Background
Light Up Hope - Africa (LUH-A) is implementing a School Feeding Program (SFP) across 208 Public Primary schools in Kajiado County and 1 school in Nairobi with the aim of enabling access to a life altering change through provision of lunch to improve enrolment, retention and transition. The program is now working on sustainability through the Sustainable School Meals Project(SSMP) aimed at production of poultry, vegetables, cereals, legumes and fruits in schools and supporting women groups empowerment at community level in Kajiado.
Light Up Hope is searching for a consultant to build a complete Training of Trainers (ToT) package that equips staff, community based advisors, teachers, 4K Club patrons and women group leaders to run the Sustainable School Meals Project at scale.
The project has two linked pillars:
- Schools and 4K Clubs. Learners in 4K Clubs and their patron teachers run school gardens and units as hands-on learning, linked to the school meals programme.
- Women self-help groups. Women from the school communities are organised into groups and supported to farm productively, earn income, and supply food locally, including to the schools where feasible.
Both pillars are supported by local agripreneurs who act as community-based advisors (CBAs). They build the capacity of schools and women groups on an ongoing basis, with support from Light Up Hope (LUH) officers and Agriculture Extension Service Providers where required. The objective is to keep technical advice and support close to schools and groups after formal training ends.
Light Up Hope is seeking to develop a standard, well-tested ToT package that will keep training quality consistent across schools and groups, and let the project train new trainers without relying on external consultants annually.
Purpose of the Assignment
The consultancy will produce a practical, field-ready ToT package that trainers can use as reference to deliver training and support in school and community settings with minimal external support.
Overall objective. Strengthen the capacity of Light Up Hope staff, CBAs, teachers, 4K Club patrons and community group leaders to produce, manage and use food sustainably for school meals and household income.
Specific objectives.
- Develop a ToT training manual covering climate-smart production of vegetables, maize, legumes, eggs and fruits in school and smallholder settings.
- Develop a facilitator guide that lets a trained facilitator deliver each session consistently, using participatory adult and child learning methods.
- Develop exercise packs and activities, for both 4K Club learners and community groups, that build practical skills and can be done with locally available materials.
- Integrate cross-cutting content: school garden and poultry unit management, farming as a business, group savings and enterprise, nutrition and school meal planning, gender and inclusion, and child safeguarding.
- Pilot the materials, train a first cohort of trainers, and revise the package based on feedback.
Scope of Work
- ToT training manual (trainer reference)
- Training of trainers basics: adult and child learning, facilitation skills, planning and delivering sessions, giving feedback, coaching and follow-up
- Climate-smart agriculture principles and site selection for school gardens and farms
- Production modules: vegetables (kitchen gardens, sack, mi-pits and vertical gardens, nurseries); cereals and legumes (land preparation, spacing, intercropping, pest and disease control, post-harvest handling and storage); poultry for eggs (housing, feeding, health, biosecurity, record keeping); fruits (variety selection, orchard establishment, care & nursery)
- Soil, water and pest management, composting and organic inputs, seed selection and saving
- Linking production to school meals: menu planning, food safety, hygiene, storage, and simple nutrition messages
- Farming as a business for 4K Clubs and women groups: records, costing, market analysis, pricing, marketing, group savings and loans, market linkages and aggregation
- Gender, youth and inclusion, including women's time, land and decision-making constraints
- Child safeguarding, safe use of tools, and safety in school farming activities
- Monitoring, learning and reporting: simple tools for trainers, school committees and groups
- A mentoring and refresher plan that defines how LUH officers support advisors, and how advisors continue to support schools and groups
- Facilitator guide
- Session-by-session plans with objectives, timing, materials, step-by-step methods, key messages, assessment questions and common problems
- Separate tracks for the 4K Club and and the community group track, with a shared core
- Training schedules and agendas for a ToT workshop and for cascade training at school and group level
- Pre- and post-training assessment tools, session evaluation forms and a trainer certification checklist
- Guidance on logistics, venue set-up, budgeting and low-cost demonstration plots
- A clear advisor role description: what advisors do, how they work with teachers, patrons, groups and LUH officers, and how they escalate technical problems
- Exercise packs and activities
- Hands-on field exercises, demonstration plot tasks, role plays, case studies, games, group discussions and energisers
- Learner worksheets and record-keeping templates (school crop production, egg production log, group income and expense book, savings group ledger)
- Visual aids, job aids and flip-chart or picture cards suitable for low-literacy users
- A separate pack for 4K Club learners (age-appropriate, club-based, linked to the 4K club projects) and one for community groups
Languages and format. Materials should be in English with simple language, strong visuals and editable source files.
Deliverables
- Inception report including work plan, training needs assessment tools, outline of ToT manual, facilitator guide and exercise packs, and review of existing materials
- Training needs assessment findings from sampled schools, 4K Clubs and women groups
- Draft ToT training manual, facilitator guide and exercise packs
- Pilot ToT workshop delivered with a first cohort of trainers, with pilot report and lessons (LUH-A to cover costs)
- Final ToT training manual, facilitator guide and exercise packs, print-ready
- Visual aids, job aids and templates as separate print-ready files
All final deliverables must be submitted in editable electronic form (Word, plus design source files)
Qualifications
- Preferably a multi-disciplinary with education backgrounds in agriculture, agribusiness, extension agriculture, nutrition, community development etc (advanced degree preferred)
- At least 7 years of experience designing and delivering training for smallholder farmers, schools or community groups
- Proven record of developing ToT manuals, facilitator guides and participatory training materials, with samples
- Strong knowledge of climate-smart agriculture, and of vegetable, maize, bean, poultry and fruit production in smallholder or school settings in ASAL
- Experience with youth programmes (4K Clubs, Young Farmers Clubs or similar) and women's economic empowerment, FFBS, VSLA
- Knowledge of school feeding and school nutrition programmes
- Excellent written and spoken English and Kiswahili
Reporting and Supervision
The Training Facilitator will report directly to the The Program Lead - School Feeding Program with a dotted line reporting to the Deputy Director, Programs and will work closely with the SSMP Project Officer.
Confidentiality
All information shared during the project must be treated as confidential and may not be disclosed to third parties without the prior consent of Light Up Hope Africa.
Intellectual property, ethics and safeguarding
- Ownership. All materials developed under this assignment belong to Light Up Hope, which may adapt, reproduce and share them. The consultant must credit any third-party sources and obtain permission for copyrighted content and images.
- Safeguarding. The consultant and any team members must sign and follow Light Up Hope's child safeguarding and protection policy and code of conduct before any contact with learners or communities. Photos and stories of children and women require informed consent.
- Confidentiality**.** Project and participant information must be kept confidential and used only for this assignment.
- Do no harm. Materials must avoid hazardous practices, including unsafe pesticide use and unsafe tools for children, and must promote safe, climate-smart and environmentally sound practices.