Details
Posted: 21-Jul-22
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Type: Volunteer Globally
Required Education: 4 Year Degree
Categories:
Food Safety & Defense
Preferred Education:
4 Year Degree
Background
All applicants must be US Citizens or Green Card holders
The USAID funded Farmer-to-Farmer Food Safety and Quality (F2F FSQ) program provides technical assistance to host organizations working in agriculture production and/or agro-processing. Assistance focuses on food safety and quality through remote and in-person volunteer experts who implement planned assignments. F2F FSQ leverage the Global Markets Program (GMaP), owned by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) which provides a framework of competencies and two toolkits, to help growers and processors conduct a self-assessment to identify where they fall against a Basic or Intermediate Level of food safety and quality requirements.
Scope of Assignment
The USAID funded Farmer-to-Farmer program is assisting host organizations in developing their skills and improving their food processing facilities through practical trainings conducted by food safety and quality experts. This will improve their market opportunities and increase their profitability.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a recognized guideline for identifying and measuring specific hazards in food production. HACCP acts as a tool to measure hazards and establish control systems that focuses on prevention rather than relying on end-product testing. Thus, the HACCP system is applied from the primary stage of production until it reaches the consumer for consumption.
This volunteer assignment will support a host organization that is a private company producing several natural Lebanese “mouneh” products including pine nut seeds, olives, olive oil, jams, and thyme. The company aims to enter new local and export markets; thus, they are committed to adapting a food safety mindset within their facility and are working toward meeting the HACCP requirements. The company is interested in implementing an effective food safety system that will ensure the production of safe products. However, the company lacks the needed information and expertise in implementing such systems. Thus, to meet the HACCP requirements, the host organization requires assistance in the following topics:
- Hazard Analysis
- Identify critical limits for critical control points
- Identify the monitoring procedures for CCPs
- Identify corrective actions
- Establish verification procedures
- Establish record keeping and documentation.
Objectives and Outcomes of the Assignment
Objective:
- To train the host on the HACCP principles above To guide and set HACCP plans for pine nuts, thyme, honey and olive oil
- To increase the host knowledge and knowhow on hazards, critical control points and prevention methods.
Outcome:
- Host staff trained on applying HACCP principles
- Increased host knowhow on HACCP requirements and implementation
- HACCP principles adopted
Deliverables
Each volunteer must submit a Final Report to the F2F Program, which includes the following sections:
- A summary of tasks and observations from site visits
- HACCP flowcharts and plan
- A list of 3-5 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.
- A section listing the assignment objectives above and how they were met or why they were not met.
- A short summary of the assignment with relevant photos that can be posted on the F2F volunteer blog.
Qualifications
The recruited volunteer is expected to have the following skills and qualifications:
- Educational Background: Food Science, or equivalent
- More than 10 years of practical knowledge and experience in implementing food safety inspections.
- Experience in implementing HACCP for food processing facilities
- Familiar with Food Safety Management System documentation requirements
- Training Skills, including training in group settings.
- Good writing and computer skills
- Familiar with conducting trainings through translators/interpreters
