Field Coordinator – Nutrition at Heifer International Zambia

Field Coordinator overall role is to work with communities to strengthen the nutrition activities and provide technical support to the smallholder farmer support initiative to collectively bring about social change, improve livelihood and nutritional security at household levels. He/she will effectively coordinate and facilitate implementation of the nutrition interventions as defined in the project document and also to work closely with the nutrition focal points in government line ministries to ensure the operationalization of nutrition mainstreaming in the program.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTER TRAITS:

Behave ethically; communicate effectively; creativity/Innovation; foster teamwork: compassion; generosity; humility, openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion.

RESPONSIBILITIES & DELIVERABLES

• Capacity Development of Groups, Cooperative members, public and private sector partners.
• Build the capacity of partners (SHGs/Producer Groups, Cooperatives/associations,) in consultation with the Program Manager, and Social Capital Development Training Manager on all aspects of Social Capital Development, Governance, Climate-Smart Agricultural/Conservation Agriculture activities including services, technologies, MIS, marketing channels.
• Support the establishment of nutrition structures in conjunction with the District Nutrition Coordinating Committee (DNCC).
• Facilitate implementation of Nutrition activities in conjunction with Lead Farmers, Community Facilitators and project extension partners.
• Work with other units to incorporate nutrition into Farming as a Business Schools (FaaBs).
• Provide follow up support to Community facilitators and nutrition champions on nutrition activities.
• Implementation of nutrition-sensitive interventions and training.
• Development of local fruits and vegetable calendars for the target schools.
• With support from other partners, facilitate the development of the materials and tools for Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC).
• Revamp School Health Nutrition(SHN) clubs in selected schools. i. Skilled and knowledgeable project partners and farmers with techniques on nutrition support interventions.
• Organized exchange/peer learning visits.
• Established, functional and Nutrition groups
• Established and functional SHN Clubs and school gardens in selected schools.

Monitoring Learning and Evaluation

• Collect data and maintain a good recording system on the performance of nutrition groups for inclusion in reports and databases.
• Evaluate and incorporate learning practices from the implementation of nutrition activities.
• Promote Community-Led M, L&E systems in collaboration with Project Management Committees
• Monitor and make follow-ups through frequent visits to participating households and communities.
• Prepare periodic reports and document best practices and lessons learned.
• A functional Community-Led M, L& E system in place.
• Conducted peer/exchange, Monitoring, and Control visits periodically.
• Written and submitted high-quality reports periodically.

Value Chain Development

• Facilitate cohesive market relationships among identified actors in the nutrition value chain.
• Train farmers on food storage and processing.
• Facilitate linkages between domestic and external markets with aggregation points.
• Identify and train respective value chain actors.
• Design and implement solutions to increase the availability, affordability, and quality of nutritious foods.
• Established network and aggregation point for farmers’ farm outputs.
• Mobilized physical assets for marketing and Value Addition.
• Conducted value chain and investment analyses for selected commodities.
• Established and strengthened linkages between the staff of the line Ministries, private sector (input dealers, processors, buyers, and retailers), and the farmers.
• May perform other job-related duties as assigned

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition, Agriculture, Agricultural Education or other relevant discipline plus three (3) years’ work experience.

Most Critical Proficiencies:

• In stakeholder engagement, managing local platforms and on how to improve dietary diversity at the intra-household level
• Demonstrated success in implementing programs with a measurement for results framework
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Very good knowledge of nutrition-related as well as economic aspects of agricultural production
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and be able to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team.
• Interested to undertake extensive fieldwork

Essential Job Functions and Physical Demands:

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to establish priorities and work with minimum supervision.
• Excellent facilitation skills.
• Computer literate in the use of common packages for word processing and excel.
• Licensed driver or rider.
• Ability to travel away from home at short notice and for long periods.
• Flexible and able to work independently to meet deadlines.
• Constant face-to-face, telephone and electronic communication with colleagues and stakeholders.
• Fluent in English and Tonga.
• Commitment to organizational goals and vision of Heifer Zambia.
• Mature and ability to resolve group conflicts.
• Sensitive to social issues such as gender and HIV/AIDS.

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