Background
The TRANSITIONS Digital Tools (ATDT) project, under the umbrella of CGIAR’s Program on Agroecological Transitions for Building Resilient, Inclusive, Agricultural and Food Systems (TRANSITIONS), promote innovations related to digital tools that enhance inclusiveness, integrate climate change resilience and mitigation with agroecological aims, and enable farmers to develop new practices. The ATDT project is currently taking place in Vietnam (Mekong River Delta) with rice systems and in Brazil in livestock landscapes along the Amazon agriculture frontier of the state of Pará.
In Brazil, the ATDT project is coordinated by the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and implemented by Solidaridad, an international civil society organization with a 50-year proven track record fostering socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains. Solidaridad has been working in the region of Novo Repartimento (State of Pará) for over 10 years, focusing on developing and implementing together with farmers a production model that promotes an increase in family income, while ensuring a reduction in carbon emissions and deforestation. In the context of the ATDT project, Solidaridad team has engaged with farmers and local technical staff in a process of co-creation to improve existing digital tools and design new features to increase farmers´agency and encourage sharing of knowledge for the adoption of climate-smart practices. One of these digital tools, called Solis, empowers smallholder farmers to identify and prioritize the necessary steps to improve their management and production practices towards agroecological outcomes, while facilitating seamless communication with extension staff. Another pivotal feature of this tool is to enable users to share valuable content about agroecological practices in diverse formats, fostering the exchange of experiences and promoting widespread engagement with the application.
Objective of the consultancy
The overall objective of this consultancy is to support outreach of the innovations and lessons learned from the ATDT project with key stakeholders in the states of Pará and Mato Grosso. These stakeholders include local government entities (Secretaries of Agriculture and Secretaries of environment at State and municipality levels), local public initiatives, public agencies, farmer organizations, private and public technical assistance organizations, local and international NGOs and companies, committed to fostering farmers behavior change.
The consultant will support communications activities and will coordinate the organization and promotion of three in-person workshops in the states of Pará and Mato Grosso, aiming to reach a total of at least 100 participants representing all the categories of stakeholders identified.
The content of these communication activities and workshops will center around sharing key findings from the co-creation process developed with farmers and extension staff in the context of the ATDT project and identifying opportunities for scaling impact. There will be a strong emphasis on the potential of digital innovations, particularly Solis to engage farmers in the co-creation of knowledge and practices. We expect to gather suggestions on how to improve Solis and on additional actions to support impact. Solidaridad teams will take responsibility for defining the agenda and selecting speakers for the event.
Scope of work
The consultant will be responsible for providing support in the following areas:
- Communication: assist in developing narrative and communication materials to effectively convey messages and engage the target audience, organize and update the mailing list, produce and send newsletters and other communication materials about the project;
- Event promotion: develop and maintain a database of stakeholders to be invited to each workshop, undertake promotion activities (including direct mail and press releases), send personalized invitations to key stakeholders and potential attendees and manage registration
- Event management: the consultant will manage all logistical issues and arrangements related to the hosting of three successful workshops including payment of all services, goods, transportation, etc
- Reporting: prepare event reports focusing on the outreach and effectiveness of the events with recommendations and lessons learned
Deliverables
The deliverables include:
- Communications brief with narrative and key messages to main stakeholders mapped by Solidaridad;
- Detailed proposal for the organization of each of the three in-person events;
- Successful delivery of three in-person events with local stakeholders. The success of the events will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Achieving the minimum number of participants per event;
- Positive evaluation from participants regarding the logistics and infrastructure of the event venues;
- Evaluation of participants’ willingness to incorporate the topics discussed at the events into their agendas.
Required skills
- Minimum 5 Years of demonstrated experience in the field of public relations and communications;
- Demonstrated experience organizing events with diverse stakeholders (preferably in the agricultural sector in Brazil);
- Excellent verbal and written communications skills, and demonstrated experience working with a variety of stakeholders, including senior government officials, civil society organizations, private sector and other relevant stakeholders in a professional and friendly manner.
- Excellent project management, organizational and time management skills
- Excellent writing, editing and oral communication skills in Portuguese
- Ability and flexibility to work and review content on short notice
- Willingness to travel across the States of Pará and Mato Grosso
Duration of Work
The assignment is scheduled to take place from May 2024 to November 2024. Planning and communication activities will start as of May 2024 and the three in-person events should take place between mid-September 2024 and mid-November 2024.
Budget
Institutional arrangements
- The contractor will be CIAT in Colombia;
- The contract will be coordinated and overseen by CIAT, and the consultant will liaise regularly with staff members at Solidaridad;
- Payments will be made upon submission of activity reports and confirmation by the Supervisor on outputs delivered;
Application Process
Interested candidates are invited to submit the following documents:
- A detailed resume outlining relevant experience and qualifications.
- A proposed work plan outlining how the consultant intends to achieve the objectives outlined in this ToR.
- A detailed budget including staff and travel costs for the execution of the scope of work
Applications should be sent to Violaine Laurens at [email protected] by 04/30/2024.
