Farm Africa, founded in 1985, is an international non-governmental organization working in Ethiopia since 1988. Farm Africa works to end hunger and bring prosperity to rural Africa. We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make this happen by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry techniques so that poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their families and to sell. We help smallholders manage their natural resources sustainably so that they can withstand climate change challenges and shocks and ensure their families have enough food in the future as well as now. Farm Africa works in partnership with communities, government, local and international organizations, and the private sector to innovate, learn and share best practices for maximum impact of our projects.
Overview of Sub- Program Activity
The Farm Africa led consortium in Ethiopia is implementing a project entitled “Market-Approaches to Resilience” under the DFID funded global “Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED)” programme.
One of the key intervention packages of the project is provision of community friendly, regular, timely, and reliable climate information services (CIS) in targeted districts through establishing a mechanism for exchange. Taking on the experience of the BRACED CIARE program and adopting their established and successful Climate information service provision model, BRACED MAR plans to commence with the provision of Climate information to target Woredas starting May 2017.
Users of climate information in the BRACED MAR project are pastoralists, agro‐pastoralists and sedentary farming communities in two regions of Ethiopia (Afar and Somali). They are expected to make adaptive and anticipatory livelihood decisions on the basis of received climate informations
PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
The CICS serves as an intermediary between the Ethiopian National Meteorology Agency, partner radio stations and identified listener groups in the implementation of BRACED MAR’s Climate Information Platform. Furthermore S/he provides capacity building support to local FM radio including equipping stations with radio programme production equipment ; rewrites NMA medium and long range forecasts in user-friendly and context appropriate format; involves in the co‐production of programmes on agriculture and pastoral related programmes; facilitates the establishment and running of listener groups and dissemination of radios to the groups.
Finally the CICS develop further systems and processes necessary to improve user friendly climate information dissemination to target areas following the BRACED MAR climate information platform model.
KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Climate information Communications Specialist is the focal person to Farm Africa and Mercy Corps on the BRACED MAR Climate Information Platform. Below is the detailed description of tasks and responsibilities:
REPORTS TO: Head of Innovation and Programme Development (HIPD), BRACED
DURATION: 8 months (May – December 2017) with a possibility of extension.
PERSON SPECIFICATION |
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Essential | Desirable | |
Education, qualifications & other knowledge | ||
Bachelor Degree or above in relevant discipline | Climatology/Meteorology, Agriculture, Environmental Engineering, Journalism, Communications | |
Experience | ||
Five years’ experience in Climatology/ meteorology and or Climate Journalism | In-depth knowledge and proven operational experience in Climate Information Services and Early Warning Systems. | |
Experience in driving, managing or facilitating within an intermediary role | Journalism | |
Skills & abilities | ||
Has a relaxed and open working style, works well individually as well as in a team; reliable at all times; proactive and imaginative | ||
Relationship building and management | Including private sector | |
Network management and networking | Preferably in respect of innovative programme development | |
Highly literate and eloquent |
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Able to multitask and works well under pressure; negotiates and meets deadlines |
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A commitment to excellent support internally and to partner organizations and stakeholders; has a positive attitude and always looks for solutions to problems and challenges | Evidence of identifying and managing quality improvement initiatives | |
Excellent communicator – written and spoken | Effective presentations | |
Good computer skills | M&E systems
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VALUES
Farm Africa seeks to employ those who believe, as we do, that farmers can and will play a key role in achieving long-term rural prosperity in Africa and who seek to deliver on those beliefs by:
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