Consultancy for Cashew Technical Training and Demonstration Set Up

5 days ago
Full time role
In-person · Krong Stung Treng, Steung Treng Province, KH... more
  1. Master Farmers Recruitment
    1. Develop Recruitment Criteria: Establish clear selection criteria for Master Farmers. Candidates must demonstrate a strong willingness to learn, a commitment to sharing knowledge with others, availability to participate fully, and the capacity to contribute either financially or in-kind towards setting up demonstration farms.
    2. Conduct Recruitment Process: Identify and recruit Master Farmers from each village within the Virachey National Park area, ensuring they meet the established criteria.
  2. Design Demonstration Farms:
    1. Design Demonstration Farms: Collaborate with recruited Master Farmers to establish demonstration farms that will showcase best practices for cashew maintenance, such as soil fertilization, pruning, and pest control.
    2. Ensure Village Engagement: Actively involve local farmers in the learning process by encouraging them to observe and participate in the activities on the demonstration farms.
  3. Training Materials Development
    1. Develop Cashew Maintenance Curriculum: Create a curriculum following the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach. The curriculum will cover essential topics, including:
      1. Soil fertilization: through non-chemical such as organic fertilisers, fast composted, mulching and intercropping with nitrogen-fixing cover crops including chemical fertilizer to fulfil crop nutrient demand and lack of composted manure supply amounts
      2. Weed control
      3. Pruning techniques
      4. Pest management (foliar spraying, fungicide, and insecticide use) during flowering and fruiting stages including IPM options such as weaver ant, smoking burning leave to avoid insect, and another alternative.
      5. Climate-resilient farming practices
    2. Tailor Materials for ToT: Adapt the training materials for use in ToT sessions, ensuring they are relevant and accessible to Master Farmers, district agriculture officers, and provincial agriculture officers
  4. Conduct Training of Trainers (ToT)
    1. Deliver ToT Sessions: Conduct ToT sessions for Master Farmers, district agriculture officers, and provincial agriculture officers. The sessions will include both practical, hands-on training at the demonstration farms and classroom-based learning.
    2. Focus on Capacity Building: Equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to train other farmers in cashew maintenance techniques, ensuring the sustainability of the training program.
  5. Farmer Field School and Field Follow-Up and Monitoring
    1. Conduct on-farm training sessions: covering the outlined topics with active participation from farmers.
    2. Field Monitoring and Support: Regularly visit the demonstration farms and other farms where techniques have been implemented to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the training methods.
    3. Provide Ongoing Support: Offer continuous technical assistance to Master Farmers and agricultural officers, helping them overcome any challenges they may face during the adoption of new practices.
    4. Document Progress: Track and document the progress, lessons learned, and overall impact of the training on improving cashew productivity and strengthening the resilience of farmers.