Background

• 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.  

Duties and Responsibilities

• Contribute to the to building a baseline data on current skills of farmers and needed for  identification of the needs and gaps in skills;
• Provide substantial support to the working groups (which will include lead consultants, UNDP project team and staff, as well as relevant Ministries and stakeholders’ representatives) in the design of the new models of training in order to address the identified needs and gaps;
• Provide support in delivery of capacity raising of the Ministry of Agriculture and coordinators of Extension and Informational-Consultancy Centers to apply skills/training needs assessment methodology.  

• Identify the respondents for the interview: individuals and group of farmers, their associations, extension service specialists, ministries of Agriculture and Education, relevant stakeholders, and others;
• Organize meetings to map the areas where skills are needed and identify the priorities (demand) in skills depending on the type of farming;
• Provide database on best practices of the implemented and on-going projects in Agricultural Training and Extension;
• Provision of inputs for the overview of the models of the international best practices in Agricultural Training and Extension;
• Provision of inputs for the development of the methodology, prepare the questionnaires for quantitative (assessment or self-assessment survey) and qualitative (target group interviews and interviews with public and private extension providers;
• Provision of inputs for the development of a typology of farmers and specification on what support/training is most appropriate for which type;
• Provision of inputs for the development of 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.

• Inputs provided for the development of 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’.
• Inputs provided for the development the detailed description of minimum 5 modules in farming responding to the identified needs of farmers;
• Inputs provided for the development the detailed description of minimum 3 modules that respond to the identified needs of female farmers. 

Competencies

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty. 

• Shares knowledge and experience;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

• 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.

• Focuses on result for the client and responses positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced university degree in agriculture, public policy, education management, policy analysis, public administration or related fields (minimum requirement - 20 points).

• At least 7 years of working experience in education and training sector, preferably in agriculture (minimum 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 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.