Community Development Officer 146 views2 applications

JOB TITLE: Community Development Officer

PROJECT: Landscape-based Sustainable Forest Management and Coffee Value Chain Development for Resilient Livelihoods Project

REPORTS TO: Team Leader

REPORTING TO POSTHOLDER: Community Development Facilitator

LOCATION: Mettu, Ilu Aba Bor with frequent travel to project implementation site

DURATION & HOURS: Two Years and Ten months

ABOUT FARM AFRICA

Effective agriculture has the power to change lives. It underpins prosperity, food security and stability the world over. Farm Africa focuses on transforming agriculture and managing natural resources sustainably. We champion a holistic approach that boosts yields, protects the environment and connects smallholder farmers to thriving markets.

We work with different types of farmers in a range of regions. Their local situations vary, but the problems they face are all too familiar: lack of training and technology, inadequate inputs, no finance, vulnerability to climate change and poor links to markets.

We have an ambitious strategy to expand our work over the next five years. We’ll increase our impact, lift more communities out of poverty, work with more corporate partners who share our vision, open up more agricultural markets, provide more expertise, and make change happen.

BACKGROUND

Farm Africa drives agricultural and environmental change to improve lives. We are a specialist development NGO working with smallholder farmers, forest communities, local government and private sectors across East Africa for the last 30 years. With community engagement underpinning our approach, we design and implement sustainable solution to rural poverty based on evidence and best practices. In 2015 we reached approximately 1.8 million pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, farmers and forest dwellers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Farm Africa Ethiopia has recently been awarded a grant from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation to implement a project entitled “Landscape-based Sustainable Forest Management and Coffee Value Chain Development for Resilient Livelihoods project. The project will be implemented in four woreda of Ilu Aba Bor Zone, Metu Zuria, Becho, Didu and Ale woredas. The overall goal of the project is to Contribute to creating resilience livelihood through forest coffee value chain and forest conservation practice

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Community Development Officer will be responsible for facilitating and coordinating the overall implementation of Project, that is, to promote value chain development in forest coffee by improving quality, productivity and forest of the area for better income of the forest community that incentivize the PFM (Participatory Forest Management) in the area.

The Community Development Officer (CDO) will work under the direction and guidance of the Project Team Leader. The CDO will be responsible for facilitating and coordinating the overall project implementation and community/institutional capacity building activities at field level, that is, s/he will coordinate the project activities at Woreda level. S/he will line manage Community Development Facilitators (CDFs) based in project Woredas.

KEY TASKS AND RESPONISBILITES

1.      Facilitate and coordinate overall project implementation at Woreda level

  • Work with the project team and government counterparts to achieve the project outputs/outcomes at his/her specific cluster
  • Provide technical support to Community Development Facilitators and Woreda level technical staff.
  • Effectively works and capacitate with PFMCs to meet criteria for certification of forest coffee.
  • Ensure adequate consultation and participation of Woreda and village/community level stakeholders ensuring active participation of women
  • Facilitate identification of training needs, prepare training materials, and deliver training, business plan development and other services to CBOs and unions
  • Provide expertise and advice for community institutions on gender mainstreaming in project scheme
  • Provide direct community support in partnership with government stakeholders in those Woredas where the project does not have CDFs in place
  • Conduct other duties as may be assigned by the Project Coordinator
  • Prepare weekly, monthly and quarterly plans and reports and submit it to the supervisor
  • Facilitate the provision of community training as per TOT plan.
  • Facilitate and encourages active participation and networking between individuals and communities in recognizing problems, identifying solutions, and implementing project activities related to the identified solutions.
  • Carryout duties as assigned by the Project Coordinator

 2.      Facilitate and coordinate community/institutional capacity building activities

  • Facilitate development of Organizational and Managerial Capacity Assessment  Tool (OCAT2) in the project context
  • Organize periodical assessment of CBO’s organizational and managerial capacities using the developed OCAT tool
  • Analyse the results of the assessment and prepare tailor made capacity building plans
  • Ensure implementation of these capacity building plans in close collaboration with the Community Development Facilitators
  • Work closely with Cooperative Promotion Office, Union and other stakeholders to build ground for sustainability of the project
  • Contribute to familiarization of the OCAT application within and out of the region.
  • Ensure conducive working environment and enabling team spirit in the field.

3.      Line manage Farm Africa’s CDFs

  • Support Community Development Facilitators to implement the project at Woreda level
  • Hold regular meetings with the CDFs and ensure actions are followed up
  • Regularly provide both informal and formal coaching and feedback CDFs
  • Effectively and promptly deal with any poor performance and actively recognise and encourage strong performance
  • Actively seek feedback on own performance and effectiveness from Project Coordinator as well as project staffs.
  • Hold in-person supervision sessions with all line managed staff (CDFs) to discuss progress against their personal development objectives and work targets and carry out in-person annual appraisals with all line-managed staff.

 4.      Play an active role as a member of the Farm Africa Project team

  • Identify and explore opportunities to improve project implementation and guarantee it’s sustainability
  • Identify and explore opportunities to grow and expand the country project pipeline, both in relation to the current project (e.g., potential scale-up opportunities, replication in other geographies/regions) or related to new project opportunities
  • Contribute to the implementation of Farm Africa’s strategy
  • Participate in broader Farm Africa meetings with other project staff members, as requested by line manager.

These essential functions are not to be interpreted as a complete statement of all duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job related duties as required.

Job Requirements

  • Essential
  • BSc/MSc in Agriculture, Rural Development, Natural Resources management, Rural Livelihoods and other related
  • Knowledge of forest coffee and value chain development and Forest Management
  • Good understanding and firm belief in gender equality and issues in rural communities
  • Five years’ work experience in similar organisations
  • Experience in the area of organizational capacity building of community-based institutions
  • Experience with grassroots NGOs and/or communities in Ethiopia
  • Demonstrable experience of participatory development approach
  • Very good English language skills (written and spoken)
  • Computer literacy, excellent record keeping and report writing
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills
  • Good team building skills and the ability to work in a multi partner approach
  • Budget and financial management, training need assessment and training facilitation
  • Willingness to reside in rural/marginal areas, ability to work with minimum supervision
  • Strong sense of integrity and personal commitment to the goals and values of Farm Africa
  • Good community level facilitation and coordination skills

Desirable

  • Previous NGO work experience in rural development, in SNNPR
  • Experience in working with the OCAT
  • Experience in facilitating planning, monitoring and evaluation processes
  •  Knowledge of local language

How to Apply

Those who meet the above requirements should submit their short CV (maximum of 3 pages) and a cover letter (maximum 1 page) addressing [email protected] with the subject Community Development Officer by May 23, 2021.

 Documents cannot be returned and due to large number of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Applications are especially welcomed from female applicants.

More Information

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