Farmer Field School Manual – focused on IPM and Water Conservation Practices to Grow Vegetables

Reference No. LVH/19/012-FFS Manual

Purpose of Consultancy:

Concern intends to hire a consultant to design and write informal learning manuals for the Farmer Field Schools of Lebanon. The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach evolved from the concept that optimal learning is derived from experience and in the case of farmers, from observations in the field. The FFS integrates the domains of ecology and non-formal education to give farmers the opportunity to learn about their crop, to share experiences and to learn from each other. FFS has been implemented in many low-mid income countries successfully given adequate support and opportunities for capacity building. Under the funding of The Government of Germany and with collaboration of Ministry of Agriculture and LARI, in 2017 – 2018, Concern established farmer field schools targeting 143 farmers focused on different topics relevant to the respective community. At the end of the projects Concern organized a project closing ceremony to consolidate learning and evaluate the potential to replicate similar projects in the future. Key take aways from the workshop were;

• Lack of FFS manual for Facilitators and guidelines in Arabic had delayed knowledge and skill transfer.
• The FFS manual available in Arabic is outdated and has not been revised since 2005. Moreover it focuses more  on IPM of tomato crop but lacks significant guidance on community engagement and setting up demonstration plots for learning.
• Special topics like record keeping, financial management, profit/loss analysis, marketing plans and quality control in post harvest phase were the most popular topics.
• Agro eco-system Analysis and similar observation techniques by using pheromone trappers, sticky notes and extension visits to the members of FFS were second most popular sessions.

Essential Qualifications:

Mandatory selection criteria for this consultancy is;

• Consultant must have proven experience 5 years in writing, designing, implementing FFS methodology with excellent manual writing skills will be considered for this assignment.
• Consultant must have a degree and minimum 10 years of experience in Agriculture sector.
• Applicant must have written minimum of two complete manuals before this assignment.

Key Outputs:

Within 40 days of signing the contract, after final reviews and approvals, Consultant must deliver;

1. Farmer Field School (FFS) Manual and user toolkit for Lebanon in a printable version with original file.  Final manual is aesthetically designed with appropriate branding.
2. Relevant topics from an existing Farmer Business School Manual of FAO have been reviewed to implement in Farmer Field School of Lebanon. Reviewed manual.