Specialist in sustainable Fairtrade certified banana production. At Latin American and Caribbean Coordinator of Small Producers and Fair Trade Workers

• ABOUT CLAC

The Latin American and Caribbean Coordinator of Small Producers and Fair Trade Workers (CLAC), is an Association established with legal status in El Salvador, which brings together Small Producer Organizations ( as) (OPP’s) and Worker Organizations (OTs) within Fair Trade. CLAC is organized into “National Coordinators” (CNs) and “Product Networks”; The former group CLAC member organizations by country, while the Product Networks group organizations by product, regardless of the country in which they are located, and the Workers Network groups worker organizations ( as) of the different countries.

CLAC’s mission is not only to represent democratically organized organizations, but also to ensure their strengthening and development, facilitate assistance actions to its members, promote their products and values, and influence social, political and economic bodies. CLAC’s strategic lines of work are: 1) Strengthen CLAC’s organizational sustainability, 2) Promote fair trade, its principles and values, 3) Strengthen and develop its membership, 4) Increase access to existing and new markets, 5) Advocate for responsible production, trade and consumption to promote sustainable development, 6) Contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through inclusion, the adoption of good social and environmental practices in our membership

• ABOUT THE SUSTAINABLE BANANA PROGRAM (PBS).

Within the framework of the Sustainable Banana Program (PBS), specifically in the Pillars: 1) Sustainable management of Soil and Water resources; 2) Resilience to Climate Change; and 3) Recovery and Promotion of Biodiversity ; The Productivity Increase Project (PIP) is implemented, whose main purposes are to support SPOs in the development and implementation of sustainable practices in the production of Fairtrade certified bananas; To do this, strengthening the capacities of producers in different countries. This strengthening prioritizes topics such as: a*) Practices for improving Soil Health through the production of bio-inputs that contribute to increasing the biodiversity of Beneficial Microorganisms in the soils; b) Actions and practices for the sustainable management of water resources, promoting the rational and efficient use of water in the banana value chain; c) Strengthening knowledge and skills to manage information, which leads to reducing water and carbon footprints, among others.* Based on the above, an experienced professional with solid experience and technical knowledge in the links is required. Fairtrade certified banana value chain production, with emphasis: Soil Health), Sustainable Management of Phytosanitary limitations (including FoC R4T), Quality Assurance (GAP-GMP), Biodiversity in agricultural contexts, Production Adapted to the climate and that as part of the support that CLAC provides to the membership in Colombia.

As part of its responsibilities, it will provide training and technical support, addressing practical field actions and establishing pilot processes for the production of bioinputs, these actions based on PIP experiences, and including improvement actions that have been incorporated into the different phases carried out at this time.

In its methodological implementation, it must provide access to information and training on crucial topics in the productive management of Banana: a) Key practices of the PIP (soil health, water resource management, establishment and operation of biofactories, use of bioinputs), b) FoC R4T containment practices (Biosafety Sustainable soil health management practices (promotion of microbiological balance/stability), c) Increase of Organic Matter (OM) in banana production areas (Training on the importance of OM in soil, construction and operation of factories for the production of organic fertilizers such as compost, Bokashi, and others), and d) Strengthening capacities for data management on Water Footprint (HH) and Carbon Footprint (HC), mainly on the Impact of sustainable practices in the reduction of HH and HC.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

In the context of the Project’s Sustainable Banana Program (PBS), strengthen knowledge and technical skills on sustainable practices for the production of Fairtrade certified bananas, aimed at plantations and SPOs in the banana region of Colombia (Urabá and Magdalena).

Purpose

Contribute to the empowerment and self-management of the membership

Principal function

Manage the technical components and resources allocated related to the position

Collateral coordination functions

Develop and implement technical support for the Cooperatives participating in the project, in accordance with the work methodology promoted by CLAC.

Identify the activities necessary for the success of technical support, for this purpose the development and administration of a logical schedule for its implementation.

Training in the essential elements of the PIP to technicians and management of a maximum of 5 plantations in Urabá and OPPs that provide the supermarket supply chain in Europe.

Implementation and technical assistance to 5 plantations to introduce the essential actions of the PIP on a small scale and monitor the results in demonstration “mini plots” per farm (example 1-2 hectares), the plantation then decides to expand the area and invest in the infrastructure ( minimal investment, managing 55 gallon tanks, and small areas for composting)

Train on farms (5 plantations) in the preparation and use of compost, bioferments and other bioinputs in the field with 1 worker per farm, responsible for the management of the mini plot.

Implement technical assistance processes in SPOs in Urabá and Magdalena, which supply the Fairtrade Banana supply chain.

Based on process indicators, develop/establish a baseline (process initiation) and monitor impact

Training in the key elements for measuring carbon and water footprints (under the FAO methodology)

Actions that contribute to the protection and increase of biodiversity in and on the soil (cover, wind barriers, associated crops, nurseries, among others).

Develop and maintain fluid communication with the OPPs participating in the project and with CLAC work colleagues linked to the project to ensure good coordination of work agendas.

PLACES AND DIRECT RECEIVERS

• Controlled pilot process with five Plantations (HLs), scalable to other HLs in the intervention regions.
• Banana plantations (HLs) from the regions of Urabá, Guajira and Magdalena, from the Fairtrade Banana supply chain.
• Organizations of small banana producers from the Magdalena region, from the Fairtrade Banana supply chain.