Animal Welfare, Community development and Livelihood officer
Category: Agriculture
Work Location: Southern Ethiopia Region Gofa Zone of Sawula project Office (with frequent travel to the Zala ,Ubadebertsehaye woredas and Target Kebeles of Sawula Town)
Level: Mid-Level (3+ years’ experience)
Employment Type: Contract
Salary: As per the organization salary scale
Required Number: 1
About ASDEPO:
Action for Social Development and Environmental Protection Organization (ASDEPO) is an Ethiopian indigenous, “Civil Society Organization” established in 2014. ASDEPO is mandated to operate in all regional states of the country and is engaged indifferent thematic program areas of intervention namely: Humanitarian Response, Education, Nutrition, Health/HIV and AIDS/RH, Women and Youth Economic Empowerment, Gender Based Violence and Child Protection, Migration/Human Trafficking, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash), NTD’s Climate Change, Agriculture, Urban Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Training in Addis Ababa, Gambella, Oromia, Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz, Afar, SNNPR and Somali Region.
Job title:Animal Welfare, Community development and Livelihood officerCurrent location:Southern Ethiopia Region Gofa Zone of Sawula project Office (with frequent travel to the Zala ,Ubadebertsehaye woredas and Target Kebeles of Sawula Town)Reports to:Project Coordinator Staff managed by this postAnimal Welfare, Community development and Livelihood facilitators at Zala and Ubadebertsehaye woredas
Main purposes of the jobs:
To work with the communities to identify, Plan, implement and evaluate ways of improving welfare of working donkeys and Mules, together with the livelihoods of people dependant on these animals and environmental protection measures
Duties & Responsibilities:
Project Development
Identify major issues for donkeys and mule welfare within the community such as owners and users, church groups, CBOs, FTC etc...
Work closely with the Project coordinator and zonal & woreda team in the collection of information on Donkeys & mules welfare, livelihood of owners and environmental protection measures as a basis for community engagement, livelihood and environmental protection interventions. This will include identifying and assessing local networks (farrieries, cart and harness makers etc).
Participate in the assessment of animal-based indicators baseline (ABI), assessment of livelihood at HH level and KAP of owners and users to inform local and need based programing
Participate in planning meetings to triangulate animal-based indicators and KAP baseline findings, and to plan The ASDEPO’s activities within the project area.
Work with the community under guidance from project coordinator to identify community impact indicator and assess the impact of the ASDEPO’s work against these indicators.
Program Implementation
Target and engage the Model donkeys and Mule Owners and followers based on the criteria set initially for awareness raising and behavioural changes to ensure the realization of equine welfare in the woreda
Provide training in basic Donkeys and mule welfare and management practice to woreda Development agents, Model donkeys and Mule Agents and Model donkeys and Mule Owners
Work closely with DAs to follow up weather they incorporate the training they received in to their extension plan to cascade to donkey and mule owners and identify any gaps needing further training and support (including development of visual and aids etc for their work).
Provide training and support to targeted service providers (feed, water, livelihood intervention etc) that have been identified as primary stakeholders as appropriate.
Work with rural based structures like FTCs and CBOs (like churches, mosques, schools ETC…) where they exist to promote better animal husbandry and management practices
Actively participate in the data collection of non-intrusive researches conducted in the zone and Woredas.
Understand the issues faced by the animals by monitoring their daily work/ routine ‘from home to home’ in collaboration with the Animal Welfare, Community development and Livelihood facilitators
Jointly work with the Animal Welfare, Community development and Livelihood facilitators demonstrating owners of mules and donkeys how to improve and adapt good husbandry and management practices; like how to clean wounds or resolve eye problems by themselves, using locally available materials
Participate in cluster, community engagement, livelihood & environmental protection meetings with owners and users to promote best practices.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting:
Facilitate monthly meeting with Model donkeys and Mules agents and collect monthly meeting progress report from Model donkeys and Mules agents
Applying the FTC model monitoring tools in collecting the change brought in under community engagement, livelihood and environmental protection measures in FTC intervention.
Work closely with the target woreda team to develop quarterly and monthly plans, that are derived from the project plan and implement as a team
Produce and submit quality monthly progress reports to the project coordinator with the ASDEPO’s reporting templates
Maintain and updated records of donkeys & mule, donkey & mule owners and local service providers within the ASDEPO operational areas.
Documentation, learning and Sharing
Coordinate and support Research works as appropriate (in collaboration with other teams/departments)
Ensure that best practices in the Program Area with regard to Community engagement, livelihood and environmental protection measures issues are documented and shared with relevant stakeholders (in collaboration with the project coordinator).
Ensure that key lessons from the programme are captured and documented, and used for programme development.
Prepare a monthly program update report and submit to the PC for publication by the Communication Department.
General
This has included, for example, owners of stone-carrying donkeys; fire wood and timber carrying donkeys & mule, cart donkey owners, donkeys & mule owners associations etc…to improve the welfare of urban working equines
Meet with the group regularly (perhaps every two weeks/monthly), to demonstrate how well they can handle their animals and avoid injuries, and how to address basic welfare issues effectively.
Ensure that any ASDEPO resources in your custody are managed in accordance with relevant ASDEPO policies and guidelines (financial procedures, fleet management policy, HR manual)
Ensure that the ASDEPO/TDS Community engagement model and approaches are promoted and adhered to in your work
The role requires regular filed travel, sometimes at short notice.
This list of tasks may not be exhaustive and will be reviewed from time to time
Job Requirements
Person Specification
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
Desirable
MSc in on appropriate field such as Development planning, Project management, community Development, general Agriculture or relevant social science fields (international development, economics, management, etc) .
At least five years of experience in Community engagement in government and NGOs, particularly in Donkeys and mules welfare, livelihood and environmental protection
Proven experience in programme/project developme
Proven experience in report writing.
Ability to work independently and think innovatively and strategically, as well as work collaboratively.
Proven experience of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and its application within annual planning processes
Commitment and enthusiasm for the Brooke’s mission and values in promoting equine welfare.
Knowledge of basic Animal Welfare (AW) concepts and the importance of working equines to households / the economy.
Experience of managing subordinate staff
Skills and Abilities
Essential
Desirable
Excellent IT skills, especially MS Word, Excel and other MS Office applications
Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to manage complex and sensitive organisational relationships.
Basic in English and fluency (spoken and written) in Amharic; speaking local language is advantageous.
How To Apply
Interested applicants are required to fill the application form through the following THIS LINK
Please provide at least 3 references related to your previous employment listed in the application.
ASDEPO strongly encourages female candidates to apply!
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview and exam.
Shortlisted candidates will need to submit other supporting documents upon request at later stage.
ASDEPO is not able to contribute towards any costs incurred by candidates during the recruitment process
Deadline
December 2,2025
For general information about ASDEPO, please visit www.asdepo.org
