I am available to do consultancies of less than two months each with either non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or governmental organizations (GOs) working in agricultural development.  My fields of special expertise include a) agricultural development program design, especially the training and use of villager extensionists/promoters/paraprofessionals and the use of participatory technology development (PTD) and b) specific agricultural technologies such as soil conservation, soil restoration (through the use of green manure/cover crops) and micro-scale water management (including very simple drip irrigation, water harvesting and water storage techniques).  I have widespread experience working in ecological agriculture, but generally do not work in areas where farmers primarily use tractors.

I have had ample experience in Africa, Central and South America and South and Southeast Asia, having spent 12 years doing paid consultancies in over 45 nations.  I can work in English or Spanish, but will require a translator for other languages.

In the cases of consultancies in Africa and Asia, I am often able to combine two or three consultancies in one trip, so these organizations can share the cost of flying to those continents, and the cost of the days of travel.  I cannot guarantee this, but the possibility of doing so is increased if I know of the consultancies well in advance and organizations are flexible as to the dates of their consultancies.

My schedule typically fills up three to six months in advance.  Thus, the chances of my being available for a consultancy are increased greatly if you can let me know about six months ahead of time, especially if the consultancy is for more than one week.

I do ask one thing of all consultancies.  I do not believe an outsider can come to know everything about a program in a few weeks.  Thus, I ask that we can have a meeting about one or two days before the end of the consultancy with decision-making staff as well as field staff, to discuss the possible recommendations I have developed.  This gives me a chance to find out which of my suggestions do not apply or are, for whatever reason, inapplicable.  It also gives me a chance to convince program personnel of the value of a recommendation if I still feel, after hearing the reasons against it, that it is nevertheless valid.  Almost always, during a four to six hour meeting, we can all come to a consensus as to which of the possible recommendations should actually appear in the consultancy report.

If you wish to have a consultancy, or wish to ask me any questions about the possibility, please send me an e-mail in English to rolandbunchw@yahoo.com or in Spanish to rolandobunch@hotmail.com, with “request for consultancy” in the title of the message.  If you want to send program or organizational information, please include it in the body of the e-mail, not in an attachment.

I look forward to hearing from you.