IAEFP SOW

Country	Uganda
Country Portfolio/Sector	Agriculture Education
Implementing Organization	Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Broad Fellowship Objective	Advancing IAEF Program goals through conducting learner instruction using US based and Uganda contextualized agriculture teaching materials and participation in trade initiatives to promote trade linkages between Uganda and US. Fellowship focus areas: classroom instruction, field based practical activities, youth extension and community engagement, entrepreneurship projects, leadership development, digitized AgEducation and trade awareness initiatives
Tentative Fellowship Duration	Late April/Early May 2021 – March 2022 (Approx. 11 months)
Desired fellowship skills/ expertise	US Citizenship Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education/ Agriculture extension/ training in agriculture related field Understanding of the US agriculture education system/ membership with National FFA, NAAE or National 4-H council is a plus Experience with or interest in international travel and working across diverse cultures. Experience in student teaching, classroom instruction internships or teacher certification a MUST. Excellent computer skills, youth training, and interpersonal skills
Important Notice:	This assignment will be accomplished under a fellowship arrangement and NOT as an employment opportunity with CRS. Fellows must provide an official transcript of undergraduate and/or graduate degree prior to fellowship departure (this is required for visa purposes)

1. BACKGROUND

The International Agriculture Education Fellowship Program (IAEFP) is a two-year (2020 – 2022) program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The program has two broad goals; to improve developing countries’ ability to meet the food and fiber needs of their domestic population and to strengthen trade linkages between selected countries (like Uganda) and the US agricultural industry. The program provides opportunities for eligible U.S. citizens to assist developing countries in establishing school-based agricultural education and youth extension programs. To achieve these goals, CRS will work closely with the Government of Uganda (GoU) to identify components of the newly revised lower secondary school agriculture curriculum and develop complementary teacher instructional materials to be used through classroom instruction, practical field based demonstrations, small entrepreneurial projects, and youth extension programs for community engagement. Additional activities will include promoting digitized agriculture education among the teachers and learners, leadership skills development and create awareness about US- Uganda agriculture trade initiatives.

 

Through the IAEFP, CRS will also recruit, train and place nine fellows in Uganda’s secondary schools for 11months to help advance program goals. IAEFP fellows will help scale up innovative agricultural education programs in selected schools in alignment with the government of Uganda’s newly revised Lower Secondary Curriculum, launched at the beginning of the 2020 school year, which emphasizes an active, learner-centered approach to pedagogy and a competence and skills-based curriculum.

 

1. ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy, contributing 24% to GDP and accounting for 52% of export earnings. The sector employs approximately 60% of the total labor force. Agriculture education is central to human capital development and contribute greatly to labor productivity in the agriculture sector. Despite the many opportunities in the agriculture sector, young people in Uganda are disinterested in pursuing careers in agriculture. This population relates agriculture with poverty—it is seen as a subsistence livelihood rather than as a potential money-making venture and providing a wide range of respectable success-oriented career paths. The country’s education system has significantly contributed to the youth’s disinterest in agriculture, right from the obsolete agriculture curriculum that has been used in schools to the passive, teacher -centered learning methodologies, dominated by theoretical rather than practical field demonstrations.

In 2020, GoU through the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) rolled out the newly revised lower secondary school curriculum to foster a learning environment that places the learner at the centre of the learning experience. The new agriculture syllabus uses a science- based technology and entrepreneurial approach to agriculture education designed to build practical knowledge and student skills across a four-year high school program. The curriculum roll-out process was hindered by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the closure of schools. In addition, incorporating this new curriculum approach in schools across the country, training of teachers, developing instructional materials (teaching guides, lesson plans, assessment tools), layering practical field and laboratory applications and facilitating of student entrepreneurial projects is still a major challenge for Uganda. Therefore, CRS’IAEF program will strategically focus on supporting GoU to address this challenge through the placement of fellows in early adopting schools or centers of excellence to help teachers and administrators understand and implement the new agriculture curriculum.

OBJECTIVES OF THE FELLOWSHIP

The overall objective of the fellowship it to advance IAEF Program goals using pedagogic teaching methodologies implemented through: classroom instruction, practical field-based demonstrations, entrepreneurship projects development, youth extension and community engagement programs, digitalized Agriculture education initiatives and participation in agricultural trade initiatives in Uganda.

Critical pre-fellowship preparation activities while in US

• Review and familiarize with Uganda’s newly revised lower secondary school agriculture curriculum to understand agriculture content, competencies to be developed and the history of agriculture education in Uganda. This literature review provides the fellow with an understanding is part of country specific needs in agriculture education
• Participate in the development of instructional materials aligned with the new agriculture curriculum. Materials development will be conducted in partnership with CRS, NCDC, NAAE, National FFA, National 4-H council.
• Participate in a one – two weeks training on the use of developed and contextualized materials to enable skills transfer to agriculture teachers while in Uganda.

 

Key fellowship activities categorized based on the program objectives

1. Classroom Instruction: to accomplish this task, fellows will be required to engage in activities below:

• Train agriculture teachers in the use of new instructional materials and share specific US-based agricultural education teaching methodologies in workshop sessions for teachers and school administrators.
• Teach agriculture lessons for Senior one and Two in collaboration with the agriculture teachers and student teachers on internship. Teaching will be accomplished using the developed materials for teachers and students to gain hands-on practical experience.

• Design and introduce the use of digital platforms in teaching agriculture, fellows will be required to be creative in designing tools such as video clips, marketing blogs, etc to promote the use of digital technologies by teachers and learners. And seek opportunities for connecting Ugandan schools with US high schools virtually for information and cultural exchange on shared activities and projects

2. Practical field-based demonstrations

• Design and facilitate laboratory and practical field-based demonstrations at and/or outside the school environment as a way of promoting experiential learning for students
• Fellows will work with the teachers to develop field learning guides and assessment tools to assess students’ adaptability of classroom knowledge in the field, to be used during the practical field activities.

3. Individualized or group entrepreneurial projects and community engagement

• Together with the students, promote and support the development of small entrepreneurial projects either for individual students/ groups. Learners should be able to learn and earn from the small agricultural projects
• Design appropriate learning and assessment tools aligned with the curriculum specifically for small entrepreneurial projects, to guide the student’s learning process through the project.

• Work closely with learners and teachers to document one successful case study of a student led entrepreneurship project unique to that specific. The case study should have potential for scale up to neighboring schools within the region.
• Create linkages with Zonal Agricultural Research Institutes (ZARDIs) for innovations in agriculture and work with the learners and teachers for dissemination of appropriate technologies to farming communities.

• Facilitate youth extension and community engagement activities for the learners through; working with teachers and learners to conduct; community needs assessment, design of appropriate solutions to address identified challenges, technology dissemination to target communities

4. Leadership skills development

• In collaboration with school club patrons and student leaders of young farmers/entrepreneurship clubs, strengthen leadership skills development through training and mentorship sessions
• Support the development of generic club activities and support the club members to develop a young farmers’ club manual

5. Participate in trade initiatives/trade related agriculture activities in Uganda

To strengthen trade linkages between Uganda and the US agricultural industry, fellows will participate in various activities/projects to include.

• Farm and factory field visits with teachers and students for learning and knowledge adaptation, engage with relevant government agencies such as regulatory bodies to understand food safety aspects, quality assurance and safety guidelines, trade promotion and value addition
• During the school breaks (approx..3weeks), fellows will participate in TDY (Temporary Duty assignments) opportunities with different CRS or non-CRS projects: such as Food for Peace (FFP)- Food and Nutrition Security project (Nuyok), Food for Progress (FFPr) – VINES project, Farmer to Farmer (F2F) host organisations, American Chamber of Commerce Uganda and participation in FAS trade initiatives in Uganda.

FELLOWSHIP CALENDAR PROGRAM

During the school terms

Each fellow will be placed in a pre-selected secondary school in Uganda for a complete school calendar year (Term I, II, & III). The fellow will be required to work closely with the agriculture teacher, school administrators and other contact teachers within school who may be interested in integrating agriculture in teaching other subjects. The school will identify one staff to act as the fellow’s point of contact throughout the fellowship. Fellows may also work closely with student interns from National Teacher Training Colleges (NTCs) and relevant Universities, this is a sustainability measure to ensure skills transfer beyond the project duration.

TDY (Temporary Duty Assignments)

During the school breaks, fellows will the placed with other CRS projects to provide learning opportunities and provide technical support to project staff or partners. Project placements will depend on fellows’ skills set and interest. A separate scope of work will be shared with each fellow depending on the project type.

Fellows will also participate in a stakeholder engagement, joint project review and learning event at the end of Term I.

1. REPORTS AND OTHER DELIVERABLES

The anticipated deliverables reports will include:

• Termly (activity and expense) Reports (Term I. II, III)
• Manuals/materials developed
• Case study reports
• Record of learners and teachers
• TDY reports
• Final fellowship report
• Outreach report (press release, media, group presentations) completed in US

SKELETON SCHEDULE OF FELLOWSHIP ACTIVITIES WHILE IN UGANDA

The dates indicated in the table below are tentative and will befinalized based on confirmed travel dates to Uganda.

1. Dates	Broad activity categorization
   Late April (24th– 25th, 2021)	Arrival at Uganda Entebbe International Airport. Pick up by CRS contracted transport company (Silver Fleet) and check in at Hotel Interservice. April 25th: Rest day at the hotel – there are no scheduled activities
   April 26th – 30th, 2021	Orientation workshop for all nine fellows. A detailed orientation schedule will be provided to fellows before arrival in Uganda. Finalize all related logistical preparations before field placement.
   May 1st – 2nd, 2021	Travel to the various field placements in the company of school headteachers or designated agriculture teachers
   May 3rd – April 30th, 2022	Commencement of the fellowship per detailed activities under the specific activities section
   End of Term I	Participate in one-week joint project review and learning event (the activity schedule will be developed during Term I) in collaboration with the fellows.
   During the 3-weeks Breaks (At the end of Term I and Term II) May 2nd – 6th, 2022 May 7 2022	Fellows will be placed with other CRS projects, partners/host organisations. Placements will be made based on fellows’ skills set and required technical expertise. Fellows may also support F2F program as volunteers based on interest and availability of opportunities. End of Fellowship workshop and final reporting to donor and CRS Departure for the U.S.

Costs covered by CRS in Uganda
Item category	Cost details
Fellows allowance (includes daily meals and other incidentals)	$7,150/per fellow for the fellowship year
Transportation allowance (to and from school sites)	$ 105/month
Housing & utilities, furniture, and appliances	covered by CRS
Laptops and mobile phones	Provided by CRS, the in-country team will support the fellows to acquire registered simcards for use while in Uganda.
Costs for three-week TDY to the field (per diem, accommodation, transport)	covered by CRS
International medical and evacuation coverage	covered by CRS
Costs to be incurred in US
Return flight ticket Uganda to US	covered by CRS
Travel related Vaccinations	covered by CRS
Visa and work permit processing fees	covered by CRS

CRS Uganda

Maria Nakayiza Program Manager International Agriculture Education Fellowship Program Office Tel: +256 031 226 5658 Mobile cell phone +256 783922882 Email: maria.nakayiza@crs.org

School Head teachers’ contacts will be shared per fellow’s site.

CRS Baltimore

Priyanka Subba US. Operations Manager Farmer-to-Farmer Program 228 W. Lexington Street Baltimore, MD 21201-3443 443.955.7194 Email: Priyanka.subba@crs.org