John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North
Africa (F2F MENA)
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Submitted to
Gary Alex
BFS/CSI
U.S. Agency for International Development
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Room 2.10-273
Washington, DC 20523-2052
Submitted by
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
P.O. Box 64281
St. Paul, MN 55164-0281
Submitted September 3, 2015
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
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SECTION ONE—Work Plan Narrative
This work plan contains a comprehensive description of our approach and the planned activities to be conducted
during Year Three (Fiscal Year 2016) of the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program:
Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA). This document consists of two sections. Section One is comprised of
the work plan narrative. Section Two provides a Gantt chart of projected Year Three activities and volunteer loads.
This plan is a living document, and will be flexible and adaptable, through amendment as required, as the project
evolves within the core countries of Lebanon and Egypt.
I.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The F2F MENA program consists of Core Country programs in Lebanon and Egypt. In each Core Country, Land
O’Lakes is implementing two country projects—1) Enhancing Food Quality and Food Safety and 2) Increasing
Access to Agricultural Finance. To enhance food quality and safety in each of the core countries, F2F volunteers
provide technical assistance throughout a variety of value chains to enable agro-enterprise improve product
quality and safety, which enables them to enter more demanding, higher-value markets. F2F MENA assignments
in both Egypt and Lebanon have been utilized to improve the productivity, quality, and safety of fresh and
processed fruits and vegetables, dairy, and meat products. F2F MENA is also mobilizing volunteer assistance to
narrow the financing gap that exists in the agricultural sector in both core countries by supporting and training
local financial institutions to serve agricultural enterprises that seek to implement quality assurance protocols.
II.
EXPLANATION OF F2F MENA PARTNERS AND THEIR ROLES
Land O’Lakes International Development is responsible for overall program management and recruits volunteers
in support of the Enhancing Food Quality and Safety country projects in both Egypt and Lebanon. Our sole
subawardee partner under the F2F MENA program is the International Executive Service Corps (IESC). IESC
provides program guidance and fields volunteers to support of the Improving Access to Agricultural Finance
country projects in both core countries, as well as fielding volunteers for select Food Safety project assignments.
III.
F2F MENA ACTIVITIES TO DATE
The second year of F2F MENA can be characterized as a year of building momentum. Well-known are the F2F
MENA program’s hurdles in start-up, the heightened security situations in which both country programs must
operate, and the uncertainties of continued funding under the Farm Bill early on in the project cycle. Following a
paltry performance of completing just nine volunteer assignments in FY 2014, F2F MENA will complete a total of
61 volunteer assignments by the end of FY 2015 (33 in Egypt and 28 in Lebanon), taking the cumulative total to
70 volunteer assignments. 79 percent (55 out of 70) of the volunteer assignments to date have been in support of
the Enhancing Food Safety and Quality country projects, and 10 percent (7 out of 70) have been in support of the
Increasing Access to Agricultural Finance country projects. The remaining 11 percent (7 out of 70) have been
flexible assignments to support program implementation and projects that do not fall squarely into the Food
Safety and/or Access to Finance country projects.
IV.
YEAR THREE STRATEGY FOR EGYPT COUNTRY PROJECTS.
The installation of a new Egypt Country Program Director in June 2015 has energized the team and enabled the
program to enhance host identification and scope of work development processes. This should translate into a
higher rate of volunteer mobilization in FY 2016. Whereas the team prepared and submitted 45 scopes of work in
FY 2015, they anticipate the development of at least 55 scopes of work and the mobilization of at least 40
volunteer assignments in FY 2016. This increased rate will also be driven by an increased interest and support
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
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from USAID/Egypt to integrate F2F into other Mission-funded programs. We detail the planned activities to
support the each of the two Egypt country projects below.
Food Safety/Quality. The F2F team will concentrate its work to Enhance Food Safety and Quality through fielding
qualified volunteer experts who can contribute to enhancing the capacity of small farmers to efficiently respond
to the local processors and export market needs. In FY 2016, we anticipate mobilizing at least 34 volunteer
assignments to support this country program by:
 Enhancing our collaboration with USAID/Egypt-funded programs to identify opportunities for F2F volunteer
technical assistance. The three Mission-funded programs with which we collaborate include the Advanced
Marketing and Agribusiness Logistics (AMAL), implemented by ACDI/VOCA; the Premium Project for Egypt
Small Growers program, implemented by the local organization Blue Moon; and the newly-awarded Food
Security and Agribusiness Support (FAS) program, to be implemented by CNFA. These programs operate
primarily in USAID’s Zone of Influence in Upper Egypt.
 Forging collaboration with other donor-funded programs to help meet the technical assistance needs of their
beneficiaries, including the Milk Collection Communities (MCC) project funded by Danone and implemented
by CARE International; and the Bashaier agricultural marketing program funded by the Canadian International
Development Research Centre (IDRC) and implemented by the Knowledge Economy Foundation (KEF).
 Developing partnerships with private sector food standards certification companies such as ACERTA Middle
East, ISQA, International Food Standards, and ALGI to field volunteers and provide training to their employees
in areas of HACCP, good agricultural practices, and Global G.A.P. certification.
 Strengthening our existing relationships and expanding the cooperation with hosts of high potential impact
for food safety and quality initiatives such as SEKEM, the Horticulture Export Improvement Association
(HEIA), Nahdet Bani Suef Foundation, Union of Producers and Exporters of Horticultural Crops (UPEHC) and
Fayoum Agro Organic & Development Association (FAODA).
 Expanding our partnership with Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development to enhance initiatives in
improved production, organic farming, aquaponics, food processing, and new product development.
Access to Finance. Of the two core country programs, Egypt had more inroads in working with the country’s
microfinance institutions and community development associations that provide agricultural finance. The country
project has however lost traction with the departure of the Egypt Country Director in May 2015, who was a strong
supporter and advocate for the access to finance component. In FY 2016, the program must rebuild its
relationships with the industry, and we plan to mobilize a local Egyptian consultant to help the program staff forge
opportunities and develop scopes of work that will enable it to mobilize at least six volunteer assignments to
support this country project through:
 Expanding collaboration with financing organizations which were identified as potential access to finance
hosts in FY 2015 scoping exercises, several of which have already hosted volunteers in FY 2015. These include
the Alexandria Business Association (ABA), the Egyptian Association for Small Investors and Businessmen in
Sohag (EASIB), and the Arab-African International Bank (AIM) to educate them on the lending needs of and to
design appropriate financial products for the agricultural sector.
 Leveraging interest from USAID/Egypt to collaborate with Mission-funded programs (mentioned above) to
identify opportunities for volunteers to increase the financial literacy of the beneficiaries (farmers
associations, community development organizations, and affiliated farmers groups) with whom the projects
are working.
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
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V.
YEAR THREE STRATEGY FOR LEBANON COUNTRY PROJECTS
With the security and political situation in Lebanon remaining volatile and with security restrictions still in force,
especially on American citizens (per the U.S. State Department Travel Warning), the F2F Lebanon program will
continue to operate in specific areas where volunteers face low security risks. As security situations improve in
the North Bekaa and Akkar (North Lebanon) regions, which are the country’s most fertile and most in need of
agricultural technical assistance, there could be the potential to expand into these regions in FY 2016. In addition
to the Food Safety and Access to Finance country projects, Lebanon will also present to USAID a new country
project description to support agroforestry in response to increased request for volunteers and the Mission’s own
strategy. We project that we will mobilize 41 volunteer assignments to Lebanon over the course of the 2016 fiscal
year in support of the three country projects, described below.
Food Safety/Quality. F2F Lebanon has been able to build upon the momentum of the nationwide food safety
campaign launched by the Lebanese Minister of Health in November 2014. In FY 2016, we will continue to provide
volunteers to targeted food producers and processors in order to apply food safety and quality systems that will
enable them to produce safer, higher quality food products. In FY 2016, F2F Lebanon will mobilize 30 volunteers
under this country project by:
 Continuing its productive collaborations with provincial Chambers of Commerce and Industry, rural
associations involved in production and processing, and beneficiaries of Mission-funded programming to
improve agricultural sector competitiveness, to provide volunteer technical assistance across the whole food
value chain to allow farmers, small processors, and food retailers to comply with nationally and internationally
recognized food safety standards.
 Establishing collaborative efforts with selected local and governmental authorities to train their inspectors
on good practices, to control food premises within their areas of influence. In FY 2016, we will seek
USAID/Lebanon approval to provide volunteer technical assistance to Lebanese government organizations,
such as municipality inspection services and the Ministry of Economy and Trade’s Consumer Protection
Directorate to train their inspectors on food safety, traceability, food inspection, and investigation techniques.
We will also work with the Lebanese Agricultural and Research Institute (LARI) as well as the chambers of
commerce and industry to improve their food testing skills and efficiency in order to ensure that safe food is
reaching the market.
 Maintaining our focus on the dairy sector, which is by-and-large neglected by the development community,
by assisting small farmers improve animal nutrition, control disease, and adopt best practices in dairy farm
management. Moreover, in response to the increasing demand for new dairy products, we will target
volunteer experts to work with small dairy processors who are eager to enter new markets with new and/or
improved dairy products, such as cheeses and flavored yogurts.
 Increasing our emphasis on supporting pomegranate and other stone fruit growers to enhance their
practices, improve their output, and advance product quality in order to be able to reach higher-end markets.
Volunteer experts will support an increasing number of opportunities in apple and cherry growing, pruning,
harvesting, post-harvesting, cold storing and packaging will be mobilized to help rural growers add value and
access local or export markets.
 Strengthening our existing partnerships with educational institutions, namely the American University of
Beirut (AUB) and the Universite Sain-Esprit Kaslik (USEK) through targeted assignments and/or disseminating
the knowledge of expert volunteers to students and faculty members, especially in terms of food safety, that
will duplicate the HACCP certification model that we did with AUB in June 2015.
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
3
Access to Finance. With banking and finance arguably Lebanon’s most developed industry, the F2F Lebanon team
has faced serious challenges gaining entry for volunteers into this sector (to date, Lebanon has hosted only two
volunteers to support this country project). While several microfinance institutions and banks have expressed
initial interest in receiving volunteer technical assistance to help them increase financing to the agricultural sector,
the country team has faced challenges crafting the highly specialized scopes of work. In FY 2016, our F2F partner
IESC will engage a local financial services consultant to help the program continue its dialogue with interested
banks and microfinance institutions, pinpoint their technical assistance needs, and develop scopes of work that
will enable us to recruit and field the needed volunteer resources. We anticipate that F2F will mobilize six access
to finance volunteer assignments by:
 Continuing to work closely with Lebanese microfinance institutions such as Caritas, Emkan, and Al Majmoua,
as well as well-established banks and financial institutions, which have expressed an interest in improving
services in support of Lebanese agriculture. Potential volunteer assignments identified, but yet to be
developed include: a) conducting a market survey to define the demand of agricultural lending products in
specific geographic areas; b) development of seasonal agricultural loan products; c) exploring the potential
for crop insurance in Lebanon; and d) training management personnel and loan officers on evaluating
agricultural loans applications.
 Improving the organizational effectiveness of the Lebanese Microfinance Association, newly-established
under support of USAID/Lebanon’s Lebanon Investment in Microfinance (LIM) Program.
 Supporting MFI efforts to improve the financial literacy, cash flow budgeting, and preparation of business
plans for potential agribusiness customers.
Agroforestry. The demand for technical volunteers to assist the agroforestry sector has presented itself as an
opportunity for F2F in FY 2016 and the project’s out years. In fact, in FY 2015, F2F completed two volunteer
assignments in agroforestry initiatives, has identified another two volunteers to complete assignments in early FY
2016, and has developed another two agroforestry scopes of work that are currently under recruitment.
USAID/Lebanon is supportive of a potential agroforestry country project, as it supports Mission strategic
objectives in Environment and Global Climate Change; therefor, Land O’Lakes will submit a country project plan
for Mission concurrence in Q1 FY 2016. The country project will focus on agroforestry management, nurseries
operations, and production and harvesting of forest products such as pine nuts. Land O’Lakes anticipates
mobilizing at least five volunteers in support of this new country project in FY 2016.
VI.
PLANS FOR FLEXIBLE VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMNETS
Because of recruitment challenges present in both of our F2F MENA core countries, Land O’Lakes has been in the
process of developing opportunities in countries inside and outside of the MENA regions. We had anticipated that some
of these would take place in FY 2015, but it looks more certain that they will be implemented in FY 2016. We present
the opportunities we expect to coalesce in FY 2016 below.
Sri Lanka. To support agribusiness beneficiaries for the USAID/Sri Lanka Biz+ project, implemented by Land O’Lakes,
F2F is currently recruiting for one scope of work and has another four in development. These include three assignments
to aid food safety system development for dairy processing, one assignment to provide assistance to an agribusiness
engaged in the production and marketing of sesame oil and rice flower products, and one assignment to improve the
management skills of a women-led cooperative that manufactures dried fruit leather products. Volunteer logistical
support and follow-up monitoring and evaluation for these assignments will be provided through the Biz+ program.
Rwanda. Land O’Lakes had planned for a flexible volunteer assignment in FY 2015 to help develop a strategic plan for
a dairy cooperative, but this assignment did not happen because the host (an organization with which we are working
through our USAID-funded dairy competitiveness project) withdrew their request for a volunteer. We are currently
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
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developing another scope of work that for a flexible volunteer assignment to provide assistance to animal feed
producers (for cattle and poultry) in improving operations.
Jordan. We are in the initial stage with ACERTA Middle East to define the scopes for flexible volunteers to assist them
in building staff capacity and to provide practical training in HACCP for food processing companies in Jordan. We
anticipate mobilizing two flexible volunteers to Jordan for these assignments in FY 2016.
VII.
ACTIVITIES UNDER ASSOCIATE AWARDS
To date, Land O’Lakes has not secured any associate awards under the F2F LwA mechanism. Land O’Lakes will
update its F2F LwA marketing strategy in Q1 FY 2016. While we have talked to Missions in Morocco, Tunisia,
Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, and other Missions outside of the MENA regions such as Sri Lanka, Ukraine,
Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and Cambodia about potential uses of Land O’Lakes’ F2F LwA, we
have not gotten much traction. After consultations with the USAID/Lebanon Mission earlier this year and on
the heels of a successful F2F volunteer assignment with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Zahle and
the Bekaa (CCIAZ), we are currently developing a concept note for a potential Associate Award to improve
product safety and quality in meat and dairy through the introduction of a geographic seal of quality program.
In additional, our initial conversations with the Missions in Jordan, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Rwanda, and Madagascar
will keep these countries on our Associate Award radar.
VIII.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
Volunteer assignments that support program activities in Enhancing Food Safety and Quality, as well as those
in Lebanon’s soon-to-be-written Agroforestry country project, may include recommendations on improved
pesticide management. At time of Scope of Work Development, F2F country project staff classify all
assignments based on the system detailed in the F2F programs approved PERSUAP. Based on the assignment’s
PERSUAP classification, volunteers will receive information (as specified on the PERSUAP’s SUAP
documentation) that will better inform them of the approved pesticide lists in action in the two countries and
the limitations pertaining to the recommendation of pesticides that are not on the approved lists. All
volunteers receive the F2F environmental brochures before leaving the United States. Our in country staff
review the brochure with the volunteer during the in-country briefing sessions, and they are encouraged to
notify program staff immediately if their scope of work changes to involve pesticide usage and training.
The Egypt PERSUAP assessment assignment was completed in FY 2015, and the one for Lebanon will be
completed in Q1 FY 2016. We hope to utilize these assessments in our review of the existing PERSUAP approved
pesticide lists for the two countries and request revisions/amendments if required in FY 2016.
No genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will be procured, used, created, or recommended to hosts through
the F2F MENA program. Volunteers will be advised about this GMO prohibition during volunteer orientation.
IX.
SECURITY ASSESSMENTS
As Lebanon and Egypt present two dynamic security environments, Land O’Lakes has put into place
mechanisms to secure program operations in and safe volunteer movement throughout the two countries. In
FY 2016, we will undertake a major upgrade of our country program security and evacuation plans, which will
include potential expansion of operation in Lebanon.
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
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X.
YEAR THREE TRAVEL
Land O’Lakes respectfully requests the following Year Three travel approvals. Tables 1 and 2 below list
estimates for Year Three travel requests for Land O’Lakes at its F2F MENA partner IESC, respectively.
Table 1: Land O’Lakes Year Three Travel Table
Year
No. of Trips
Origin/Destination(s)
Purpose/Explanation
32
33
4
No. of
Travelers/Trip
1
1
1
3
3
3
US/Egypt
US/Lebanon
US/Sri Lanka
3
3
3
1
2
1
1
1
1
US/Rwanda
US/Jordan
Egypt/US
3
2
1
US/Egypt and
Lebanon
3
1
1
US/Lebanon and
Egypt
3
1
1
US/Lebanon and
Egypt
Core Country Volunteer Assignments
Core Country Volunteer Assignments
Flexible Volunteers to Sri Lanka to support USAID
Biz+ beneficiaries
Flexible volunteers for feed company assignment
Flexible volunteers for HACCP training
Egypt Country Director home office training and
attendance in DC Implementers’ Meeting in
December 2015
F2F MENA Program Director management visits
to ensure progress to work plan, achievement of
F2F targets, provide management of staff
performance, and to address operational issues
and institute corrective measures, if applicable.
Potential visit by Land O’Lakes Director of Global
Security to update security plans and evacuation
plans in changing security environments in the
F2F MENA core countries.
Potential visit by Regional Program Director to
ensure program quality and train, meet with
stakeholders, and ensure country project
alignment to divisional performance indicators.
Table 2: IESC Year Three Travel Table
Year
No. of Trips
3
3
8
8
No. of
Travelers/Trip
1
1
Origin/Destination(s)
Purpose/Explanation
US/Egypt
US/ Lebanon
Core Country volunteer assignments
Core Country volunteer assignments
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
Leader with Associate Cooperative Agreement # AID-OAA-L-13-00008
Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
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SECTION TWO—Gantt Chart of Year Three Work Plan
Year 3: October 2015 – September 2016
Months
Tasks
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
3
3
Program Management
Complete and submit FY 2015 Annual Program report to USAID
Submit revised F2F MENA M&E Plan
Submit Lebanon agroforestry country project for approval
Complete revision of F2F LwA marketing strategy
Prepare Semi-Annual Performance Report for October 2014 to March 2054 Period (for submission
to USAID by April 30, 2015)
Prepare F2F MENA Program Annual Report (for submission to USAID by October 30, 2015)
Complete Year 4 Work Plan (for submission to USAID by September 15, 2016)
Continue efforts in associate award marketing
Implementation
Field volunteers for Egypt Assignments—Food Quality and Safety
Field volunteers for Egypt Assignments—Access to Agricultural Finance
Field volunteers for Lebanon assignments—Food Quality and Safety
1
2
3
Field volunteers for Lebanon Assignments—Access to Agricultural Finance
Field volunteers for Lebanon Assignments—Agroforestry (to be approved)
Field volunteers for flexible assignments Sri Lanka
Field volunteers for flexible assignments Rwanda
Field volunteers for flexible assignments Jordan
Year Three Work Plan—FY 2016
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Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Middle East and North Africa (F2F MENA)
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1
2
3
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
3
1
2
1
2
3
1
1
2
3
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
1