Agriculture Program officer

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT 

Published Date – April 29, 2022

iDE, a global organization that advances market-based approaches in agriculture, finance, and WASH to create income and livelihood opportunities for low-income rural households, is recruiting an Agriculture Program Officer for its Birendranagar/Karnali Province. Qualified candidates are requested to submit their application along with a recent CV and photograph mentioning the expected monthly gross salary.

Please find below a detailed TOR for the position. Interested and qualified candidates are required to fill out the google form at this link: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1luqihZ27sR6jbiemkMc9fpYwiCF3TAVS3qk7yB9Gtnc/edit

The deadline for submission of the application is 5 PM, May 5, 2022. As per the gender and workforce diversity policy of iDE, female candidates and/or candidates from disadvantaged communities are highly encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for further process. No telephone inquiries will be entertained.

IFT Project

Terms of Reference (TOR)

For

Agriculture Program officer

Position: Agriculture Program Officer

Responsible to:  Agriculture Program Lead

Duty Station/Location: Birendranagar/Karnali Province

Contract duration: One year with the possibility of extension as per the funding availability

Purpose of Position:

The purpose of the position is to ensure efficient and effective management of agriculture-related aspects under the IFT grant representing different line agencies at the Provincial level to achieve the project results in time. S/he will be based in the Karnali Province of Surkhet district. The position requires a result-oriented, motivated, and talented professional who demonstrates integrity, leadership quality, managerial competence, and the ability to work with multi-disciplinary teams.  More specifically, the position will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Lead/ensure the field activities in Karnali Province under the IFT grant. The position comes with the overall responsibility of implementing and assisting the field level program activities, providing strategic direction and technical backstopping to the field level staff, and Community farmers at the project implementing sites, ensuring progress in line with the project Work Plan and targets and achieving expected outcomes and outputs of the IFT Project.
• Experiences in worm farming or worm rearing to convert waste, FYM, and other waste(Organic matters)products into nutrient-rich material (Vermicompost) that will eventually nourish the soil.
• Conduct market research and assessments on vegetable production
• Provide technical inputs on agricultural technologies, Livestock shed improvement, IPM, GAP, etc to farmers.
• Knowledge in vegetable gardening, livestock management, Composting, Vermicomposting, food security, and livelihoods.
• Demonstrate good agricultural practices in the field and guide farmers in adopting the demonstrated technologies.
• Support in designing and implementation of crop cultivation practices like demonstration trials on the effectiveness of the Vermicompost, Trico-vermicompost, Compost manure(FYM), etc.
• Conduct an evaluation study on the effectiveness of tricho-vermicompost on soil and crop productivity.
• Build capacity for the field team on data collection and knowledge management.
• Strong knowledge and skills in facilitation of the agriculture-related training workshop developing the manual and session plan. 
• Develop behavior change communication (BCC) materials for both production and consumption of a healthy diet
• The extent of relevant technical experience in the related areas and ability to manage and work with a multidisciplinary team.
• Coordinate and linkages with local government for facilitating governmental agricultural services, and improving agricultural practices for farmers.
• Coordinate with local government for incorporating successful approaches and tools from the Tichovermicompsoting activities of the project.
• Coordinate with the local government for the extension of proven agriculture technologies in the Palika.
• District-level Data Collection, Analysis, and interpretations of the results from the Crops IPM demonstrations trials and other field level activities.
• Lead and ensure in organizing training, workshops, and field visits at the Palika level, district, and provincial level.
• Represent the project proactively in different fora (meetings, Farmer's field day, sharing events, etc) as necessary.
• Develop the network and connect enterprises with local government and other stakeholders
• Ensure the monitoring and documentation of field level activities and share progress and learning in the relevant forum at different levels as appropriate and necessary.

Qualification and competencies

• Bachelor's degree in agriculture with experience of 1 year in a relevant field with excellent communication skills in both English and Nepali.
• Knowledge of agriculture technologies, Vermicomposting, Bio agents, nutrition, and food security.
• Ability to work in close coordination with the community and Palikas, Provincial-level stakeholders.
• Willing to travel to rural areas and work with the community lead farmers and cooperative members, Market actors. Agriculture Input suppliers.
• Driving  license (Two wheeler’s license is a must)