Application

Purpose: 

The overarching goal of this project is to build markets for climate-smart commodities and invest in America’s climate-smart producers to strengthen U.S. rural and agricultural communities.  

 The objectives of this project are to support the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities by providing voluntary incentives to producers and landowners, including early adopters, to implement climate-smart agricultural production practices, activities, and systems on working lands; measure/quantify, monitor and verify the carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits associated with those practices; and develop markets and promote the resulting climate-smart commodities. 

 Project Summary: 

NCBA CLUSA leads a consortium of cooperatives, farmer organizations, and minority-serving institutions in Puerto Rico (PR) to pilot a project that seeks to provide technical and financial assistance to 2,000 underserved Puerto Rican coffee producers to voluntarily adopt climate-smart agriculture and forestry (CSAF) practices that meet NRCS practice standards in the production of climate-smart Rust/Climate Change Resistant varietals of arabica coffee, but also shade, hardwood, and citrus on 10,000 acres of land. The consortium partners are PROCAFE, the trade association for the coffee value chain and responsible for farm-level technical assistance; University of Puerto Rico – Experimental Agriculture Station, responsible for quantifying GHG; La Liga de Cooperativas de Puerto Rico, responsible for promotion and cooperative development services; and SustainCert, responsible for Corporate Value Chain (scope 3) certification of the GHG quantification. 

 This project seeks to enable Puerto Rican coffee producers to generate quantified and verified climate-smart outcomes for coffee production and track them through the supply chain so that producers and cooperatives can access new, profitable market opportunities. NCBA CLUSA technical assistance and individual farm visits provided through PROCAFE, and UPR-AES technical staff trained in USDA climate-smart production practices will ensure Cooperative financial institution partners will offer services to participating producers. NCBA CLUSA’s cooperative grocer and marketing partners will build markets for PR farmers that seek to increase the quality of their products, traceability, standards across their value chains. NCBA CLUSA will support PROCAFE in assisting PR farmers to grow and market higher quality products that meet market demand while increasing farmer climate resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Finally, the market ecosystem created for participating cooperative businesses and support organizations through La Liga support will allow them to continue to help farmers implement CSAFs beyond the life of the project. 

 Consultancy Details and Requirements: 

The PRCSC Project is looking for someone with the following skills and experience: 

• Professional proficiency in Spanish; Native speaker preferred 
• At least 5 years’ experience producing and manufacturing locally sourced organic coffee inputs (liquid and solid) that can be scaled for commercial purposes, specifically, but not limited to, the following inputs: 

• Solid & liquid mountain microorganisms, ex. Actinomycetes 
• Effective micro-organism 1 & 5 (EM1 & EM5). 

• Mineral broths, ex. Bordeaux and Sulfocalcium 
• 1 and 5-day Bokashi and/or other types of compost 
• Low-cost substrates for tree saplings 
• Fermented or treated grasses 
• Application of salts in bioles 

• Bamboo extracts 
• “Super Mágro” 
• “Apichi” 
• Bio-inputs 

• Demonstrated experience facilitating Trainings of Trainers (TOT) to coffee technicians and smallholder farmers from various socioeconomic backgrounds on the production of locally sourced organic coffee inputs using the Farmer Field School training methodology in Latin American countries. 

• Experience supporting projects in Latin American countries, specifically with smallholder coffee producers and cooperatives. 
• Experience with similar USG-funded projects. 
• U.S. citizen or legally permitted to work in U.S. territories. 
• Ability to travel to and within Puerto Rico for training purposes. 

 Objectives: 

1. To build the capacity of at least 30 project staff, at a minimum, on the principles of Organic Agriculture and its application to specialty coffee production in Puerto Rico. 

1. To train and strengthen the capacity of project staff on the Farmer Field School training methodology adapted for coffee production in Puerto Rico to facilitate adult, hands-on, practical, and peer-to-peer learning amongst farmers.  

1. To assist with designing the didactic materials to be used by the project staff in their trainings with farmers. 

1. To facilitate technical trainings to project staff on the elaboration of organic inputs for the cultivation of coffee and scaling production for commercial use that will not have negative impacts on highly erodible lands and wetlands. 

1. To strengthen the capacity of project staff to establish locally sourced substrates as raw materials in the elaboration of biofertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides 

1. To provide recommendations for alternative ingredients when primary ingredients are unavailable or cost-prohibitive 

1. To provide recommendations of specific interventions to commercially develop and scale the production of these organic inputs. 

 Deliverables: 

• Preparation of materials for workshops including training materials, ingredient lists, facilities, and theoretical presentations. 
• Facilitate one week-long workshop for up to 30 coffee technicians and other participants that will cover theoretical and practical training in the preparation of locally sourced organic inputs listed in the requirements with a focus on scaling production for commercial purposes.  
• Facilitate one week-long workshop for up to 30 participants that will cover the theoretical and practical principles of the Farmer Field School Methodology to be used when training Puerto Rican coffee farmers on the elaboration of the organic inputs. 
• In the case of needing additional workshops and/or longer workshops based on participant interests and needs, this will be negotiated in advance with the consultant and the level of effort adjusted accordingly.  

• Expected contents from the workshops include a production manual for the different types of organic fertilizer and their efficient use.   
• Final report in Spanish of the consultancy summarizing the workshops, attendees, recommendations for replication/scalability including photos, attendance lists, and any other related evidences. 

 Place of assignment:   

NCBA CLUSA CSC project activities will take place in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico concentrated on 10 contiguous municipalities within the central mountains of the island. This consultancy will be conducted primarily at PROCAFE’s facilities located in the municipality of Adjuntas. 

 Maximum Level of effort: 21 days 

 Timing:  August-September 2023 

Please submit resume, letter of interest that includes daily rate and estimated total of consultant fees (airfare, lodging, local transportation, in-country meals, and other local costs will be procured by NCBA CLUSA) to Climate Smart Puerto Rico, climatesmart@ncba.coop by August 7, 2023.  

The National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) is the primary voice for people who use cooperative businesses to build a better world and a more inclusive economy in the United States and globally. In the last 70 years, NCBA CLUSA has worked in over 85 countries in the areas of food security, agricultural development, strengthening of communities and farmer organizations, community-based health, natural resources management, and empowerment of smallholder farmers, women, and youth. Our community-led development approach empowers communities to identify, promote, and manage sustainable, locally generated solutions. We currently work in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

PLEASE DO NOT COMPLETE THE BELOW FORM TO APPLY.