Agriculture and Livelihoods Assistant at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works tosave, protect, and transformlives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS' relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Agriculture and Livelihoods Assistant (Nigerian Nationals Only)

Ref No: 200000L0
Location: CARO-NG-Yobe
Job: Program Management
Schedule: Regular
Shift: Standard
Job Type: Full-time

Details

• CRS’ Nigeria office is implementing a 2-year, Germany government project entitled, “Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region (STaR)” in the North East of Nigeria. Through programming in agriculture & livelihoods, social cohesion, community infrastructure and local governance, the project is intended to contribute to the stabilization and reconciliation in the most affected regions of the Lake Chad Basin namely Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in Nigeria, Diffa in Niger and, the Lake Region in Chad.

Job Summary

• Under the supervision of the Agric and Livelihood Officer, the Agric and Livelihood Assistant will be responsible for implementing the Agriculture and Livelihood activities under the Economic revitalization component of the STaR project through partner staff in communities within Yobe state.
• S / he will carry out their duties with a focus on mentoring and coaching of partner staff. S / he will ensure that all activities related to Agriculture and Livelihood in the project are implemented accordingly.

Roles and Key Responsibilities
Project Implementation and Technical Support:

• Assist in oversight of implementing partners on the day-to-day implementation of Agric and livelihood activities.
• Support the Agriculture & Livelihoods Officer to provide technical leadership, guidance and capacity strengthening to STaR project in the areas of agriculture-based livelihoods activities.
• Work with the local partners to provide technical assistance to smallholder farmers including assisting farmers in adopting new technologies and innovations for increased productivity, quality, efficiency, management, etc. through tailored trainings and demonstration trials where relevant.
• Support the process of identifying and mentoring of community-based field agents (FAs) by ensuring good working relationship between FAs and government extension agents and mentoring FAs in becoming Private Input Service Providers
• Support in Providing technical leadership and guidance in the assessment, planning and implementation of Agriculture & Livelihoods activities of STaR in the Northeast Region of Nigeria in collaboration with STaR’s partners and relevant government agencies.
• Under the supervision of the Agriculture & Livelihoods Officer, support the design and development of capacity strengthening strategies, approaches and tools to support STaR partners and relevant government agencies in the area of agricultural livelihoods.
• Develop strong working relationships with community and village district administrations, local government institutions, and other existing projects within project locations.
• Support the Agriculture & Livelihoods Officer to lead private sector linkages and engagement including farmers’ linkage to output markets, capacity building for the local service providers like tractor operators etc.
• Work to deliver quality program and timely reporting of Agriculture & Livelihoods activities including ensuring the quality of Agriculture and Livelihood groups in target areas through regular field visits and spot checks
• Regularly brief the Agriculture & Livelihoods Officer on progress, promptly alert to emerging issues, foreseen problems and constraints or delays in the timely implementation of activities or any other factors that could affect the quality of the services and recommend and implement approved corrective measures.
• Contribute to the development of Scopes of Work for short-term technical assistance / consultants in the area of Agriculture & Livelihoods

Coordination and Representation:

• Work closely with other STaR and CRS staff to liaise with community members, including ensuring close coordination and synergy with the SILC and Social Cohesion community groups.
• Work closely with partners (GIZ, Private and public institutions, etc.) to deliver project results
• Ensure alignment with other projects being implemented by CRS in the region

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL):

• Support monitoring, evaluation, supervision, and reporting of project activities in the project area in coordination with the MEAL Officer.
• Ensure contribution to timely completion of project performance tools including detailed implementation plans (DIPs) and indicator tracking tables (ITT) as it relates to Agric and Livelihood activities and deliverables in target area.
• Provide regular support to Agric & Livelihood officer (using standardized formats) and reporting on implementation of field activities (weekly, Monthly and quarterly).
• Document the implementation process, lessons learnt and success stories in each year of program implementation.
• Contribute to ensuring accountability to project beneficiaries and local stakeholders

Qualifications
Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree in Agriculture or any other related degree
• Some work or volunteer experience in supporting community development and mobilization.
• Required Languages - English, Hausa,
• Travel - Up to 75 %.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Good time management skills with ability to work on multiple tasks
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions oriented and results-oriented
• Excellent organization, planning and analytical skills; detail oriented
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated strength in relationship management

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: Agriculture & Livelihoods Officer, Infrastructure Assistant, Social Cohesion Assistant, Governance Assistant, MEAL Assistant and SILC Assistant, STaR Feedback Desk Officer, and Yobe Head of Office
• External: Government Ministries Departments and Agencies, local and international NGOs, Local partners / sub recipients, local authorities, and communities.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)  
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.  

• Integrity  
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships  
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.