood opportunities and support state and non-state ac­tors to improve service deliv­ery and social stability through col­lective development planning.

Project1:  Women Economic Participation-Funded by UNDP

This project’s overall objective is “to contribute to the economic empowerment of Lebanese and Syrian women in Lebanon”. The project is designed to build the economic resilience and capacity of conflict affected, displaced and hosting women and girls in the South and Bekaa region of Lebanon.

The interventions will seek to integrate women’s economic participation with advocacy efforts, focusing at the individual, community and systemic levels.

It focuses in one part on improving the technical capacity of women on targeted value chain to improve their access to secure and sustainable income and livelihoods and on institutional and community levels to enhance the capacity of stakeholders to recognize women’s specific economic needs and to enact policy change to address them.

To this end, the project will promote inclusive and market system development through looking at the economic, social and environmental enabling environment that is necessary to function effectively and equitably.

The targeted beneficiaries will receive a package of trainings and awareness sessions that will empower them, and provide them with basic skills to be in a better position to seek, at the end of the project, improved livelihood opportunities.

Project 2: Addressing immediate socio-economic impact of COVID-19: Subsistence support for Host and Refugee Population in Lebanon funded by UNDP

With funding from UNDP, ACTED and AUB ESDU, are aiming to provide livelihood assets support as well as technical support and market linkages to 28 entities (including MSMEs, small-holder farmers and cooperatives) and 590 direct beneficiaries (as either MSME/cooperative members, farmers or laborers) located in Bekaa and South Governorates to expand production and continue to produce food for the communities and generate income.

ACTED is seeking one or more consultant(s) to provide training on the following indicative list of topics. Please specify in your application which training topics you have expertise to cover. Consultant(s) that are able to cover all listed training topics will be prioritized. Trainings will be provided to individual beneficiaries as well as cooperative workers/members.

1. Workshop Topic (individual beneficiaries AND cooperatives):

• Basics of food fermentation (understanding food microbiology)
• Traditional food fermentation techniques (lacto-fermentation, pickling, brining, fermented drinks etc)
• How to introduce new fermented/preserved foods in Lebanese diet
• Storytelling through food: marketing your recipe to consumers
• Food safety and hygiene (using food grade sanitizers, heat sanitization, testing acidity levels of fermented foods, understanding and preventing toxic mold formation, botulism risks, kahm yeast etc) for individual beneficiaries

Additional workshop topics (for cooperatives)

• Specialized training on Good Manufacturing training and Good Hygiene practices.
• Additional sessions to provide support for the target cooperatives to develop 1-2 new recipes for commercial production. The trainer is expected to provide feedback to adjust the recipes during the workshop.

Note: In light of COVID-19 impacts, trainings may be offered via distance learning methods. The consultant(s) must be able to adapt the trainings to specific conditions as required.

2. Specific Tasks and Responsibilities:

1. Provide training outline including main learning objectives and training topics per session. Trainings must be media or other relevant materials such as manuals, journals, literature etc.
2. Conduct theoretical as well as practical trainings for 230 individual women and 11 cooperatives located in Bekaa and South. Total number of training days will be decided in coordination with the consultant(s). Please provide an indicative timeline in your cover letter.
3. Suggest a BoQ for in-kind kits to be provided for womens. The kits must include items to implement training topics such as tools, materials etc.
4. Suggest a BoQ for equipment to be purchased by cooperatives. The equipment may be used by cooperatives to produce the recipes developed during the workshop.

3. Reporting:

• Register daily attendance of beneficiaries as per the attendance sheet provided by ACTED team
• Develop and conduct pre and post tests
• Follow up and report the number of sessions provided and report to the training coordinator/Project Manager
• Provide weekly work plan to the training Coordinator/Project Manager
• Provide weekly reports to the training Coordinator/Project Manager with information on training progress

4. Coordination:

• Coordinate with Project Manager and project team on all updates related to the implementation process

5.Target audience and profile:

• The training will be delivered to a mixed group of vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian women beneficiaries, 18 years old and above located in South and Bekaa governorates.
• The training will be provided to 230 individual women farmers and 11 cooperatives
• Beneficiaries’ selection will be carried out by ACTED team

6. Required competencies:

• Degree in related culinary arts and services preferred. Applicants with Chef training will be prioritized.
• At least 5 years of experience in a professional kitchen required.
• Previous experience in a professional kitchen in Lebanon preferred.
• Previous experience in food fermentation/preservation techniques required.
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• Previous experience delivering trainings preferred.
• Excellent Arabic skills, both written and oral required.
• Strong understanding of Levantine cuisine required

7. Documents to be Submitted:

1. A detailed cover letter outlining previous relevant experience, skills and degrees. Please also include an indicative timeline for the training (number of days of training) and which training topics may be included.
2. An up-to-date CV
3. Outline of previous training curriculum if it already exists.