Programme Advisor – Agriculture at Self Help Africa

Self Help Africa (SHA) is an International non-profit organization implementing food security and livelihood programmes in rural Zambia.  SHA’s mission is to support sustainable livelihoods and develop enterprising solutions for smallholder farmers. Self Help Africa (SHA) Zambia Country Programme would like to recruit a Programme Advisor for Agriculture who will be responsible for providing overall leadership, management, strategic direction and technical assistance to ensure that the SHA’s current and future agricultural and livelihoods projects/programmes are designed and implemented with the highest quality, and in accordance with the organisation’s agriculture strategy thus maximizing sustainable impact for smallholder farmers.

Duties

The Programme Advisor – Agriculture will be required to;

• Provide technical and strategic support to SHA’s programme for planning, coordination, monitoring and quality assurance of agricultural, livestock, livelihoods and natural resource management project interventions ensuring that farmer organisation, sustainable agriculture practices, nutrition, natural resources management and livelihood improvement issues are adequately addressed across the country programme;
• Lead agricultural and livelihood development components of SHA program focusing on diversification and sustainable intensification of agricultural production;
• Advise the Senior Management of SHA Zambia of new technologies and approaches developed by national and international research institutions, Universities, NGOs and private companies that could be utilised in SHA’s projects, and identify opportunities for collaboration with research institutions.
• Support, train and coach programme staff to meet technical quality, appropriateness and timelines as well as ensure its sustainability;
• Provide technical backstopping to implementing partners. Ensure training materials used in SHA programmes are appropriate from both a technical agriculture perspective and reflect good practice in learning for adults with basic literacy/numeracy skills;
• Prepare training materials, proceedings, policy briefs, posters, etc as deemed necessary;
• Lead practical action research projects on farming systems & technology adoption;

Required relevant Qualifications and Experience:

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s (preferably Master’s) degree in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Agri-business, Agricultural science, Livestock Production, Horticulture, or related discipline
• Minimum of five years of relevant technical and managerial experience in agriculture and/or livelihoods development, especially targeting smallholder farmers and farmers’ organization
• At least five years of working experience at a senior level in an NGO or in government or private sector with knowledge NGO sector
• Ability to work as part of team across different cultures
• Proven strong writing and analytical skills
• Very good working knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and general IT skills
• Strong skills in speaking and writing English with solid computer skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, power point and email,
• For more details on the roles and responsibilities and application process log on to: www.selfhelpafrica.org.

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