What's the context and purpose of the role?

Tajikistan is a poor country, where most of the people live below the poverty line, particularly in rural areas. In the past 66% of the population relied on remittances from casual labour in Russia. With the economic downturn, these have fallen by more than 30%, resulting in increased poverty and hunger. A mountainous landscape and crumbling infrastructure make it hard for small scale farmers to transport their goods to market. Products rot quickly in the hot summer weather, making it difficult for farmers to earn a living throughout the year. Poor understanding of the market dynamics of supply and demand leads to oversupply of certain produce, further reducing farmers' income.

In this challenging role you'll assist the Association for Scientific and Technological Intelligentsia (ASTI) in exploring the potential to process soft fruit. Dried fruits are the main item of export after cotton. It is a growing industry and has the potential to involve thousands of women and men living in poor communities. Your experience of working with candied fruit will help to introduce a new product in the Tajik market. Your technical skills will be put to use training local farmers, whilst you'll use your business and marketing expertise to grow this section of the economy.

What does the role involve?

• Training ASTI staff on the use of low-tech fruit processing technology to produce candied fruits (cucartes) out of melon and watermelon, quince, apricot and apple.
• Providing recommendations on further equipment required to produce high quality candied fruit.
• Guiding ASTI on supply chain development for candied fruit including production, ingredients, supplements and packaging.
• Exploring areas for producers to market their products in Tajikistan and abroad.
• Providing training on the storage and shelf life of raw materials and finished products.

What skills, experience and personal qualities are needed for the role?

You'll be a qualified food technologist with a relevant degree in this or a related subject. You'll have gained significant experience in the production of dried, processed fruit products. You'll need good marketing skills, which you'll use to work with colleagues to increase the market for candied fruit. You'll also have a very good understanding of the processing equipment required in candied fruit manufacturing, as you'll be making recommendations with regards to any new technology that needs to be adopted.

You'll be able to show initiative and work with little supervision. Finally the ability to work effectively with limited resources and retain a positive and flexible approach is a must for VSO volunteers, as is a good sense of humour!

And the rest...

You'll be living and working in Khojand, the second largest town in Tajikistan and the capital of Sugd oblast' in the North of the country. The town sits on the banks of the river Syr Darya surrounded by mountains in the green Ferghana Valley. Khojand is home to one of the ancient civilizations of central Asia and beside Samarqand and Buchara is one of the major culture centers of Tajik people. The climate is very hot in summer, cold in winter with temperate spring and summer months. There are several VSO volunteers being placed in Khojand, which will provide a social network for new arrivals. The city is very open to foreign guests and you'll find Tajik people welcoming and sociable on the whole. The city has plenty of teahouses, cafes and bars and is home to one of the most celebrated bazaars in the region where affordable and fresh produced can be found.

This is a short-term volunteering position for 4 weeks. In return, well provide you with invaluable training before your placement, a local salary, return flights, accommodation and insurance. When you return to your home country, we'll help you to resettle and we'll invite you to stay involved with us through campaigning, development awareness raising and fundraising.

Candidates should apply online at http://www.vso.org.uk/volunteer/ or call 020 8780 7500 for more information.