Organization overview and the Project:

About Self Help Africa

Self Help Africa is an international development organisation that works through agriculture and agri-enterprise development to end hunger and extreme poverty. The organisation has programmes in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and also implements projects in Brazil and Bangladesh.

In early 2023 we launched a new five-year organisation strategy, which defines shared mission as the alleviation of hunger, poverty, social inequality and the impact of climate change through community-led, market-based and enterprise-focused approaches, so that people can have access to nutritious food, clean water, decent employment and incomes, while sustaining natural resources. Our wider organisation also includes social enterprise subsidiaries Partner Africa, which provides ethical auditing and consultancy services, TruTrade, an innovative trading platform in East Africa, and CUMO, Malawi’s largest micro-finance provider.

Our three core values are:

• Impact: We are accountable, ambitious and committed to systemic change.

•  Innovation: We are agile, creative and enterprising in an ever-changing world.

• Community: We are inclusive, honest and have integrity in our relationships.

SHA-Ethiopia is now seeking to recruit project officer who will discharge project implementation, monitoring and other technical support on Building a regenerative and inclusive food system for transforming rural livelihoods in Ethiopia financed by Irish Aid. 

Job Purpose:

The Project Officer has overall responsibility for the day-to-day delivery and coordination of the building a regenerative and inclusive food system for transforming rural livelihoods project. S/he will be responsible for achievement of overall physical and qualitative targets mentioned in the project document.

S/he will provide technical support to community development facilitators and field agents; mobilize and sensitize communities; and liaise with all relevant stakeholders. The incumbent will facilitate training and events planned for the target farmers within the project area. Moreover, he/she will assist the union/ primary cooperatives and individual project beneficiaries in delivering planned project activities within the specified project period and with expected quality standard. The Project Officer will have responsibility for monitoring progress and producing regular reports and updates. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Specific duties include, but are not limited to: 

• Coordinate and lead project field level activities under his/her assigned areas;

• Identify development opportunities and impediments for selected agricultural commodities value chain development and develop strategies to solve bottleneck and to capture opportunities together with other project team members and stakeholders;

• Ensuring capacity development training, crop/livestock production, NRM, business plan preparation and handholding of farmers’ enterprises d, awareness, business management start-up training, marketing, financial and digital literacy, value chain development, etc.

• Program management related to distribution of input provision and  data collection 

•  Conduct district/block level meetings regularly for project update.

• Support in preparation of documents for review and steering committee meetings.

• Lead and coordinate for meetings, workshops, conferences, training, study tours and related activities relevant to the implementation of the project.

• Compile and submit detailed monthly updates, quarterly and annual project reports to the project Manager within the set deadlines;

• In collaboration with the project manager, coordinate the operations of the Govt. community development facilitators, filed agents, and RuSACCO officer;

• Identify and liaise with all stakeholders and organise/facilitate stakeholders’ workshops;

• Undertake organisational capacity assessment of farmer/RuSACCOs cooperative/unions and gap analysis of selected value chains commodity production and marketing;

• Facilitate and follow up project target beneficiaries’ agreement between coops/unions and the private sector as required;

• Coordinate training on seed production for cereal, fruit and haricot bean/mung bean, conservation agriculture, pest and disease control, post-harvest handling and quality control,  and other livestock ;

• Support the establishment of revolving funds for identified VCs in the project area;

• Coordinate Training of Trainers training for lead farmers and government extension staff;

• Coordinate training to coops/unions in leadership and governance;

• Visit target communities on a regular basis to discuss with farmers their problems and experiences ;

• Participate in the development and the implementation of annual project work plans in target areas; 

• Accomplish activities planned in the project proposal for the target areas;

• Ensure all required data are collected timely and recorded both in tables and paper forms;

• Verify accuracy of data collected for tracking of indicators in the project;

• Monitor groups and individual project target beneficiaries application of knowledge and skills transfer from trainings for attitude and behaviour transformation, changes in production and marketing  levels; 

• Ensure gender, nutrition and environmental aspects are mainstreamed in all project activities;

• Establish and maintain good working relations with government partners at zone and district level as well as other collaborators in this project;

• Perform any other duties assigned by the Project Manager within the area of technical competence.

Key Relationships:

Internal

• Project manager (Line Manager)

•  Programme Team,

• SHA Ethiopia Country Office

External

• Local Government Authorities,

• Financial Institutions,

• Other International and Local NGOs,

• Private Sector Organisations, Research institute

Project: Building a regenerative and inclusive food system for transforming rural livelihoods in Ethiopia

Location: Kindo Koisha Woreda, Wolayta  Zone, SNNPR

Contract Type: One-year fixed term contract, renewable based on performance review and availability of fund

Reports to: Project Manager

Required Qty Two

Job Requirements

Qualifications/Knowledge and Experience

Essential:

• BSc/BA degree in Agriculture, Agricultural extension, Agri-business, Agricultural economics, cooperative development or related fields

• At least five years relevant working experience in community-oriented development work or cooperative development etc.

• Sound technical knowledge of haricot bean and maize production.

• Good inter-personal and communication skills

• Capacity and maturity to establish and maintain links with government officials, smallholder farmers and private sector

• Ability to organise and manage events like farmers’ field days, trainings, and workshops

• Computer literacy, particularly in MS Word and MS Excel

• Demonstrable good command of English and local  languages (both written and spoken)

Desirables:

• Demonstrate capacity to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time to meet goals in a high-pressure environment;

• Proven ability to work in multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder working environments;

• Experience working in an NGO setting on agriculture and rural development related disciplines;

• Ability to work and act under pressure; 

• Remain open to change and ability to manage complexity;

• Familiar with SHA procedures, possess strong supervisory, communication, team building and computing skills (word processing, spreadsheets and data-bases).

How to Apply

Please download the Application Form and fill it in using the following link  https://selfhelpafrica.org/ie/community-development-project-officer/. Then upload this along with your CV and a motivational letter.

Please note incomplete applications will not be considered for shortlisting.

Closing date is Thursday 05th October 2023 at 5pm

Any candidate offered a job with Self Help Africa will be expected to sign Self Help Africa’s Safeguarding Policies and Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

Police vetting is required.

All applicants are encouraged to read through the following safeguarding policies as you make your applications:

 Code of Conduct

   Conflict of Interest

  Child Protection

Women applicants are highly encouraged.

Self Help Africa/United Purpose strive to be an equal opportunities employer.