Trainers in Dairy Management and Development
Program: Market-Oriented Dairy Project
Location of Assignment: Sri Lanka
Proposed Level of Effort: Up to 40 days
Anticipated Start Date: October 1, 2020
Anticipated End Date: March 30, 2021
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this assignment is to utilize MOD training materials to conduct training sessions for farmer groups, stakeholder staff, and senior managers in the dairy sector.
BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION:
International Executive Service Corps (IESC) is implementing a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Progress funded project in Sri Lanka. The four and a half-year Market-Oriented Dairy (MOD) Project supports farmers and enterprises to meet the increased demand for dairy and aims to catalyze sustainable growth in Sri Lanka’s dairy sector. The project will increase productivity and expand the trade of milk and milk products in Sri Lanka. In partnership with the private and public sector, the project will increase milk production of participating farmers and farms to 83,400 metric tons by 2022—an average annual growth of 18 percent, for a life of project growth of 127 percent. The project will ensure 80 percent of beneficiary farmers are earning a price premium due to milk quality.
In meeting MOD’s target of increasing milk production to almost 84,000 MT during a short period of just four years, it is imperative that the project considers a portfolio of beneficiaries ranging from 5,400 small farmers to a few large farms. Therefore, MOD is proposing to provide technical assistance and training that targets interested mid- to large-scale investors to ensure a mix in MOD client portfolio. Once operational, MOD will also use these farms as demonstration units to train smaller farmers in those districts as appropriate.
MOD provides trainings for MOD farmers and stakeholders by utilizing internal as well as external technical staff. MOD expects to train close to 2,800 individuals in year 4 of the project. To achieve this, MOD plans to have external trainers complete as many trainings as possible during the first six months of the project year (October-March), leaving room for internal staff to concentrate on mentoring and monitoring MOD stakeholders, helping them achieve increases in production. These additional trainings carried out by external trainers will complement MOD’s efforts in increasing milk production. Several banks have also requested that MOD conduct training for their field staff in order to better support farmers interested in applying for loans or other financial products.
APPROACH:
MOD will hire short-term trainers to conduct training as required. These trainings will be delivered to farmers, senior technical managers of partner dairy processing companies, Provincial Departments of Animal Production and Health staff, and bank officials.
The Trainers will first meet with MOD senior management to understand the project and MOD’s approach to increasing milk production. They will participate in several of the project’s on-going training programs to clearly understand MOD’s training content and approach.
MOD’s Productivity Director, with the assistance of MOD Training Specialist and others, will work with the Trainers in orienting them to MOD.
MOD will request Trainers to conduct training on an as needed basis during their contractual period. These trainings will be conducted in English, Sinhala, or Tamil based on the target audience. Therefore, MOD will contract two to three trainers, each with capabilities in one or more of these local languages.
TASKS:
DELIVERABLES:
ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS:
The MOD project will provide transport and hotel accommodation if overnighting outside of the Trainer’s place of residence.
LEVEL OF EFFORT:
The assignment will commence on/about early October 2020 and will continue through March 30, 2021.
The level of effort for the assignment will be up to a maximum of 40 days for each consultant between October 2020 and March 2021. The trainer will be requested to conduct training on an as needed basis.
REPORTING OTHER CONDITIONS:
The Technical Trainers will report to Project Director of the MOD Project and will work closely with MOD’s Training Specialist and Productivity Director. He/She must have his/her own computer and all reports are to be submitted using Microsoft Office format.
PAYMENT AND RESOURCES:
Payment terms will be laid out in consultant’s contract upon hire. Each consultant will be paid a daily rate for up to a maximum of 40 workdays. MOD will book and pay for accommodation for the consultant when outside the home residence. MOD will pay per diem based on the project’s policy for consultants.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Interested candidates must meet the following qualifications: