Programme Officer at Solidaridad West Africa (SWA)

Location: Zaria-Kaduna and Kano

Job Purpose

• The purpose of the Programme Officers position is to improve food, nutrition security and livelihoods of farming households in Kaduna and Kano states, through the provision of agriculture-related community development services especially community mobilization, awareness building, training and advocacy and counselling services.

Key Responsibilities
Planning and leadership:

• Community Empowerment and Training
• Facilitate the implementation of project activities and monitoring
• Technical Support and Facilitation
• Facilitate the establishment of relevant community-based committees for project sustainability, beneficiary targeting and verification
• Ensure the intended project beneficiaries receive the required services to improve households
• Collaborate WIth the PMEL team to collate relevant monitoring and evaluation data and maintain an accurate database.
• Ensure that beneficiaries follow appropriate agronomic practices that lead to behavioural and attitude changes in cultivation approaches /farming practices
• Monitor households and markets for progress and relevant changes based on agreed terms in order to make
• Lead in Rapid Market Assessments

Programme Development And Resource Mobilization:

• Support the development of innovative solutions to complex challenges
• Support the field technical teams in designating the vulnerability targeting criteria and dissemination to communities, and local authorities
• Support programme implementation
• Work closely with field office level operations departments to ensure Standard of Procedures for programming used for implementation and adapted as required to each context
• Oversee information and shared learning across teams and ensure that monitoring and evaluation results are documented and understood as the basis for improved programming.
• Encourage active participation of and networking between individuals and communities in recognizing problems, identifying
• Liaise between the project and the community to ensure the implementation of programme,

Advocacy and Community Organizing Support:

• Develop networks and maintain relationships with other local CBOs INGOs, and government working on food security, ensure meeting agendas, participation and minutes are recorded and circulated in a timely fashion.
• Conduct community meetings with farmers, CBOs ensuring inclusion of all vulnerable persons especially women and youth.
• Effectively manage all data and Information Management needs and tools on the project.
• Pet-form other duties as he/she will be assigned
• Provides technical, organizational support and plays a facilitation role in the communities including promoting the awareness on agricultural technology and best practices, awareness creation and linkages and behavioural change through education, information and communication
• Establish and maintains a close working relationship with communities and community organizations to ensure that the messages are disseminated and understood at all levels
• Build capacities of the community and social institutions! groups in the communities assigned.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• A Bachelor’s degree preferably in Community Development, Agriculture/Life Sciences, Communication/ Media Arts, Sociology or other relevant disciplines
• NCE or HND with extensive community development experience may be considered on merit.
• Good communication and writing skills, ability to convey complex information in a straightforward manner in the local language(s) especially Hausa is essential.
• Strong interpersonal skills to establish and maintain effective working relations with multicultural and multi-ethnic teams, including working with partner organizations
• Strong facilitation and capacity building, mentoring and coaching skills
• Ability to synthesize and analyse data
• Proven experience in networking, influencing and negotiation skills
• Strong commitment and willingness to follow farmers through seasonal activities
• Fluency in spoken and written English Hausa and Fulfude desirable
• Willingness and ability to pick up new concepts , skills and approaches quickly

Desirable:

• Training in rural development, climate change adaptation mechanisms or systems, horticulture
• Experience with subsistence farming and or organizing and working with rural cooperatives
• An understanding of the value chain of common vegetables and the rural markets
• Experience in identifying and implementing innovative ideas in cultivation and post-harvest handling of vegetables
• Good driving skills especially with motorbikes in rural terrains.