Consultant for standardization and quality control, to support 10 women-led MSMEs in Southern Baalbek and Hasbaya

About the Program:  
  
LLWB, in partnership with GIZ, is conducting a program entitled “EBDA3” “Energy Efficiency for businesswomen and digitalization awareness”, aiming to provide comprehensive support in specific energy and business developments topics to 25 women-led MSMEs in two regions: Southern Baalbek and Hasbaya, Lebanon.  

This program catalyzes the efforts of LLWB and its strong commitment to implementing the SDGs. First this program aims to ensure access to reliable, affordable and clean energy solutions for MSMEs that are localized in 2 regions of Lebanon, as it has a specific goal which is the energy sufficiency for women led businesses and entrepreneurs. In 2024, LLWB performed in a first phase a needs assessment of the energy needs and capacities of each of the MSMEs of these regions.  Based on it, training on energy efficiency and business development tailored to the needs to each MSMEs were conducted.   This program has second clear goal of promoting sustainable business solutions for MSMEs in time of crises, for them to be able to scale up their work, stay productive and resilient and sustain their communities within their regions that are unstable and unsafe due to the political instability.  Gender equality is mainstreamed in this project as it empowers women in their communities and make them more self-sufficient and push them to be breadwinners.  

 from the 25 MSMEs in the agrifood sector in the 2 regions, LLWB, and based on a clear results of the pitching and external experts reports, selected 10 MSMEs to continue the journey and advance their businesses by conducting additional trainings to the 10 Selected MSMEs in food safety and quality control, and  Digital marketing  and social media to expose their product and ensure visibility.  Therefore, LLWB is looking for an INDIVIDUAL Consultant, with the below related criteria.

Scope of Training  
  
LLWB is calling for: One individual Consultant to conduct in presence group trainings in Bekaa area, for 10 women-led MSMEs from Hasbaya and Southern Baalbeck.

The consultant will have to conduct one full day training (of 6 hours), to equip these women with the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure the quality and safety of their products and to meet industry standards.

The trainings should cover:

•  Overview of food safety regulations and standards
• Identifying and Managing Food Safety Hazards
• Implementing control measures to mitigate risks
• Food classifications
• Food poisoning
• Working in a food preparation facility: Personnel specifications, personal hygiene and health status
• Cleaning and sterilization in the kitchen
• Proper storage practices to prevent contamination

After the training, the consultant will have to perform 10 coaching sessions for each entity on the knowledge gained during the training.  The consultant will have to deliver to LLWB the outline of each tailored coaching session for each entity as well as pictures and report of the coaching.

After the coaching days, the consultant will have to conduct one to one field visits to the 10 entities in Hasbaya and Southern Baalback, to monitor and evaluate the food safety standards and perform a quality control in their companies.

Moreover, during the visit the consultant will collect samples of each of the 10 entities, deliver them to a  certified laboratory selected and paid by LLWB, to be examined , and get the certification from the laboratory. Noting that the consultant as a consultant and monitoring and evaluator will not issue any certification.

About the Program:  
  
LLWB, in partnership with GIZ, is conducting a program entitled “EBDA3” “Energy Efficiency for businesswomen and digitalization awareness”, aiming to provide comprehensive support in specific energy and business developments topics to 25 women-led MSMEs in two regions: Southern Baalbek and Hasbaya, Lebanon.  

This program catalyzes the efforts of LLWB and its strong commitment to implementing the SDGs. First this program aims to ensure access to reliable, affordable and clean energy solutions for MSMEs that are localized in 2 regions of Lebanon, as it has a specific goal which is the energy sufficiency for women led businesses and entrepreneurs. In 2024, LLWB performed in a first phase a needs assessment of the energy needs and capacities of each of the MSMEs of these regions.  Based on it, training on energy efficiency and business development tailored to the needs to each MSMEs were conducted.   This program has second clear goal of promoting sustainable business solutions for MSMEs in time of crises, for them to be able to scale up their work, stay productive and resilient and sustain their communities within their regions that are unstable and unsafe due to the political instability.  Gender equality is mainstreamed in this project as it empowers women in their communities and make them more self-sufficient and push them to be breadwinners.  

 from the 25 MSMEs in the agrifood sector in the 2 regions, LLWB, and based on a clear results of the pitching and external experts reports, selected 10 MSMEs to continue the journey and advance their businesses by conducting additional trainings to the 10 Selected MSMEs in food safety and quality control, and  Digital marketing  and social media to expose their product and ensure visibility.  Therefore, LLWB is looking for an INDIVIDUAL Consultant, with the below related criteria.

Scope of Training  
  
LLWB is calling for: One individual Consultant to conduct in presence group trainings in Bekaa area, for 10 women-led MSMEs from Hasbaya and Southern Baalbeck.

The consultant will have to conduct one full day training (of 6 hours), to equip these women with the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure the quality and safety of their products and to meet industry standards.

The trainings should cover:

•  Overview of food safety regulations and standards
• Identifying and Managing Food Safety Hazards
• Implementing control measures to mitigate risks
• Food classifications
• Food poisoning
• Working in a food preparation facility: Personnel specifications, personal hygiene and health status
• Cleaning and sterilization in the kitchen
• Proper storage practices to prevent contamination

After the training, the consultant will have to perform 10 coaching sessions for each entity on the knowledge gained during the training.  The consultant will have to deliver to LLWB the outline of each tailored coaching session for each entity as well as pictures and report of the coaching.

After the coaching days, the consultant will have to conduct one to one field visits to the 10 entities in Hasbaya and Southern Baalback, to monitor and evaluate the food safety standards and perform a quality control in their companies.

Moreover, during the visit the consultant will collect samples of each of the 10 entities, deliver them to a  certified laboratory selected and paid by LLWB, to be examined , and get the certification from the laboratory. Noting that the consultant as a consultant and monitoring and evaluator will not issue any certification.

 

 Timeline:  
The assignment is expected to take place during the month of June 2025 (in person)

 Qualifications:  
  
The ideal individual consultant on food safety should possess:  

• At least five years of work experience in conducting Food safety and quality control training.  

• Excellent public speaking abilities in Arabic and English.

•  Strong experience in working on monitoring evaluating and coaching MSMEs in peripheral regions of Lebanon.  
• Strong skills on developing training materials, coaching materials.

Deliverables:  

• Conducting one group training session in person.
• Conduct one on one coaching session with the 10 entities
• Conducting One-on-One visits
• Developing mechanisms /tools to be used during the training day, and tailored coaching sessions, and monitoring and evaluation tool of the one to one visits. The content of each deliverable should be prepared in English, and Arabic with pre-posttests for the training, pictures and report on each deliverable describing activity, challenges, recommendations and way forward.
• Submitting Comprehensive report: Submit final report at the end of the project highlighting achievements, progress, lesson learned, recommendations, and success stories