Location : Home-based consultancy with one mission to Georgia, GEORGIA
Deadline : 22-Sep-13
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : International Consultant
Languages Required : English
Expected Duration of Assignment :30 days during October – November 2013, out of which 17 days in Georgia
Description
Background
The agricultural sector plays an important role in social and economic development of Georgia as the agriculture is the dominating source of financial and non-financial incomes for the rural population. An important element in providing support to the farming world is the development of a high quality training and extension system that will provide farmers with the necessary knowledge to increase their productivity and income. In the past, UNDP with the support of SDC has assisted the Government in establishing a coherent re-training system throughout the country coupled with farmer advisory services and business counselling. This support will now be expanded.
The proposed project aims to contribute to the development of a system of high quality vocational training and extension services in agriculture that will result in improved livelihoods of the rural population.
The project will contribute to the development of:
- VET colleges and state Information Consultancy Centres will be assisted in the development and delivery of innovative, relevant and effective training programmes and advisory services;
- Systems to produce qualified human resources (multipliers) that can offer various types of trainings and services to farmers and capacitate them with knowledge and practical skill will be set up in close collaboration with national partners and other SDC projects;
- Facilitation of setting up a public private cooperation and partnership model for coordination and provision of VET and extension services in agriculture.
UNDP seeks to recruit highly qualified expertise in VET to provide support to the UNDP Georgia.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Consultant shall provide support to UNDP Georgia and the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Agriculture in development of new flexible and effective types of vocational education and training and extension services in agriculture.
The main objectives of the assignment are to:
- Build a baseline data on current skills of farmers and to identify needs and gaps in skills;
- Support the design of the new models of training in order to address the identified needs and gaps;
- Inform the content of training programs organized by public and private vocational training providers to farmers;
- Raise the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and coordinators of Extension Centers and Informational-Consultancy Centers to apply skills/training needs assessment methodology.
Duties and Responsibilities
The consultant is expected to perform the following tasks and duties:
Perform Comparative Analysis of Existing in Georgia Models of Public and Private Initiatives in Agricultural Training and Extension and overview the best international practices in the similar socio-economic context. The selected Consultants is expected to:
- Conduct a field research ( individual and group interviews with farmers, their associations, extension service specialists, and others) to map the areas where skills are needed and identify the priorities (demand) in skills depending on the type of farming;
- Develop the methodology to assess the current situation with these skills of farmers and identify the skills’ gaps;
- Conduct a pilot assessment and analyse the data ( methodology should include quantitative (assessment or self-assessment survey) and qualitative (target group interviews and interviews with public and private extension providers) methods;
- Develop a typology of farmers and specification on what support/training is most appropriate for which type;
- Develop a detailed description of methodology and its application, target groups, results, recommendations on the methodologies and approaches to develop particular skills considering the characteristics of the target groups, assessment instruments);
- Develop the set of indicators for tracer study and select typical beneficiaries from the pool of existing ones to follow their developments and progress during next 6 years (project implementation period) to compare them with a control group of non-beneficiaries;
- Design modules in farming to be identified during the course of the assignment that respond to needs of farmers (5 modules);
- Design specific modules that respond to the needs of female farmers.
Deliverables:
The selected Consultant should develop the following deliverables:
- Comparative Analysis of Existing in Georgia Models of Public and Private Initiatives in Agricultural Training and Extension compliant with the requirements described in the point 1 of the section ‘Duties and Responsibilities’;
- Detailed description of minimum 5 modules in farming responding to the identified needs of farmers;
- Detailed description of minimum 3 modules that respond to the identified needs of female farmers.
Arrangements:
The Consultant will work under the supervision of the UNDP Economic Development Team Leader and Income Generation and Employment through Skills Development Programme Manager/VET Policy Advisor.
The assignment should be concluded within30 days during the period of October-November 2013. The selected Consultant is expected to spend 17 days in Georgia (one mission), while the rest of the working days should be spent home.
Payment schedule:
The payment (lump sum) will be disbursed in 2 installments:
- 1st installment - full DSAs and travel costs upon arrival to Georgia;
- 2nd installment - daily fee remuneration upon submission of all deliverables.
Electronic copies of deliverables shall be submitted to UNDP Georgia till the end of November 2013.
The payments of installments are subject to satisfactory performance of the Consultant.
Evaluation:
Candidates will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70% and for financial criteria – to 30%. Only the candidates who will obtain 70% out of maximum obtainable scores of the technical criteria will be considered as qualified. Qualified candidates will be requested to submit financial proposals.
Competencies
Core competencies:
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
Functional competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning:
- Shares knowledge and experience;
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.
Development and Operational Effectiveness:
- Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results Management, including support to design, planning and implementation of program, managing data, reporting;
- Strong communication skills;
- IT competencies in Word, Excel, Power Point and internet.
Leadership and Self-Management:
- Focuses on result for the client and responses positively to feedback.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Advanced university degree in agriculture, public policy, education management, policy analysis, public administration or related fields (minimum qualification requirement - 20 points);
Experience:
- At least 7 years of working experience in education and training sector, preferably in agriculture (minimum qualification requirement - 30 points);
- At least 5 years of experience in consultancy to the public and/or private sector in the areas of education, preferably with focus on vocational education (minimum qualification requirement - 20 points);
- Good understanding of the agricultural sector and VET issues relevant for the sector;
- Hands on experience in comparative analyses preferably in agriculture VET and/or extension system;
- Knowledge of the country specific social-economic context, farm sector as well as prior experience in providing technical assistance within a comparable transition context would be a strong asset.
Languages:
- Fluency in English.
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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