life skills for committee consultant

The main objective of this consultancy is to build the capacity of farmers participating in the project in collective input purchasing, marketing, and group management. The trainer will develop and deliver practical training modules focused on enabling these groups to function more effectively and sustainably.

• Curriculum Development for Strengthening Farmer Committees in Market Access, Cooperative Governance, and Economic Resilience
• Delivering comprehensive training sessions for the elected committee of farmers and/or on essential committee operations, including governance, procurement, negotiation, conflict resolution, and lobbying.
• Support the FSLA team and FSLA Coordinator in developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for establishing and managing farmers’ committees.    

Description of task:

Provision for training:

• The consultant will be responsible for developing a tailored curriculum focused on strengthening purchasing and selling committees, including guidance for farmers on enhancing their capacity to improve market access, collective negotiation, and economic resilience. A full curriculum for the group sessions will be developed in coordination with SI staff.
• The training program should be designed to strengthen the capacity of the most vulnerable farmer groups by focusing on cooperative governance, operational planning, agricultural services, market access, social responsibility, and effective communication. It will be required that part of the sessions is interactive and include role plays for easier learning purposes; however, other sessions could be suggested based on the needs of the committees.

1. Group Organization and Governance:

• Benefits of collective action
• Selecting the right business structure for farmer-led groups
• Governance and conflict resolution
• Leadership and management skills

2. Committee Planning and Operations Planning and organizing cooperative activities

• Budget planning and financial management
• Resource sharing and internal coordination

3. Agricultural Services and Logistics

• Supply services and transport management
• Crop collection, handling, and storage

4. Marketing and Market Access

• Marketing concepts and tools
• Conducting market surveys
• Building horizontal and vertical market relationships

5. Social Responsibility and Labor Practices

• Elimination of hazardous child labor
• Promoting good livelihoods and ethical practices

6. Communication and Negotiation Skills

• Developing effective communication
• Negotiation techniques for internal and external stakeholders

Responsibilities:

• Discuss possible processes, Guidance, SOP, tools, and materials with SI field teams and get field insights and inputs.
• Consider curriculum development, the factor of age and education as some participants might be illiterate.
• Propose a draft of curriculum to SI Technical staff (contents, delivery and timeframe) before proceeding with the final product.
• Test the new curriculum (tools and materials) with SI field staff.
• Prepare the final curriculum, SOP, guidelines based on feedback and field-testing results.
• Evaluate the potential for committee establishment, establish two committees and train them on previously discussed topics.
• Train key field staff on establishing committees, provision of the training and adopting the best communication strategy with beneficiaries, particularly during the training and during the committee meetings.

Implementation:

 The training consultant must undertake (but are not limited to) the following activities:

Phase one:

1. Arrange a meeting with SI staff to obtain an overview of the project, ongoing activities, profile of the farmers, sessions conducted related to the project, and staff feedback.
2. Organize a field visit with SI staff to engage farmers to better understand the community and identify potential leaders.
3. Based on the staff input, field visits and analysis of the previously collected assessment assist in drafting an SOP or guideline on committee establishment as follows:

• Define the committee's purpose
• Reincluding its objectives and authority.
• Establish criteria for selecting members, appointing leadership, and determining their roles and responsibilities.
• Set guidelines for meeting frequency, decision-making, reporting, and communication channels. Document committee activities, decisions, and recommendations, and establish procedures for record-keeping and review.

4. After the development of the SOP, prepare a comprehensive work plan outlining the tasks and timelines.

Phase two (in case of committee establishment)

5. Conduct two meetings for each group with the aim of ( (a) reaching an agreement with the farmers on the committee's Terms of Reference (TOR), (b) identifying required skills, and (c) agreeing on a training schedule.

Phase three

6. Develop curriculum and PowerPoint training sessions based on the needs of the cooperatives and/or committee members, TOR and agreed action plan.
7. Agree with SI staff on the topics, delivery, curriculum, etc.
8. Deliver a TOT for SI staff on the topics
9. Deliver in collaboration with SI team training for the beneficiaries

Phase four

10. Facilitate the promotion of linkages between committees/ groups, suppliers, and traders by identifying potential suppliers, traders, and markets for their products. Organize meetings and discussions with these markets to negotiate agreements for the sale of their agricultural output.

Phase five

11. Finalize all documents and materials, submit the final report and recommendation.