Download The objective of this volunteer assignment is to introduce and train

Farmer to Farmer East Africa
Volunteer Assignment Scope of Work
NOTE: THIS SCOPE OF WORK IS AWAITING FINAL EDITS
Assignment Code
Country
Country Project
Host Organization
Type of Volunteer
Assistance:
Type of Value Chain
Activity:
Assignment Title
Assignment preferred dates
Assignment objective
Desired volunteer skills/
expertise
Summary Information
UG 107
Uganda
Maize country project
Namungalwe Area Cooperative Enterprise (NACE)
Technology Transfer (T)
On Farm Production (F)
Introducing climate SMART Agricultural practices
May – June 2017
Training on practical climate SMART agricultural practices that
will help address (mitigate and adapt) the effects of climate change
in order to increase resilience of farmers to climate shocks
 Extensive experience in agriculture development and
knowledge on diversified techniques/adaptation measures
to managing effects of climate change
 Experience working with small holder subsistence farmers
in developing countries.
 Good interpersonal communication and presentation skills
(adult education skills)
A. BACKGROUND
Namungalwe Area Cooperative Enterprise is a second tier marketing cooperative, located in
Eastern Uganda, Iganga district Namungalwe Sub County in Namungalwe parish, its membership
is composed of 7 Rural Producer Organizations (RPOs) with a total membership of 630 members
of which 52% are women and 48% men. It was started 2011 and registered in 2012 under the Cooperative Institutions Statute, 1991 and Co-operative Regulations, 1992.
Namungalwe is a farmer owned and democratically controlled enterprise governed by a 7-member
committee which is elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) every year. The committee is
the supreme policy making body of Namungalwe Area Cooperative Enterprise. The Vision of
Namungalwe is “A Competent Secondary Co-operative marketing members’ produce profitably”
and the Mission: “To provide Agricultural support services through Training, Bulking of Inputs
and Produce, Value Addition and Market Linkages”.
The cooperative aims at the following objectives: 1.
2.
3.
4.
To strengthen the ACE, serve its members effectively and efficiently
To gather, process and disseminate market information to its members
To add value to agricultural produce of members and market collectively
To increase the quantity and improve the quality of members’ produce by utilization of
better agronomy farming practices especially in maize and groundnuts
5. To procure agricultural inputs and services collectively in a bid to minimize faking,
adulteration and counterfeiting.
6. To promote Gender sensitivity among members for harmonization and enhancement of
farmer family incomes in the members.
Since its formation, Namungalwe has been able to mobilize members to join RPOs and
membership has risen from 200 individual members to 630 within 2 years, it intends to have 1500
members in the next three years. In a bid to increase its membership, NACE still faces financial
and technical constraints in order to realize its objectives. One of which is dealing with the effects
of climate change and its impact on farm productivity which in turn affects quantities of produce
bulked and marketed by the cooperative, and increasing food insecure households.
This technical volunteer assistance will help to introduce and train the membership of NACE in
climate adaptation measures for improved agricultural production.
B. ISSUE DESCRIPTION
Uganda is highly vulnerable to climate change and variability - its economy and the wellbeing of
her people are tightly bound to climate. Human induced climate change in the coming century has
the potential to halt or reverse the country's development trajectory. In particular, climate change
is likely to mean increased food insecurity; shifts in the spread of diseases like malaria; soil erosion
and land degradation; prolonged droughts, flood damage to infrastructure and settlements and
shifts in the productivity of agricultural and natural resources. It will be the poor and vulnerable
populations who feel these impacts the hardest. Exacerbating poverty triggering migration as well
as heightened competition over strategic water resources, climate change could lead to regional
insecurity1. These effects are no longer in the future, the country is already experiencing the
negative impacts of climate change, with the agriculture sector being the back bone of country
(80% contribution from subsistence small holder farmers) being worst hit. It’s important to note
that man has been the biggest contributor -to climate change with immediate impacts being felt in
the agricultural sector. Some of these human activities include: the industrial sector, burning fossil
fuels contributing to GHGs without building carbon sinks, deforestation mostly for charcoal
burning, over cultivation, bush clearing through burning which has adversely affected soil
biodiversity. All these activities contribute to soil degradation, increase in greenhouse gas
emissions- rise in temperature, frequent droughts and flooding, unpredictable rainfall patterns and
a reduction in the amounts and uneven distribution of rainfall. These climate changes cause
considerable damage to crop production and the agricultural sector in general.
The frequency and magnitude of the environmental shocks increase the risks for smallholder
farmers, affecting already-fragile ecosystems and the livelihoods of most rural households in the
developing world2. Namungalwe ACE members (small holder farmers) have had the taste of
climate change impacts – affecting crop productivity especially through degraded soil fertility,
prolonged droughts, unpredictable rains, emergence of notorious weeds such as striga, which is
adversely affecting maize yields, among others. Farmers have however contributed largely to
these climate change effects through; tree cutting with no strategies for re-planting, inefficient
charcoal burning as a growing economic activity and increasing carbon dioxide emissions, over
cultivation of the soils leading to soil erosion and surface run off, clearing of fields after harvest
and burning the crop residues which leaves the soils bare and more susceptible to surface water
evaporation. Due to these existing challenges, the management of NACE approached CRS
requesting for technical assistance on how to help its members to deal with the effects of climate
change through introduction of sustainable, easy to adopt climate SMART agriculture practices in
order to increase farm productivity, and ultimately improve household incomes.
C. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The objective of this volunteer assignment is to introduce and train the staff and membership of
Namungalwe ACE in climate SMART agriculture practices as one of the climate
adaptation/mitigation measures for improved farm productivity and increase resilience to climate
shocks.
Specific training topics will include but not limited to;
 How human activities contribute to climate change- “effects of our own carbon foot prints”
1
2
Department for International Development, 2008-Climate Change in Uganda
SPRING 2016, Report Climate SMART Agriculture is Nutrition SMART


Soil fertility management – introducing components of composting, mulching, crop
rotation, inter -cropping to achieve maximum benefits such as weed suppression,
rejuvenating soil fertility, introducing/re-emphasising the use of cover crops for certain
benefits such as soil nutrient fixation, weed suppression, minimising surface water
evaporation, minimum tillage, on farm crop residue management and recycling of nutrients
Water conservation measures- such as simple techniques of rain water harvesting for
irrigation during periods of water scarcity, on farm soil water conservation techniques
Using the identified constraints as initial clues, during the first 1-2 days of her/his assignment, the
volunteer will further assess existing challenges and make changes on relevant topics for training.
S/he will also refine the prepared materials for a successful delivery of information and skills. The
host participants are semi-illiterate and majority are illiterate- the volunteer should prepare less of
written materials and concentrate more on field practical demonstrations, and pictorials.
Host contribution–Namungalwe ACE has committed to mobilize its staff and members to the
trainings to be conducted by the volunteer. Participants selected will be those with the capacity to
share information with the rest of the members not reached through the volunteer training. The
host will also arrange for training venues with close by fields for practical demonstrations.
Translation services will be provided by the host.
ANTICIPATED RESULTS FROM THE ASSIGNMENT
Through this volunteer technical assistance- it’s anticipated that the staff and members will have
a better understanding of climate change and effects of our carbon foot prints. The participants
will also be able to replicate some or all the climate SMART practices introduced during the
training- for their own improved on farm productivity and more food secure households. On farm
management practices and implementation of volunteer recommendations will translate into
increased crop yields, increase in the quantity and quality of grain bulked and marketed by the
ACE and more money in the farmers’ pockets.
The anticipated deliverables include:





Trainings conducted and people trained
Training guidelines/manual developed
Debriefing with USAID and in country group presentations after assignment
Field trip report and expense report
Outreach activity, press release or a media event back in US
D. SCHEDULE OF VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES IN UGANDA
Day
Activity
Day 1:
Travel from home to US international airport
Arrival at Uganda Entebbe Airport, picked by hotel shuttle to Kampala and
Day 2
check in at Fairway Hotel www.fairwayhotel.co.ug
At 9.00 am the volunteer is greeted at the hotel by CRS staff and thereafter
taken to CRS office for briefing and finalise with logistics. Any necessary
Day 3
training material will be prepared/printed at CRS offices before travel to the
field.
Travel to Namungalwe, Iganga District to commence the assignment.
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Days 7-8
Days 9 - 10
Days 11 - 12
Day 13 - 14
Day 15 -16
Days 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20
TBD
In the morning CRS introduces the volunteer to the Namungalwe cooperative
management team and board members.
Together with CRS and the management, the volunteer will review the SOW
and develop the action plan.
In the afternoon, Visit some farmer fields for assessment and familiarisation
with current practices
Visit more farmer fields and discuss with the major challenges related with
production
Training to selected Trainer of Trainers (Leader Farmers) who will follow
through with further trainings with support of NACE management after the
volunteer assignment
Training RPO1
RPO 2 training
RPO3 training
RPO 4 training
Wrap up meetings, whilst emphasizing key concepts of the assignment.
Participants evaluate the training and together with the volunteer discuss final
report recommendations.
End of assignment presentation.
Travel back to Kampala
Debriefing at CRS office with USAID Mission and CRS staff.
Volunteer finalizes his/her reporting at CRS office and fill out all necessary
M&E forms as well as finalise liquidations with finance.
Depart for the US
Outreach event in the US
E.
ACCOMODATION AND OTHER IN-COUNTRY LOGISTICS
In Kampala, the volunteer will stay at Fairway Hotel & Spa (www.fairwayhotel.co.ug). While in
Iganga, the volunteer will stay at Mum Resort- with the basic amenities such as water and
electricity. CRS will pay for hotel accommodation, and provide volunteer with per diems to cater
for meals and other incidentals. The volunteer may get an advance which has to be cleared before
departing Uganda. For more information, please refer to country information that will be provided.
F.
RECOMMENDED ASSIGNMENT PREPARATIONS

CRS-F2F designs assignments with the assumption of some pre-departure preparation by the
volunteer. Actual preparation time will vary based on the experience of the volunteer, as well
as informational or training resources the volunteer has readily available. CRS relies on the
volunteer to assess the tasks outlined in this SOW and to make his or her own judgment about
how much and what kind of preparation is needed prior to arriving in Uganda
 The volunteer should prepare materials for hand out which can be printed at CRS office in
Kampala before commencement of the assignment. Flip charts, markers, masking tapes can be
obtained at CRS offices.
 CRS strongly recommends that the volunteer become familiar with CRS programs in Uganda,
especially the maize country project description and other information in the briefing pack
before arrival to Uganda
G. KEY CONTACTS
CRS Baltimore
Maria Figueroa
Recruitment Manager
EA Farmer to Farmer Program
228 W. Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-951-7366
Email: [email protected]
CRS Uganda
CRS EA Regional Office
Nyambura Theuri
Deputy Project Director
EA Farmer to Farmer Program
P.O. Box 49675 – 00100
Nairobi, Kenya
St. Augustine Court Karuna Close Road
Email: [email protected]
George Ntibarikure
Project Director
Farmer to Farmer Program
Uganda
Office Tel: +256 031 226 5658
Mobile cell phone +256 772 472 103
Email: [email protected]
Kathryn Clark
Head of Programs
CRS Uganda
Office Tel: +256 031 226 5658
Mobile cell phone +256 772 767 764
Email: [email protected]