Agriculture Program Assistant at the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN)

Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN) also known as Caritas Nigeria, was incorporated in September, 2010, as the relief and development arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). Caritas Nigeria is a member of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of 162 countries providing relief and supporting human development around the world. Caritas Nigeria's main focus of interventions are in Emergency Response & Humanitarian Services; Health (HIV/AIDS and TB) interventions; Agriculture & Livelihoods; Good Governance; Anti-human Trafficking & Irregular Migration; Institutional Development & Capacity Strengthening.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified for the position of:

Job Title: Agriculture Program Assistant

Location: Nigeria

Project Background

• The Building Sustainable Livelihoods for Vibrant Communities project is a two-year Agriculture and Livelihoods Program implemented in Ekiti and Lagos States, with funding from Conrad Hilton Foundation.
• The overall goal of the project is to build the capacity and empower women, men and youth through climate smart agricultural production, vocational skills and acquisition, and facilitate increased access to markets and financial inclusion

Job Summary

• The Agriculture Program Assistant, will work closely with the Senior Associate, Agriculture and Livelihoods and will be responsible for daily follow up of the agricultural activities such as liaising with relevant stakeholders, beneficiary registration and selection, inputs distribution and monitoring agricultural beneficiaries.
• She/he will over basic program implementation and reporting on agricultural activities and sharing programme impact and lessons learnt analysis with designated locations.
• The Agriculture Assistant will monitor and manage various Agric related initiatives and coordinate, plan, supervise the implementation of various awareness session, training sessions, collaborations with other CSOs/NGOs etc.
• S/he will also provide a narrative of the results on a daily and weelly basis to Senior Associate, Agriculture and Livelihoods.

Responsibilities

• Assist in liaising with various community stakeholders and mobilize them to ensure full involvement of community leaders and community representative and local government representatives in the overall implementation and improvement of project activities.  
• Responsible for beneficiary sensitization and selection for Livelihoods activities.
• Conduct daily project sites visits and monitor farmers to ensure adoption and adaption of good agronomic and climate smart agricultural practices for long term sustainability
• Participate in project reviews and planning workshops and assist the Senior Associate, Agriculture and Livelihoods in preparing weekly and monthly, narrative reports and other reports as required.
• Organize safe return and keeping of all equipment to the office after project implementation
• Account for all equipment under his/her program location
• Alert Agriculture and Livelihoods Senior Associate of issues in the field
• Coordinate and supervise community mobilizers and volunteers’ activities.
• Report serious indiscipline to supervisor immediately
• Facilitate post distribution monitoring and impact visit to projects site for impact assessment and success stories reporting purposes
• Proper documentation of activity reports           
• Provide regular and timely updates on progress and challenges to supervisors and other team members;
• Assist project teams with other activities, as requested by supervisor;
• Perform any other related activities as assigned by supervisor.

Qualifications and Experience

• University Degree or Higher National Diploma in Agriculture or related field
• Minimum of 2-years relevant working experience in the relevant filed. 
• Excellent skills in monitoring implementation of program activities.
• Managing resources and achieving results
• Ability to write reports. 
• Computer literate: proficient in use of Microsoft word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Ability to work in partnership with local communities and other NGOs as appropriate.

Additional Requirements:

• Strong sensitivity and respect for local cultures
• Professional manner in dealing with community members and co-workers. 
• Excellent listening skills and conflict resolution skills
• Possess good interpersonal, communication and organizational skills.
• Ability to multi-task and meet deadlines in a timely manner
• Excellent organization, planning and analytical skills
• Good writing skills in English.
• Understand and speak the local language (Yoruba). Resident in local environment
• Ability to work in a challenging environment.
• Ability to work as part of a team and coordinate with other implementing partners.

Application Closing Date
30th November, 2022.