Two State Agropastoral And Rural Development Officers - Kismayo and Baidoa

Federal Government of Somalia

Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation

Post title: Two State Agropastoral and rural development officers, State Programme Coordination Unit

Name of Project: Rural Livelihoods Resilience Programme (RLRP)

Duty station: State Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Kismayo, Jubbaland and Baidoa South west States.

Note: Please specify the position you are applying for, such as Jubbaland State Agropastoral and rural development officer or Southwest State Agropastoral and rural development officer. Failure to specify will result disqualification.

Background:

The Rural Livelihoods Resilience Programme (RLRP) is an 8 year project and the lead agency for the Programme is the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MAI), Federal Government of Somalia. The project’s goal is “improved and resilient livelihoods of rural smallholders in Somalia”. The Programme Development Objective (PDO) is” to sustainably increase productivity, incomes and nutrition security and enhance the resilience of rural smallholder families in Somalia. The RLRP has 3 components: component 1 Suppoet to community resilience; component 2 support to smallholder livelihoods; component 3 Programme coordination and capacity building.

The RLRP’s primary target groups will be 30,000 poor small-scale agro-pastoral households (HHs. RLRP will further include proportions for vulnerable groups including IDPs (15 percent), women headed HHs (30 percent) and persons with disabilities based on prevalence.

The RLRP is a nationwide programme. It will focus its comprehensive efforts on five Federal Member States (FMS) of Puntland, Galmudug, Jubaland, Hirshabelle, and Southwest State. Implementation will be sequenced, starting with the initial two FMS of Jubaland and South West, and a total of five regions in the two states: Jubbaland: Gedo and Lower Juba; and South West: Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation implements the Rural Livelihood and Resilience Program (RLRP). The program aims to enhance the livelihoods and resilience of rural communities. It focuses on promoting sustainable agricultural practices, diversifying income sources, and improving market access for farmers. Additionally, the RLRP works to build resilience by implementing measures such as water conservation, climate-smart agricultural techniques, and disaster preparedness. Community participation and empowerment are key program elements, fostering social cohesion and ownership of development initiatives. The Ministry strengthens institutional capacity to ensure effective implementation and long-term program sustainability.

The National Programme Coordination Unit (NPCU), reporting to the MoAI, will be responsible for day to day management of the Programme and will be in charge of planning, coordination, monitoring nd evaluation, financial management and procurement fuctions. In each state of intervention of the RLRP, a state programme coordination unit will be established. The State Programme Coordination Unit includes Agropastoralist and rural development officer, reporting to the State Project Coordinator and the Agropastoralist and rural development specialist in the National Programme Coordination Unit. The position of Agropastoralist and rural development officer will be filled through a competitive recruitment process. Implementation of RLRP is sequenced and the recruitment at state level is now for Jubbaland and South West States.

Job Description

The role of the Agropastoralist and rural development officer is to coordinate implementation of component 2 of the Rural Livelihoods Resilience Programme at state level. In close collaboration with the other team members of the State Programme Coordination Unit and under the direct supervision of the National Programme Coordinator and the Agropastoralist and rural development specialist of the National Programme Coordination Unit, s/he will carry out the following duties:

a.     Coordinate state level project activities to build the capacity of local communities in crop production and marketing (e.g., adoption of good practices and farming techniques, including climate resilient agricultural practices to increase productivity; access to and use of quality inputs, including seed and planting materials);

b.    Coordinate the state level project activities to build the capacity of local communities in animal production and marketing (e.g., adoption of climate resilient animal husbandry practices to increase productivity; access to and use of quality inputs, including improved breeding stock and animal health facilities; (iii) fodder production for own use or as a business);

c.     Engage with private sector for pluralistic extension services and market linkages as per technical guidance provided by the Agropastoralist and rural development Specialist;

d.    Coordinate activities to build entrepreneurship skills for targeted beneficiaries.

e.     Assist Agropastoralist and rural development Specialist to coordinate the recruitment of services providers to support the project component 2 activities- Research, NGOs, private sector

f.      Contribute to the preparation of the state level Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB)

g.     Coordinate support from relevant technical departments, states and research to relevant project activities

h.    Contribute to drafting project progress reports through consolidation of reports from partners supporting the project

a)    Assist the M&E Officer of the State Programme Coordination Unit in the collecting data and contributing to the drafting of the progress reports with focus on activities and outputs generated by component 2 at state level;

b)    Carry out any other tasks requested by the State Programme Coordnator.

•      Bachelor degree in agricultural sciences majoring in crops or animal science.

•      5 to 8 years of working experience with in agro-pastoral systems and market linkages in the Somalia context.

•      Demonstrated capacity to interact with a wide range of public and private sector representatives with at least 3 years coordinating with public sector services research an extension) and at least 2 years coordinating with private sector entities.

•      Excellent and writing communication skills - including fluency in English

•      Competency in Microsoft Office.

Duration: The initial contract will be for one year with a six-month probation period, renewable every year on continued satisfactory performance.

If your qualifications and experience meet this job requirement, please submit a written application letter and C.V and copy of academic qualification in one document, not three separate attachments quoting your name, the job title including daytime contact phone numbers, as well as the names and contact information of three references to reach the below-mentioned by 17:00 on May 31th, 2024 to [email protected] or [email protected] Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Note: Please specify the position you are applying for, such as Jubbaland State Agropastoral and rural development officer or Southwest State Agropastoral and rural development officer. Failure to specify will result disqualification.

Previous applications are accepted but please direct your applications to the [email protected] and Copy [email protected]