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Job Description
*Please note that only American citizens and green card holders may apply for this assignment. Land O’Lakes International Development is pleased to offer a volunteer position for someone with production of blue cheese and Greek yogurt in Lebanon for the Farmer to Farmer Program. Key Experience and Qualifications: * Educational Background: University degree in food technology with practical experience in the Dairy Sector * More than 10 years of practical knowledge and experience in the cheese production procedures and quality assurance, and preferably in blue Cheese and Greek yogurt. * Training Skills, including training in group settings. * Good writing and computer skills. * Sufficiently physically fit, with appropriate medical clearance. * Familiar with conducting trainings through translators/interpreters. * Available for assignment starting June. Requirement of the Program: Only U.S. citizens or Green Card holders are eligible to apply. Start Date: June, 2016 Length of Assignment: 15 days, flexible Country: Lebanon; Region: Kab Elias - Bekaa Type of Assignment: Volunteer position. Your time is donated and all expenses such as airfare, lodging, meals and an interpreter are paid. Assignment Summary: The host organization is a medium size dairy facility producing several types of local and imported cheeses. It is facing a problem in manufacturing Greek yogurt and blue cheese. It is noteworthy to mention that these two types of dairy products are mainly imported from France to the local market. The host aims at manufacturing a product similar in taste and quality to the cheese produced in France and top producers worldwide. The yoghurt they tried to produce did not meet the taste and the consistency of the top cheese producers such as: Yoplait, Chobani, Roquefort… The host organization is in need of the technical knowhow of the Greek yogurt and the blue cheese making including, but not limited to: the right process of manufacturing, the right tools needed for the manufacturing, quality control procedures on the product and packaging requirements for keeping the cheese fresh and tasty for 4 to 6 months without preservatives. This is the challenge the host wants to take. It will have a big impact locally in terms of using the local farmers’ goat milk to manufacture a product that is imported and well consumed in the Lebanese market. The host organization has a dairy facility well equipped and a laboratory where all tests could be conducted to test milk and cheese. Scope: The host organization lacks the technical knowhow on the production of blue cheese and Greek yogurt. With the assistance of a cheese expert working through the Farmer-To-Farmer program, the host will be able to produce those cheeses with high quality and excellent taste using fresh milk which they collect from local shepherds. At the dairy facility they have 3 employees with some experience in cheese making. Thus the host organization is requesting an expert to work with them on the production procedures, tasting, and quality control, selecting tools needed for the production and checking on the quality of the final product. Objectives of the Assignment: * Develop blue cheese and Greek yogurt to reach the consistency, texture and taste of the high quality goat cheeses and top worldwide producers such as: Roquefort, Yoplait … * Recommend the process of the production * Conduct tasting and advise on the best taste * Recommend the best practices and measures to increase the shelf life of the blue cheese and the * Greek yogurt (up to 6 months without the use of preservatives) * Advise on the Equipment and tools needed for the production (suppliers if possible) * Advise on the packaging if possible Tasks to be performed: U.S.-based. The volunteer is encouraged to bring any media or training materials such as manuals, journals, literature, DVD/video that will serve as good resource materials for training and for the library of the host organizations and Land O’Lakes office in Lebanon. In-country activities/tasks. The volunteer will complete the following activities in-country: ** Attend orientation meeting at Land O’Lakes Beirut Office; ** Meet with the host organization extension officers to become familiar with their current problems and future plans ** Write down the production procedure (flow chart) of the blue cheese and the Greek yogurt ** Assist in the production of the blue cheese and the Greek yogurt ** Recommend the needed specifications to ensure high quality product ** Evaluate the product produced and compare it to the high quality blue cheese and Greek yogurt (like French cheeses for example) and top producers (texture, taste and consistency…) with Roquefort mainly ** Provide recommendations to the F2F Program staff on potential follow-up assignment with the host ** Attend a debriefing session with F2F Lebanon Country Director and host organization staff members to provide feedback and discuss the recommended future plans to follow up on volunteer recommendations and capture impact Post assignment. Following the assignment, the volunteer will be responsible for the following: * Attend a debriefing session with F2F Country Director and team (and the host organization staff members, if necessary) to report feedback and discuss the suggested follow-up plans on the recommendations, as well as capture impact. * Submit a final report summarizing observations and recommendations, as well as follow-up plans. Deliverables. Each volunteer must submit a Final Report to the F2F Program, which includes the following sections: A. A summary of tasks and observations from site visits B. A list of 5-7 specific and actionable recommendations for the host organization(s). The recommendations are very important to the program as we use them to track host adoption of recommendations and the impact on hosts’ farms and businesses. These recommendations will be reviewed during the debriefing session with country staff at the end of the assignment and the volunteer may make revisions to them in their Final Report. C. A section listing the assignment objectives above and how they were met or why they were not met. Outreach Upon return to the United States, the volunteer is requested to communicate his or her F2F experience. Outlets to share the volunteer experience include home groups (e.g., civic and religious groups, professional associations, etc.), workplace presentations, local newspapers, community or workplace newsletters, personal blogs and social media sites. It is important to give recognition to USAID for funding F2F. At least two outreach events are requested and should be communicated to Sadie Paschke at [1] spaschke@landolakes.com and Diane Bruns at [2] dmbruns@landolakes.com. Volunteers will receive occasional surveys requesting information about completed outreach activities during each period. How to apply: Qualified applicants are requested to submit resumes as soon as possible. Please visit our career portal at [3] https://lol.avature.net/careers to apply for this opportunity. If you would additionally like to submit a cover letter, please include it with your resume. You will be contacted, if considered for this assignment or if additional information is needed. Thank you for your interest. ReferencesVisible links1. mailto:spaschke@landolakes.com2. mailto:dmbruns@landolakes.com3. https://lol.avature.net/careersAbout the Organization
It's an integrated approach to international development that capitalizes on Land O'Lakes 80 year-history as a leading farm-to-market agribusiness. Land O'Lakes International Development Division brings this difference - our in-depth knowledge of crop, livestock and dairy production, marketing, business management and cooperative principles - to every international development project. And through this approach, we help implement successful and sustainable projects, create profitable businesses and drive economic growth worldwide.
