Each of the 17 indigenous communities that have a contract with the ASCIM gets a rural consultant. This consultant has a very general job description; he works under the Council of the Administration as well as the community, and he is the link between the Agricultural department of ASCIM and the community. These are the outward “posts” of the ASCIM, because they live in the communities and so they can best represent the institution in the specific communities. All the rural consultants or mentors of ASCIM meet once a month to exchange experiences and coordinate their joint endeavors.
The mentor works with the administration council of the specific community and together they oversee the different areas of production. The mentors, as well as the administration council, constantly receive support from the manager as well as from those that are responsible in the different team subdivisions (cattle raising, agriculture and accounting) of the Agricultural department of ASCIM.
Diverse responsibilities of the rural mentor:
- Counsels in the preparation and process of making a family garden
- Counsels in the process of the production of an income crop, like sesame seed and beans
- It is also the responsibility of the mentor, together with the administrative council of the village, to oversee the efficient handling of the ranch procedures to secure an efficient production, especially of one year old calves, which are sold for the best prices, and which are in high demand because of their good quality, as recognized by cattle raisers in this area.
- Another area of coaching is the administration of the agricultural machinery, which, depending on the size of the community, can be up to 5 tractors and their respective agricultural equipment.
Several of the communities have a large van to transport merchandise and people.In this area it is important that dues are paid and maintenance is made to keep the services functioning.
- Handling the finances, paying for salaries, the community accounting, etc. is all responsibility of the rural mentor.