IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative helps to accelerate and upscale sustainability within mainstream international commodity markets, driving sustainability from niche to norm. We build ambitious public private coalitions of companies, civil society organizations and governments and high-impact programs in order to benefit people, planet and profit.
The Initiative for Sustainable Landscapes (ISLA) is one such program of IDH. In close
cooperation with local and global network of partners, ISLA aims to: convene public-private partners in multi-stakeholder governance structures; facilitate discussions about possible interventions in a given landscape, recognizing costs and benefits of different scenarios for different stakeholders; co-fund interventions to sustainably manage landscapes and share best practices and learnings with a global network of experts and knowledge partners. ISLA is currently active in six resource vulnerable landscapes around the world: South West Mau Forest in Kenya; Central Rift Valley (CRV) in Ethiopia; Tai region in Côte d’Ivoire; Central Highlands in Vietnam; West Kalimantan in Indonesia and Mato Grosso in Brazil.
The Central Rift Valley landscape provides a remarkable economic opportunities and
importance within an ecologically unique context to both local and international agribusinesses.
It is also a home to many endemic birds and a wide variety of wild animals, but also the main sources of commercial fish farming. Nevertheless, land issues, water pollution, ongoing irrigation and increased climatic variability have had a great toll on the ecosystem, subsequently undermining socio-economic sustainability of this landscape. Aiming to address these and similar challenges elsewhere in the world, IDH established the Initiative for Sustainable Landscapes (ISLA) that is implemented in the period 2015-2018. Joint actions that will be implemented by ISLA partners include, but are not limited to, reforestation, land rehabilitation / soil and water conservation, good agricultural practices and water efficient irrigation techniques.
The ISLA operates under the following fundamentals: An integrated and cross-sector
perspective tailored to the local landscape and local needs; Engagement of all relevant
stakeholders; explicitly including the private sector perspective sourcing from the area and long-term commitment towards sustainable development of the landscape.
In order to assist with the implementation of ISLA in Ethiopia, IDH would like to strengthen its team with one:
Program officer (PO) for the Central Rift Valley, based in Ziway, Ethiopia.
Job Purpose
The purpose of the program officer is to support the ISLA Ethiopia program manager in the implementation of the Initiative of Sustainable Landscapes in the Central Rift valley.
Responsibilities will include program management and administration support, such as
supporting development of terms of references and reports, managing contracts and logistical support tasks and support in planning, organization and coordination of events and workshops as required. The PO will also assist in maintaining a good working relationship with program stakeholders, and developing the strategy of the program.
The PO will liaise with the ISLA team made up of ISLA Program Manager Ethiopia, the ISLA Global Program Director and the ISLA Program Coordinator in charge of African Landscapes, the latter two are based in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
The Program Officer will report directly to the ISLA Ethiopia Program Manager.
Key responsibilities
1. Operational program management
Responsibility for supporting the development and implementation of the programs, including development of program pipeline, developing terms of references for implementing partners, contract management and reporting to the IDH team in Utrecht the Netherlands. . Support the develop of proposals and partnerships to raise co-funding for the ISLA program in Ethiopia;
Responsibility for supporting the program with gathering, collating and analysis of required information and data;
Support the monitoring and evaluation of the program implementation;
Identify and share, with the global ISLA team, key learning issues for the ISLA program.
2. Stakeholder management and networking
Build relationships with ISLA stakeholders and facilitate the multi-stakeholder process through group and bilateral meetings; Maintain the programs’ network and contribute to further development of the network.
Develop communication materials on project progress to update IDH, stakeholders and other interested parties at large.
3. Events and workshops
Support the planning, organization and coordination of events and workshops as required;
Ensure report and review of events and workshops is done and discussed with the ISLA team.
Job Requirement
Holding at least a master degree, preferably in environment, natural resource management, agriculture, agri-business or a comparable field of knowledge;
Proven experience with financial administration, budgets and contracts, preferably in an international NGO environment;
Well-developed analytical and problem-solving skills and ability to develop creative solutions in complex environmental, political and socio-economic settings;
Strong writing skills in English;
Fluency in spoken English and Amharic is a must while knowledge of Oromifa will be an advantage
Ability to organize and prioritize work, multitask and meet strict timelines;
Experience of sustainable development, policy development at a strategic level, within a local authority, government department or agency and/or multifunctional organization will be an advantage;
Experience in developing joint agendas with different stakeholders (e.g. Ethiopian Government, Private Companies, NGOs etc.) and implementing multi-stakeholder programs will be an advantage.