Regional Technical Advisor for Agriculture and Nutrition Dept/

Closing Date: Saturday, 25 June 2011

Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Requisition #: I387

Background Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the overseas relief and development arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was founded in 1943 and works in over 100 countries globally. The Central Africa region has undergone tremendous change in the past ten years. Emerging from years of conflict, much of the region is beginning to reap the benefits of peace in terms of increased economic growth, improved social services and greater democracy. Nevertheless, in most cases, countries in the region still lag behind much of Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of key development indicators and there is an urgent need to consolidate nascent gains to ensure lasting peace. One of the pillars of this effort over in the next 10 years will be Agriculture, particularly focusing around increasing productivity; enhancing access to markets; and ensuring that there is a strong linkage between increased agricultural production and improved health. The Central Africa Regional Office (CARO) is seeking a Regional Technical Advisor for Agriculture and Nutrition (RTA A&N) to spearhead these efforts across its eight country programs: Cameroon, Nigeria, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Chad, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The position requires comprehensive understanding of, and significant experience in, capacity-building of extension agents, rural cooperatives; and small holder farmers; agro enterprise development, agriculture-focused microfinance; and behavior change communication strategies for improved health. It also requires familiarity with the CRS “Integral Human Development� (IHD) framework, based on the Livelihood Security and Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) models developed by DFID, CARE, Oxfam and others. The RTA A&N will be instrumental in supporting multi-year assistance programs in Burundi, and potentially Rwanda, and for supporting strategic opportunities across the region in cassava, rice and other essential value chains. Based in Kigali, Rwanda, the CARO RTA A&N will be part of the All Africa Agriculture Team and will be directly supervised by the Deputy Regional Director, Program Quality (DRD/PQ), based in Kinshasa, DRC.

Primary Function The RTA A&N will provide strategic leadership and technical guidance and support to CARO country programs in support of the Agency’s Agriculture and Environment strategy and CARO Regional Strategy, with a particular focus on agriculture and nutrition. The position will assist CARO countries to develop high quality funding proposals; implement programming in line with CRS program quality standards; and promote/capture learning and innovation. Key Responsibilities: Technical Assistance: 1- Provide technical support to country programs for strategic planning, program design, and monitoring and evaluation in conjunction with relevant CARO Regional Technical Advisors, the Business Development Advisor and the DRD/PQ and the four pillars of CRS Agriculture and Environment 2- Coordinate the development of and/or support the use/adoption of Regional and Agency standards and guiding principles for Agriculture and Nutrition, including the CRS Agriculture and Environment strategy. Support CPs in the development of programs with strong linkages between agriculture production and nutritional improvement and build capacity of CP staff to design/implement such programs. 3- Collaborate with the All Africa Agricultural Team, the Food Security Unit and relevant Program Quality Support Department Technical Advisors to promote sharing of learning and identify relevant innovations. Ensure that the Region and Country Programs are documenting learning and disseminating using Sharepoint. 4- Provide technical support for Agriculture & Emergency, including support for seed system and seed security assessments and application of best practices in emergency response/recovery for both seed and vegitatively propagated seed systems. 5- Lead CARO region in strengthening the capacity of country program and partner staff in Agro-enterprise using e-learning tools and through promotion of the CRS’ 5-skill set approach to farmer groups. 6- Support country programs in the recruitment and capacity-building of high quality technical staff in the agriculture, nutrition and livelihoods sectors. 7- Lead Country Programs and partners in promoting integration of agriculture and nutrition in other program sectors, such as HIV/AIDS, Health and Education 8- Provide guidance and mentoring to build the capacity of country program staff and partners, in line with Agency Partnership Principles. Facilitate relevant sectoral workshops and trainings for country program and partner staff.

Program Growth: 1- Initiate and maintain collegial relationships and collaboration with relevant international donors and research institutions and represent CRS to relevant donors, organizations and institutions, where appropriate. 2- Ensure Region and Country Program staff is cognizant of new developments related to key donors, including the US Government’s Feed the Future and Global Health Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations’ Agricultural Development strategy. 3- Coordinate with the Business Development Advisor, DRD/PQ and Country Program staff to support development of high quality proposals and to position country programs for future funding opportunities. 4- Develop and implement a program growth strategy for Agriculture and Nutrition and play a lead role in identifying sources of public and private funding to achieve this strategy.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) 1- In coordination with the RTA, M&E, provide guidance to country program and partners in the design and/or enhancement of participatory M&E tools and protocols to strengthen data collection, analysis and reporting. 2- Assist in the design and implementation of baseline, mid-term and final evaluations and ensure follow-up of findings/recommendations to improve program quality of programs. Ensure that relevant reports are disseminated within the Region and Agency. 3- Report annually on country program achievement of the agro-enterprise indicators in the CARO Regional Strategy.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff): These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results. • Serves with Integrity • Models Stewardship • Cultivates Constructive Relationships • Promotes Learning

Key Working Relationships: Internal CARO Regional Director, CARO DRD/PQ, Regional Technical Advisors from CARO and other regions, All Africa Ag team, PQSD technical staff, CARO Country Representatives, Heads of Programs, Program Managers External External donors, research institutions, Caritas partners, beneficiary groups (including farmers groups, cooperatives, care groups and traders) Qualifications: 1- Master’s required. PhD preferred in agronomy, crop/soil/animal science, agricultural economics, or related field. 2- Minimum of 5-7 years working on development issues in agriculture, food security and nutrition with significant experience working in Africa. 3- Previous experience working in regional/global advisory role leading to positive impacts for country programs highly desired 4- Significant experience in small-holder farming systems, agro enterprise, sustainable agriculture, rural micro-finance, micro-nutrient promotion and behavior change communication; Strong familiarity or willingness to develop expertise with rural livelihoods models. 5- Knowledge of and experience working with the agricultural policy processes for Central Africa, including NEPAD and CAADP processes. 6- Significant expertise in project design and proposal development. Strong English language writing skills required. Experience developing/implementing Multi-Year Assistance Programs highly desired. 7- Strong cross-cultural & interpersonal skills. Experience in facilitating the capacity building of diverse groups of colleagues, including partners. 8- Ability to work effectively and achieve results as part of a remote team without day to day supervision. 9- Excellent written and oral communication in English and French.
10- Willingness to travel within Central Africa Region up to 50% of time, with significant time in remote field-based offices.

Foreign Language Requirement: Fluency in English; Strong Oral French language skills essential Disclaimer:
This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

To apply, visit www.crs.org/about/careers

EOE/M/F/D/V