Project Officer- Livelihood and Resilience (01 Position) At Food for the Hungry

EXCITING CAREER

Food for the Hungry (FH/U) is a Christian international relief and development organization that has been working in Uganda since 1989. FH is currently operating programs in Asia, Latin America and Africa with support offices in the UK, Canada, Switzerland, United States of America and Japan. FH’s primary goal is to end all forms of poverty World-wide. FH promotes practice of performance, accountability, and risk management in line with FH’s “Transforming Field Experience (TFE)” re-imagination initiative. In Uganda, FH is operational in the Districts of Adjumani, Kitgum, Lamwo, Kween, Mbale, Namutumba and Amudat Districts implementing programs in four main sectors of Education; Food Security and Livelihoods; Health/Nutrition and Disaster Risk Reduction; with the Head office located in Kampala.

FH Culture:

All we do, and how we do it, seeks to promote God’s beauty, goodness, and truth in a broken world. As such, we are defined by our ability to make people’s lives measurably better; our ability to deliver impact is the measure of our collective success. For we know that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has already prepared in advance for us to do. At Food for the Hungry, we operate under a set of values called Heartbeat Values.

EXTERNAL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

FH/Uganda is actively seeking for a qualified candidate committed to its Heartbeat and Corporate Strategy to fill the career openings below;

1. Job Title: Project Officer- Livelihood and Resilience (01 Position)

Position Type: Full Time National Staff

Location: Namutumba

Reports to: Program Area Manager

Contract Length: 17 months

Position Summary:

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Program Area Manager (PAM), Supervise all livelihoods and Resilience project activities to ensure the project stays on budget, scope and time; Ensure the L&R project is implemented in line with FH’s L&R technical program and strategy. Provide training and technical assistance to farmer groups, cooperatives, VSLAs and exhaustively monitor project implementation. This includes conducting surveys and assessments to determine training needs, mobilizing and sensitizing communities and stakeholders, forming participants’ groups, designing and conducting training of project participants in Climate Smart Agriculture, business skills and essential Nutrition Practices, and post-harvest handling, supervision of the provision of seeds, tools, and other inputs. Visit/follow up of crop development, creation of market linkages, and periodically advise/support beneficiaries to ensure successful implementation of the project according to project design document and result framework.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Key Result #1: Project planning and implementation

• Lead in project design, innovation and delivery of L&R project on time, budget and scope.
• In cooperation with the community leaders, set criterion and select beneficiary households
• Mobilize farmer groups/market association into value chain model and extension delivery to farmer groups, and VSLA at the sub county level.
• Promote systems thinking and delivery of resilience and community empowerment approaches such Climate Smart Agriculture, livestock solidarity chains, Entrepreneurship, market systems, micro-finance, enterprise development, cost-sharing initiatives
• Register and keep clear profiles of all targeted and registered project beneficiaries
• Plan for and train selected farmers’ Association in technical areas (value chain development, animal and pastoral development, Kitchen Gardening, Horticulture, institutional group development, Natural Resources Management, Agronomy, Post-Harvest Handling/Marketing and essential household nutrition practices
• Supervise the establishment of demonstration plots and sites through sustainable extension approaches that empower farmers and put them at the front of technology transfer such as Participatory Agricultural Cascade Extension (PACE)
• Ensure the effective establishment of market linkages for farmers through mobile technology.
• Establish groups of project participants to form VSLA (Village Savings and loan) groups. Carry out the training on FH’s VSLA methodology and regularly monitor the group’s savings activities on their transition to economic groups.
• Support digital innovation technologies for delivery of project interventions including digitizing VSLA groups and agric value chains

Key Result #2: Stakeholders Engagement, networking and collaboration

• Mobilize and facilitate the engagements of stakeholders during planning and development meetings, workshops and other fora.
• Engagement with key stakeholders for influence, learning and resource development
• Actively represent FHU in field level inter-agency fora.
• Engage and build relationships with key partners and government counterparts.
• Collaborate and guide field level advocacy campaigns for children, adolescents and youths, as appropriate.
• Network & collaborate with District Local Government, OPM, UNHCR and other relevant stakeholders in the Program Area.

Key Result #3: Monitoring, reporting and documentation

• Conduct surveys and needs assessment to determine actual training
• Co-lead together with the MEAL officer assessments, surveys, evaluations, post-distribution monitoring, pre and post training assessments.
• Ensure proper documentation of plans, reports and other important documents for future use and reference.
• Writes and submits comprehensive monthly progress reports, specific activity reports, and any other reports when necessary to his/her supervisor in a timely manner.
• Annual review of progress towards project objectives;
• Take lead in field documentation and sharing of best practices to promote learning.
• Organize quarterly review meetings for communities at project sites to reflect on project approaches, tools, impact of interventions, best practices, exit and sustainability strategies as well as create spaces and opportunities for action-learning
• Prepare high quality reports, both narrative and quantitative information and reporting on relevant indicators and outcomes. Ensure that all reports are delivered according to quality standards and are always submitted on time as per FHU and Donor standards.
• Take lead in documentation and sharing of Impact/success stories and best practices to promote learning.

Key Result #4: Child, Adolescent and youth participation

• Ensure a strict compliance to the FH child safeguarding practices with respect to the child protection policy, PSEA/code of conduct at all times; monitoring and reporting on compliance to C-SAFE policy standards in the project/project area.
• Sensitize children including most vulnerable, guardians/parents and other stakeholders about children’s rights and responsibilities.
• Monitor the wellbeing and child abuse cases and report any incidents in line with child protection policy and guidelines.
• Work with local leaders to protect children from child violations and abuses
• Facilitate effective and meaningful participation of children as agents of change in all project interventions/processes in line with FH Child, Y&A Participation strategy and guidelines

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Agri-business, Animal husbandry, Forestry, environment, energy conservation, Food science and relevant work experience
• A postgraduate qualification in a relevant field is an added advantage.
• Typically, 4+ years of experience in program management, compliance, and financial management experience. Experience with working with private and institutional donors.
• Non-profit ministry experience is a plus. Program leadership experience that includes risk and compliance management, financial, and opportunity development
• Knowledge in value chain development, income generating activities and VSLA is desirable.
• Experience in teaching /training adult learners. Training in basic household nutrition practices will be added advantage.
• Experience in the practices, principles and operations associated with modern agricultural production including knowledge of agro ecology.

Language:

• Proficiency in spoken and written English is essential.