Vacancy for a Young Expert: Coordinator Multi Stakeholder Platforms in the CIPA Project, to be based in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire .
AfricaRice and MDF West Africa are looking for a qualified and motivated Young Expert: Coordinator Multi Stakeholder Platforms for Capitalizing the inland valley potential for food and nutrition security for smallholder farmers in West Africa (CIPA) This is a position for 40 hours per week, hosted by the AfricaRice Center at Bouaké , with regular visits to the selected inland valley sites . This position is part of the Young Expert Program. The main goal of the Young Expert Programmes (YEP), consisting of YEP Water & YEP Agrofood, is to offer young Dutch and local professionals the opportunity to take their first steps in an international environment. The YEP program activities are in English.
Your Responsibilities The main responsibilities of the Young Expert will be: to Set up the Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSP) at the project sites to Facilitate the MSP meetings at the different project sites. to Coordinate the work of the MSP within their context and relative to CIPA project objectives and staff involved to Assist project staff in their research work More specifically, the Local Young Expert will: - Perform a Stakeholder Analysis and select participants of the MSPs at each site - Plan the MSP meetings and draw the agenda - Explain the purpose and focus of the MSP meetings and participants - Facilitate the MSP meetings at the inland valley sites - Ensuring participation of excluded or disempowered groups - Establish and entertain communications with members and project staff - Report on the MSP meetings and write synthesis reports to communicate outcomes, challenges and achievements with project staff - Prepare and give presentations on partial outcomes, challenges and achievements of MSP work to inform project staff and MSP members - Hold regular meetings with project staff and students to ensure alignment of activities and mutual goals, with a focus on the best-fit agricultural and NRM strategies to be implemented with and by the stakeholders at each site - Embark on scientific paper writing based on the MSP experiences, under the supervision and guidance of the AfricaRice project coordinator - Write policy briefs on MSP outcomes that have a relevance for policy makers
Your competencies:
Performs when working independently as well as in a team; A high degree of self-sufficiency and initiative, and the ability to innovate; Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to communicate and work with a wide range of people in a participatory, respectful and collaborative manner;
Your qualifications:
A Bachelor or Master of Science degree-level qualification in agricultural sciences or development studies like agronomy, agricultural water management, or rural sociology. ; Ability to coordinate and facilitate a multi-stakeholder forum Maximum four years’ experience related to the subject. Excellent writing and presentation skills in French and local languages; Good reading and presentation skills in English.
Assets: Affinity with farmer and natural resource based research • Experience with multi-stakeholder platforms or farmer-participatory and/or adult-learning research methodologies; • Experience in facilitating groups and meetings; • Experience in interacting and collaborating with government at national and local level, and other stakeholders for advocacy and lobbying A willingness to travel to remote areas; Available for a period of at least 2 years. MDF WA offers you:
A position as Coordinator MSP within the CIPA project of AfricaRice An initial 5 day training on Facilitation of MSP’s Coaching on the job An inspiring working environment, and a lot of personal responsibilities; Possibilities for personal growth and professional career development; Competitive remuneration; A one year contract with possible extension with one year; An opportunity to become part of an international project, with international consultancy and research networks.
Ready to apply? Are you a devoted professional with facilitation skills? Do you enjoy an international work environment and do you fit the profile? We are happy to hear from you! Send your motivation letter and curriculum vitae (in English) to the attention of Francis van Dusseldorp, Trainer Consultant MDF West Africa. E-mail:
[email protected]
Deadline: 10th of August 2017, interviews in week of August 14th The YEP programme in the Netherlands will have the final job/YEposition interview (via skype) with the proposed candidate by MDF. The YEP training program starts November 13th in The Netherlands.
AfricaRice and MDF West Africa have entered into a partnership in order to provide technical assistance and capacity building support for a strong MSP component of the CIPA project. This support is provided through training and coaching of the Coordinator MSP who will be employed by MDF West Africa. The Young Expert programme offers extra learning and support that accompanies the Coordinator MSP in his/her activities. Training fees and travel costs are covered by the programme.
About the CIPA Project With an estimated surface area of 190 M ha, inland valleys are common landscapes in Africa. Inland valleys can be defined as seasonally flooded wetlands comprising valley bottoms (fluxial) and hydromorphic fringes (phreatic) but excluding river flood plains. Inland valley (IV) systems provide tremendous opportunities to improve food and nutrition security for poor smallholder farmer families, especially in the face of climate change. Due to their general high agricultural production potential, these landscapes will play a pivotal role in attaining the regional objectives of food and nutrition security and poverty alleviation. Besides agricultural production, IVs provide local communities with forest, forage, hunting and fishing resources and they are important as water buffers and biodiversity hot spots. An estimated 3.75 M ha of the IV area (hence close to 2%) is currently used for rice production. With the current average productivity of 1.89 t ha, the IV area under rice would have to increase by a factor 11 (hence to about 22% of the total area) to accommodate the projected rice demand of 30 M t of milled rice by 2035, assuming the irrigated and rain-fed rice production remains constant. Following improved water and weed management, productivity of IV systems can however be improved by at least 1 t -1 ha . Our calculations show that with such yield increases only about 13% of the 190 M ha of IV area in SSA would be necessary and hence 87% can be safeguarded for other ecosystem services. Implementing such a strategy would, however, require an effective and systematic approach, to select and improve IVs and production practices with the highest potential and lowest risk. A range of methodologies and tools to characterize IVs and optimize their resource use have been developed and applied in the past. They have, however, never been tested in an integrated and holistic manner. The project aims to test and promote an integrated best-bet and best-fit land-use planning, NRM and crop production system approach in IVs to achieve improved use of natural resources such as water and sustainable food and nutrition security in West Africa. The project will identify 4 IV sites, 2 in Côte d’Ivoire and 2 in Ghana. At each site stakeholders will be identified and organized through a Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP). One Young Expert will be working with the MSP’s in Côte d’Ivoire, and another Young Expert will be recruited for this work in Ghana. Each MSP will probably have around 50 members/stakeholders. Partners involved in the project are AfricaRice (projectholder), Wageningen University &Research (WUR), 2 local Research Institutes and MDF West Africa. About MDF Training & Consultancy MDF Training & Consultancy (MDF) is a global agency with 30 years of experience in international co-operation and sustainable development. We enable clients (from grass-root to government level) to achieve sustainable results through building their management & organisation capacities. With nine offices internationally, clients taps into a worldwide network of local and global experience. For more information visit: www.mdf.nl
About MDF West Africa MDF West Africa limited (MDF WA) is a legal entity and a member of MDF Training & Consultancy BV (Ede, The Netherlands) and has been based in Accra since 2009. MDF West Africa Ltd is a multi-project organisation. At any given moment of time MDF WA has approximately 10 projects under implementation. The organisation has a core staff of 12 (2 junior and 5 senior consultants/trainers and 5 supporting staff), who manages multiple projects and assignments. In addition the organisation has access to more than 15 associate national, regional and international consultants, who have all gone through the MDF project management training and capacity development programme. As part of the MDF global Network, we have access to backstopping services from any of our regional offices and from the head office based in the Netherlands.
For further information about MDF West Africa please visit http://www.mdf.nl/mdf-wa About AfricaRice The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is a leading pan-African rice research organization committed to improving livelihoods in Africa through strong science and effective partnerships. AfricaRice is a CGIAR Research Center – part of a global research partnership for a food-secure future. It is also an intergovernmental association of African member countries. The Center was created in 1971 by 11 African countries. Today its membership comprises 26 countries, covering West, Central, East and North African regions, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda. Recognizing the strategic importance of rice for Africa and the effective geographic expansion of the Center – which was constituted as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) in 1971 – its Council of Ministers took a historic decision in September 2009 to officially change its name to “Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)” and to no longer refer to it as WARDA. Its mission is to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa, through research, development and partnership activities aimed at increasing the productivity and profitability of the rice sector in ways that ensure the sustainability of the farming environment. The modus operandi of the Center is partnership at all levels. Its research and development activities are conducted in collaboration with various stakeholders—primarily the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), academic institutions, advanced research institutions, farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations, and donors—for the benefit of African farmers, mostly small-scale producers, as well as the millions of African families for whom rice means food. AfricaRice headquarters is based in Côte d’Ivoire. Staff are located in Côte d’Ivoire and also in AfricaRice Research Stations in Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. www.africarice.org About the Young Expert Porgramme The main goal of the Young Expert Programmes (YEP), consisting of YEP Water & YEP Agrofood, is to offer young Dutch and local professionals the opportunity to take their first steps in an international environment. As a Young Expert you get the opportunity to gain experience in an intercultural environment and develop your personal goals for a period of 2 years. You are employed by a Dutch organisation (MDF), and work on a specific project (CIPA project) related to either Water or Agrofood. At the same time you receive intensive coaching, and attend training sessions and master classes in order to develop your skills. An example of the training programme can be found on this page. www.yepprogrammes.com Potential Young Experts can take the selftest to see whether you might be eligible to apply for the Young Expert position.
