Farmer Field School (FFS) Facilitators

Training opportunity for 22 Farmer Field School Facilitators

Position Title: Farmer Field School (FFS) Facilitators

Opening Date: March 31^st 2015

Closing Date: April 13^th 2015

Background

The Wood Foundation (TWF), in partnership with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, launched the Imbarutso Programme in March 2011. This 6 year program is introducing a portfolio of interventions to increase management and agronomic skills at the farm level, support government in creating a proper regulatory environment, and assist processors in creating farmer services that boost factory profitability and farmer incomes.

The Training Opportunity

The Wood Foundation in partnership with NAEB seek to identify and fund 22 Rwandan candidates under the Imbarutso programme to undergo a rigorous Farmer Field School training programme that will cover:

• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for tea husbandry and other topics such as climate change, soil conservation, animal husbandry, nutritional, health issues, etc.
• Steps in conducting FFS in a Rwandan  tea husbandry
• Characteristics of the farmer field school approach and methodology
• Key concepts and techniques used in FFS
• Case studies on successful FFs in the region.

The training will take place in Kenya and Rwanda. Initially, successful candidates will be required to travel to Kenya on in May for a training that will last between 2 – 3 weeks. Following the training in Kenya, trainees will be attached to ongoing FFS schemes at Mulindi and Shagasha tea factories in Rwanda for a period of 12 months to undergo hands on training until they complete one tea-based FFS cycle. Upon successful completion of the one-year FFS programme, trainees will graduate and be awarded with a certificate of “Farmer Field School Facilitator” specialised in the smallholder tea value chain.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidates we seek for this opportunity will have:

• Successfully completed an undergraduate degree (Bachelors) in Agriculture and related fields such as Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, Rural Development and Environmental Studies
• Written and spoken proficiency in English and Kinyarwanda with knowledge of Kiswahili being a definite advantage
• Demonstrated interestin improving smallholder farmer incomes, rural economic development
• Previous experience in the tea value chain or agricultural extension services with a focus on smallholder farmers and perennial crops

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Interested applicants must submit electronically 3 references, CVs with a covering letter on one side of A4 stating their interest in the opportunity anddetailing their suitability as a candidate. Only electronic applications with the subject line ‘FFS Training Opportunity’ submitted by email to Joselyne.Kabatesi@thewoodfoundation.org.uk will be accepted. Deadline for submissions is 10AM (Rwanda time) on 13^th, April 2015. Submissions must be in English and typed (no smaller than 11 point font) on a standard A4 format.