GIZ supports the Ethiopian Government in various areas, increasingly also in the Ethiopian lowlands, which account for nearly 60% of Ethiopia's land area. They are inhabited by more than 18 million (agro-) pastoralists, and people who create their livelihood from related professions. Due to population growth and the increasingly frequent occurrence of extreme weather events, this livelihood system is increasingly put at risk and the people, their livestock and the harvests have become increasingly vulnerable. Extensive resource use like overgrazing and deforestation causes food insecurity, soil degradation, and erosion. The result are dry valleys, in which rainwater flows quickly out of the area before being able to infiltrate into the soil. This further exacerbates desertification and food insecurity. To address this issue, the Dry Valley Rehabilitation and Productive Use (DVRPU) approach was developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the Bureaus of Agriculture (BoA) in Afar and Somali regions.

The Capacity Development for Strengthening Drought Resilience (CDSDR) Project has started its third phase. It promotes the DVRPU approach with a series of technical, biological, economic, social, institutional, and managerial measures applied to rehabilitate entire dry valleys for the benefit of the inhabitants and their animals while ensuring environmental stability. Besides upscaling of the approach in other weredas of Somali and Afar regions, it will further expand its application to selected lowland areas of Oromia and SNNP regions.

The Rural Development Advisor works together and supports the CDSDR III implementation in Oromia  region...

 Duration of contract:   Until June 30, 2025

 Application deadline:  18 March 2023

 Required Candidates:  1

 Place of Work:              Jinka

Responsibilities and Duties

The Rural Development Advisor  is responsible to support the project’s objectives by:

• Assisting and monitoring the development and implementation of project plans and activities in close consultation with partners in Oromia region;

• Oversee development, implementation, and updating of the project’s work plan as related to rural development tasks, ensuring application of the market systems development approach

The Rural Development Advisor  performs the following tasks:

• Supports on technical aspects of project implementation;

• Supports the local communities for the implementation of dry valise rehabilitation  and productive uses  measures;

• Undertakes site identification, study and design of physical soil and water conservation measures.

• Prepare and follow up implementation of ToRs;

• Prepares implementation plan of recommended physical measures.

• Follows up and ensures proper implementation of measures and provide technical reports to partner Bureau and CDSDR III Office.

• Provides advices on Dryland development issues and the physical soil and water conservation measures to regional project team.

• Reports on output/outcomes of implemented technical measures.

• Keeps regular contact and exchange of information with woreda level in Oromia region.

Other duties/additional tasks

• The Rural Development Advisor performs other duties and tasks at the request of the management.

Job Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Rural Development, Agricultural Economics, Natural resources Management, Agricultural Engineering,Anthropology or related field of study.;

Professional experience

• 5 years practical field experience of working with rural development in arid and semi-arid lowlands,

• Excellent technical and working knowledge in pastoral sectors and drylands of Ethiopia outlined above; among these, knowledge and experience in pastoral/Agropastoral and community development is required.

• Strong technical and analytical skills in a range of issues of relevance to dry lands and rural development and integrated soil and water conservation approaches in collaboration with government services and local communities.

• Track record of commitment to teamwork and ability to interact effectively and collegially with peers at all levels.

• Proven ability of socio-economic development in lowland areas like soil and water conservation, natural resources management, l

• Experience with pastoral and/ or agro-pastoral communities in arid and semi-arid lowlands, preferably in Afar, Oromia, SNNP or Somali region; Understanding of impacts of environmental degradation and alternative natural resource management approaches.

• Experience in applying Community Based Participatory Watershed Development guidelines for planning integrated watershed development

Other knowledge, additional competencies

• High level of motivation, proactivity, self-discipline, integrity and accountability.

• Readiness to work in rural lowland circumstances and frequent travel to project sites;

• Very good English, Oromiffa and Amharic language skills. Other additional local languages in the surrounding are preferable

• Very good working knowledge of information and communication technologies incl. MS Office 

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates shall submit their motivation letter along with their recent CV to: hreth@giz.de.

Please make sure you mention the vacancy number and position title #046/2023 in the subject line of your email application. Applications without vacancy numbers in subject lines might be disqualified. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. We encourage persons with disabilities to apply for the position. In the case of equal qualification, persons with disabilities will be given preference. Applications from qualified women are encouraged. Please refer to our brochure to learn more about GIZ’s attractive benefit package.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für

Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

GIZ Country Office Ethiopia and Djibouti

Kazanchis, Kirkos Sub City, Woreda 08

P.O. Box 100009, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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