Consultant-Trainer at SPARD Africa Consulting

Details:

TERMS OF REFERENCE: TRANING OF TRANINERS ON DAIRY FEEDS AND FEEDING

Introduction to FCMSD

SPARD Africa is scaling up its fodder enterprise through an out grower model in Makueni and Taita Taveta counties with support from KCDMSD project. The scale up phase is two pronged as it is working on both the supply and demand side. On the supply side, our intervention will involve integrating the small-scale farmers in production while addressing the bottlenecks that limit them from commercializing production. On the demand side, our interventions will be to develop our market among the upcoming smallholder dairy farmers in the upper areas of these counties. This assignment is focusing on our intervention on the demand side as one major step in opening new market for our products.

There has been interventions to promote dairy farming in Makueni and Taita Taveta by the government and donors in the last 10 years. This has stimulated an increasing number of small scale farmers who are interested in commercial dairy farming, mainly to meet the large milk supply gaps in these semi-arid areas. Unlocking of the potential for dairy is however limited by lack of feeds, both quality and quantity along with high seasonal variations in quality and quantity. The land sizes in the dairy production zones are quite low and cannot provide adequate feeds all year round.

A key element in what is missing in the fodder supply chain is the infrastructure to provide advice, guidance and access to quality hay and, indeed, wider dairy husbandry advice. Consequently there is limited farmer awareness on utilization of quality hay to increase livestock production and productivity and inability to gain access to consistent and appropriately priced supplies which has contributed exclusion of many farmers in semi-arid areas from commercial dairy production.

Our strategy to grow and sustain our market is therefore to enhance the adoption and uptake of quality hay as a key input in profitable dairy farming in order streamline demand all year round. As such our interventions under this objectives will be to address the bottlenecks that limit the uptake and adoption of quality (off farm) fodder among the smallholder dairy farmers, and therefore promote dairy productivity. To achieve this, we have designed an extension model that involves engagement of the Community Based Facilitators at both the supply and demand side of the fodder value chain. The demand side of the value chain involves mobilization of dairy farmers who are the potential users of hay into dairy interest groups. Each CBF will be tasked to work with at least 5 dairy interest groups, with each group having a minimum of 20 members. There will be 8 CBF in Makueni and 7 from Taita Taveta counties. The work of the CBF in this end of the value chain will be as follows:

• Train and facilitate formation of saving and credit schemes in all groups and thereafter provide mentorship to the groups to effectively grow their schemes.
• Facilitating various capacity building trainings (fodder production and usage, dairy cow general practices, group dynamics saving and credit) etc. at group level;
• Providing close assistance to groups to establish proper record keeping and updating regularly (meeting minutes, group profile, collection of monthly savings and loans, income and expenditures, production and productivity information, etc.);
• Aggregating demand from groups of dairy farmers and communicating the same to the Extension and Market Development Officers.
• Identifying any bottlenecks that limit the use of quality hay by farmers and communicating the same to the extension officers
• Collecting and compiling monthly and quarterly information from group members as required
• Identify business opportunities for themselves to make their work sustainable
• Develop simplified technical guidelines related to dairy husbandry with emphasise on feeds and feeding that will be used for TOT Training
• Conduct a 4 day training as per the training program and the training modules
• Generate the training report detailing the proceedings of the training, the action plan, recommendations on future training areas that SPARD Africa should focus on to achieve its objectives
• Simplified modules related to dairy husbandry that will be used for TOT Training
• A 4 day training as per the training program and the training modules facilitated
• Training Report detailing the proceedings of the training, the action plan, recommendations on future training areas that SPARD Africa should focus on to achieve its objectives
• Prepare and present the technical guidelines and training plan
• Facilitate action planning

Responsibility of SPARD AFRICA

• Provide the stationary needed for the trainings
• Review training materials, training plans and draft report and thereafter provide comments
• The STTE should have the following expertise and qualifications:
• Experience in working with dairy farmers, producing quantifiable impacts in their dairy enterprises
• Wide knowledge on Dairy husbandry, especially feeds and feeding and new feeding technologies that have potential to increase production and productivity
• A narrative/technical proposal containing methodology to be used, a schedule or work plan for the assignment covering all tasks to be carried out for fulfillment of the Scope of work and a budget indicating fees for the consultancy including cost per major activity. All fee and costs are to be expressed in Kenya Shillings only.
• Capability statement providing at least 3 examples of work done where the STTA has worked with dairy farmers and provided the required results.
• Any other relevant information substantiating the ability of the consultant to carry out this ToR effectively and efficiently,

Expression of Interest – including all information as indicated above should be submitted in (Ms - word version) by email to info@spardafrica.com by Wednesday 24th April 2019