Economic Growth Expert

1. Objective

The global objective of the project is to provide a long-term response to the crisis for food producers in the Bekaa region in order to maintain their production while enhancing the resilience of vulnerable communities, stimulate the local economic growth and promote Bekaa’s culinary heritage.

By increasing numbers of visitors in the region, this project will support Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and contribute to the long-term sustainability of local agriculture and food systems, while promoting social and economic inclusion of vulnerable population in particular youth, women and refugees

2. Scope of work

   In order to help the 10 selected MSMEs in developing their idea of a plug-in touristic income generating activity, a Design Sprint (DS) is suggested to take place over 5 consecutive days allowing the group (up to 20 to 30 persons) to Understand, Define, Sketch, Decide, Prototype, and Validate their new product, service or feature to the market.

The DS is a guaranteed tool to fixate on a viable offering in the market and is the basis of turning this viability into a lucrative stream to improve the socio-economic situation of the MSME. Once the outcome of the DS is validated, it shall be ready to move towards a more technical aspect of intervention on a case-by-case basis

In order to guarantee the promotion of the cluster activities of agro-tourism, the project will support Zahle tourism office and its officers to use the prepared material resulted from the project and disseminate the food experiences of the cluster on social media platforms. Accordingly, while Zahle tourism officers have tourism skills, the consultant will improve their skills in marketing and management to be able to promote properly the new experiences and support the cluster through the realization of two training sessions. The sessions will also teach trainees on how to engage local communities in the process and how to develop needed tools that enable them to do so.

The consultant will dedicate 21 days of a period of 12 months to develop and implement the intervention with beneficiaries of the project

3. Outcomes

The following outcomes are what the activity aims to achieve:

• Beneficiaries having improved skills enabling them to work in the diversification activities of the 10 selected MSME
• Women business owners are confident in their capacities to participate in agro-food tourism
• 10 MSMEs are able to develop plug-in touristic income generating activities
• Members of a local agro-tourism office are trained to market 10 MSMEs experiences in Zahle region

4. Deliverables

• To prepare the workshop material for the sessions
• To prepare the pre-post test and evaluation for each of the sessions
• To facilitate workshops with the participants
• A report on the actual validated idea of a diversified income generating activity for each MSME
• Upscaling business plan draft to sustain tourism activity beyond the funding period
• Report on food tourism marketing strategy and action plan for Zahle region, including Objectives & Key Results, Key performance indicators, and efficient workflow for booking
• Capacity building report

5. Qualifications

• Higher university degree in business, economics, finance
• Minimum 5 years’ experience as a consultant
• Strong experience in working with small businesses, mainly in agro-food and tourism
• Able to synthesize large data sets to reach conclusions and strategic recommendations
• Proven knowledge of Fair-Trade principles
• In depth knowledge of the Lebanese context
• Proven presentation skills
• Drives results

6. Skills

• Adheres to FTL values
• Good interpersonal communication skills
• Engaged in developing self and others
• High degree of self-motivation
• Excellent leadership, team building, and management skills
• Good time management
• Organized and able to create multiple timelines and schedules
• Good knowledge of Arabic and English