Climate Resilient Food Production Specialist

Climate Resilient Food Production Specialist

POSITION TITLE: Climate Resilient Food Production Specialist
LOCATION: Designated Province Office of USAID Integrated Nutrition Activity
REPORTS TO: Province Lead

BACKGROUND

USAID Integrated Nutrition activity is a new five-year USAID-funded activity in Nepal. The activity aims to reduce malnutrition among women, children, and adolescents in Nepal’s underserved and marginalized communities. The activity is implemented by Helen Keller International (HKI) in collaboration with Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension and Development (CEAPRED), FHI 360, ENPHO, NTAG and Kaboom Social Impact Pvt. Ltd.

USAID Integrated Nutrition’s primary goal is to improve the nutrition status of women, adolescents, and children in Nepal’s underserved and marginalized communities. The activity will tackle direct and underlying determinants of malnutrition in Nepal while strengthening the national and local enabling environment to implement multisectoral nutrition programs through four synergistic intermediate results. Achievement of the purpose will be measured by improvements in indicators of nutrition status among women of reproductive age, adolescents, and children. This activity will be implemented in at least 45 districts across seven provinces.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The Climate Resilient Food Production Specialist will be responsible for planning and coordination of operations under IR3 (Intermediate Result) at provincial, district, and local levels. S/he will be reporting to the Province Lead and working closely with the Director of Food and Agriculture, nutrition and governance operation teams, and supporting/guiding and supervising IR3 staff at district and municipality levels.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Climate Resilient Food Production Specialist will work closely with the Province Lead, and IR1, IR2, and IR4 operation teams to support GON in implementing the agriculture component aligned with the Food System Transformation Strategy, Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS) and National Adaptation Plans particularly to improve access to safe, diverse and nutritious foods. The focus encompasses increasing and sustaining local production of nutrient-rich foods (plant,
animal, poultry and fish source foods); increasing incomes to improve diets; and increasing yearround availability of and access to safe and nutrient-rich foods. S/he will also contribute to achieving the results under IR1-Improved household nutrition practices; IR2- Improved quality and coverage of nutrition services for women, adolescents, and children; and IR4- Strengthened national and subnational government capacity for multi-sectoral nutrition programming. The specific responsibilities are detailed below:

A. Technical

• Contribute to planning, designing, and implementation of ecological zone-specific climatesmart agriculture interventions aligned with nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems approaches
•  Provide technical support and facilitate capacity-building activities including training/orientations for local partner NGOs staff and private sector partners frontline extension workers to accelerate scaling up proven models of climate-resilient agriculture
• Collaborate with and complement interventions of the GON, USAID Feed the Future implementing partners at provincial and local levels, and academic institutions (Provincial Agriculture Universities), and CTEVT to scale up the nutrition-sensitive and climateresilient agriculture programs.
• Support in partnering with private sector entities at various levels particularly the local level to foster private sector-led extension services, inclusive value chain, and market opportunities contributing to the creation of affordable diets, improved dietary diversity, and food safety.
• Facilitate the implementation of gender and social inclusivity policies and strategies that promote the benefits of women and marginalized groups in agriculture and food systems.
• Advocate for increased access to agricultural inputs/ technology grants, subsidies, and social protection programs along with livelihood-building opportunities to address structural barriers faced by marginalized communities
• Provide technical on-site coaches and supportive supervision to communities in USAID Integrated Nutrition implementation districts to adopt improved and sustained household food production practices

B. Management

• Support in establishing and strengthening coordination and linkage with relevant government, non-government and private agencies and other stakeholders at province and local level of program implementation in association with the Activity teams at the provinces and districts.
• Monitor programs under IR3 at local levels, and attend coordination meetings for facilitation and guidance.
• Support preparation of monthly, quarterly, six monthly, annual and other special reports as requested by the monitoring unit, or Province Lead with critical appraisal of the issues, implementation status, work plan and the way forward based on learning, related to IR3.
• Participate in contributing to detailed implementation planning sessions.

C. Operations/Communication

• Support the Activity teams during specific studies, field monitoring and training.
•  Support preparation of training materials and tool kits under IR3.
• Facilitate training climate adaptive agriculture to government, non-government, private sector, and Activity staff at province and local levels.

D. Other

• Support MERL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning) unit to enter data into the M&E database and in conducting M&E surveys.
• Contribute to collection, processing and documentation of data needed for monitoring and Activity planning and improvisation under IR3 and ensure targets are achieved.
• Ensure a safe and equitable workplace, create opportunities, and offer support to women and those from disadvantaged groups.
• Undertake other related tasks assigned by the Province Lead, and Activity Management Team.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

The ideal candidate will have the following experience:

• Master or equivalent university degree in Agricultural Science with at least 3 years of demonstrated experience in the operation and management of climate adaptative food production diversification and dietary diversity program for the vulnerable communities and women, or Bachelor Degree in Agriculture with major in Agronomy, or Horticulture or Animal Science or Fisheries with minimum 5 years of demonstrated experience in the operation and management of climate adaptative food production diversification and dietary diversity, program for the vulnerable communities and women
•  Demonstrated experience working with the government agencies at province and local levels, LNGOs, CBOs and private sector and other relevant stakeholders.
• Experience monitoring activities and progress against project targets.
• Knowledge of issues and opportunities in agriculture for marginalized communities and women in the Activity districts.
•  Demonstrable respect for all persons regardless of religion, ethnicity, class, or gender, with a high comfort level working in a diverse environment with a demonstrated commitment to professional ethical standards.
• Collaborative, flexible and solution-oriented.
• Computer literate with proficiency with software relevant to the job duties.

Language

•  Excellent English language skills, both in written and spoken forms, complemented by strong interpersonal communication abilities.
•  Fluency in Nepali.

The eligible & interested candidates are requested to submit their application ‘Online’ in CEAPRED’s website www.ceapred.org.np (career page). The applicants are also requested to mention their preferred province that they would like to work in their application letter.

Application submitted online only will be considered for further processes. Please refer to our website for detailed JD/TOR of the position. The last date for submission of online application is 5:00 PM on Friday, 19 July, 2024. The organization reserves the right to reject any/all applications without assigning any reason whatsoever.

We seek to cultivate an environment where all candidates relish equal employment opportunities devoid of discrimination, misconduct, fraud, and abuse. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and Localization guides our practices not just in hiring, but also in staff retention, growth, and policy implementation. This commitment signifies that we value diversity in all its forms including age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability
status, and cultural background. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, recognizing the rich tapestry of the communities in which we live and work.