Job Purpose
SNV, Netherlands Development Organisation, has worked in Ethiopia since the 1970s and currently operates in SNNP, Oromia, Amhara and Tigray regional states, providing capacity strengthening support in three sectors – Agriculture, WASH and Energy. Through its work in agriculture, SNV in Ethiopia supports the development of number of value chains such as milk, honey, oil seeds and edible oil, pulses, livestock and horticulture.
Horti-LIFE is a 3.5 years project (2016- mid 2019) funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), implemented by SNV-Ethiopia in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The aim of the program is to increase export and the food and nutritional security levels by supporting smallholder farmers in the horticulture sector. The project works in four components:
• A grant for companies who support farmers by improving access to inputs & markets
• Increase productivity and food safety. This is done setting up Farmers Field School (with DA’s) and training and supporting Spray Service Providers and Kebele Pesticide Advisors
• Capacity building of A-TVETs through establishing student plots and staff training.
• Support horticultural departments of universities in course development in the BCs curriculum
• Support MoANR to improve the regulatory system and capacity development of the Small-Holder Horticultural Development Directorate.
The project operates in four clusters of 3 or 4 woreda’s. Each cluster has a Cluster Coordinator responsible for the planning, implementation and achievement of the project goals in his/her cluster of three woreda’s. S/he supervises the work of the three woreda coordinators. S/he works under direct supervision of a regional coordinator, while closely working with the national team consisting of a international team leader, deputy team leader, senior horticultural advisor, an supply chain advisor, a crop protection expert, an agricultural education liaison officer and a practical academic expert.
In consultation with the regional coordinator, s/he will prepare annual and quarterly cluster plans, oversee project coordination, monitor progress and prepares progress reports to regional BoA and BOFED and contributes to monthly, quarterly and annual plans & reports for donor and SNV.
JOB ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Planning
§ Prepare and submit quarterly cluster plans and budgets in collaboration with the Team Leader and the national staff
§ Analyse and address critical issues in the existing horticulture sector activities in the cluster and the wider region and provide relevant information to adjust project strategies and resources to ensure progress toward project objectives
Implementation
§ Work with investors who have won a grant to support the integration of smallholder farmers in high value chains
§ Support woreda coordinators in setting up Farmers Field Schools and Spray Service Providers in organisational and technical matters
§ Organise the necessary training and workshops for the project staff, Development Agents and farmers
§ Ensure that 30% of the project beneficiaries are women who benefit equally from activities undertaken by the project
§ Facilitate the necessary linkages of national project staff with the selected university and A-TVET in the region where the project will work on improving some courses in the horticultural curriculum
§ Facilitate and support development and sharing of knowledge, new technologies and best practices among different VC actors in the region and contribute to knowledge products of Horti-LIFE
Staff Management
§ Organise, supervise and coach the woreda coordinators in the cluster
§ Provide feedback on the performance of the staff via the SNV-HRM systems and procedures
Ensure staff adherence to SNV core values.Regularly visits project field staff, promotes & encourages initiation of innovative ideas
Financial & Administrative Management
§ Provides input for preparing annual cluster budgets and ensures compliance with donor and GoE requirements
§ Ensure efficient allocation of resources and appropriate utilization of planned budget in the cluster
§ Review and Monitor monthly & quarterly budget expenditure rates in consultation with FO
Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting
§ Ensure project implementation is in line with priorities of the regional GoE and project requirements
§ Organize monitoring and reflection meetings with woreda coordinators and ensure that the implementation is on track
§ Ensure periodic data collection for tracking project performance and decision making
§ Write monthly, quarterly and annual comprehensive cluster project progress reports
§ Support the project M&E specialist in project baseline survey, mid-term and final evaluation
§ Regularly communicate with the Team Leader, national team members and other project stakeholders about project progress and challenges in the cluster and the region
Networking, Learning & Representation
§ Establish and maintain strong and genuine working relations with regional/zonal/woreda Agriculture, BOFED, Irrigation, Cooperative Agency, etc. and visit regularly indicated representatives to anticipate eventually bottlenecks
§ Establishes good working relationship with all horticulture related NGOs and projects, research institutions and projects, MFI/Banks and private service providers and private enterprises
§ Represent Horti-LIFE in the region at important meetings and visits of CSA and other GoE authorities
Education and Experience
§ MSc degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field (horticulture, plant science, agricultural economics, agricultural extension,). A BSc can be sufficient with an excellent track record of > 12 years and good references
§ A minimum of 3-5 years of experience in planning & implementation of agricultural/horticultural extension service and value chain development
§ Broad experience in capacity building, extension service, facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes, farmer organization strengthen, organizational learning, change processes, and strategy formulation
§ Familiar with gender concepts and mainstreaming
§ Familiar with national strategies, functioning of government/ public sector, private sector and farmers organizations
§ Knowledge and experience with participatory techniques, coaching, networking, learning, alliance building and team building
§ Fluent in English (official working language of SNV) and local languages
§ Computer skills and Motorbike license