Semi-Annual Report: Farmer-to-Farmer Agricultural Volunteer Opportunity Program

The program focuses on providing technical assistance and capacity building to local organizations and farmers. During the first half of FY20, AVOP finalized the second-round Request for Applications (RFA) competition and awarded three sub-awards of up to $613,000 each for three-year F2F projects in Cambodia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Burkina Faso. AVOP held capacity building sessions with sub-awardees, including the University of Tennessee, The Browse & Grass Growers Cooperative, and Purdue University. The sessions focused on financial and project reporting, compliance requirements, and project start-up. AVOP also invited staff from all five sub-awardee projects to attend the F2F Latin America and Caribbean Regional Meeting in Kingston, Jamaica from January 5-11, 2020. The meeting provided an opportunity for sub-awardees to learn from more experienced field staff and create connections. Under the Knowledge Management component, AVOP promoted greater understanding of the F2F program across the U.S. and among prospective volunteers. AVOP led and facilitated activities for the F2F Community of Practice to share best practices and strengthen implementation. This included co-organizing and leading the F2F Regional Meeting in Jamaica, alongside NCBA CLUSA and the POA F2F team. Communications activities focused on strategic outreach and management of F2F digital media platforms to promote and increase visibility of the program. The FY20 Implementers Meeting (IPM) was held in Q1 of FY20, hosted at NCBA CLUSA's offices. Over 40 staff members from across the eight core implementers and one sub-awardee were in attendance. The meeting included sessions on engaging innovation labs and USAID Missions, and an overview of the USAID Bureau for Food Security's journey to self-reliance. Technical presentations by USAID staff focused on issues and priorities in sustainable intensification, agriculture extension, and private sector engagement. AVOP collaborated with NCBA CLUSA and the POA F2F team to organize the first of several planned F2F Regional Meetings. The F2F Latin America and Caribbean Basin Regional Meeting was held from January 5-11, 2020 in Kingston, Jamaica and included F2F field staff from across the region as well as field staff from all five AVOP sub-awardees. The meeting consisted of several training sessions on best practices in F2F implementation, including scope of work (SOW) development, SMART+ recommendations, baseline and ODI collection, and host engagement. In October 2019, AVOP attended the 92nd National FFA Convention & Expo to promote the F2F program. The event was attended by approximately 70,000 people, including U.S. agricultural companies, universities, and federal and state agencies. With USAID, AVOP spoke to interested parties about F2F and potential opportunities, boosting the program's name recognition amongst this key audience. AVOP incorporated several changes to the structure and process of the second Small Grant Competition following lessons learned under the first round. One adjustment included redacting applicant names from concept notes during the technical review process to remove potential bias from reviewers. AVOP also opted to invite five applicants to submit full applications despite anticipating the selection of only three to receive sub-awards. This was done as a contingency in the case of disqualification of any of the top three applicants in later stages of the process.