Junior Rural Development/Dryland Farming Advisor

Junior Rural Development/Dryland Farming Adviser

Climate Change

Contract duration until 31.12.2027

Duty station Addis Ababa

The Global Programme “Soil Matters – Innovations for Soil Health and Agroecology” aims to strengthen and scale innovations, processes and policies for soil conservation, soil health and agroecology at national and continental level. It will build on learnings from the ongoing Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil) which is implemented in Ethiopia through two projects: the “Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project (ISFM+)” and the “Lowland Soil Rehabilitation Project (LSRP)”.

In Ethiopia “Soil Matters” is funded by the European Union and will be implemented in the high- and lowlands over the period from April 2025 to March 2028. It will support the scaling of the lessons and innovations generated by ProSoil, specifically on Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) and agroecological (AE) practices. GIZ, in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) developed the Dry Valley Rehabilitation and Productive Use (DVRPU) approach – a holistic strategy integrating technical, biological, economic, social, institutional, and managerial measures to rehabilitate degraded dry valleys. Moreover, Soil Matters will support the establishment of commercial, private sector-based supply chains for agricultural inputs and services and the scaling of existing Soil Health Decision Support Tools (DST). Political partners will be supported to develop and implement a national action plan aligned with the Nairobi Declaration, adopted during the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (AFSHS)

The Junior Dryland / Flood Based Agricultural Advisor performs the following tasks

• Supports discussions on technical aspects of project implementation (farming system design, tree and crop planting, domestic livestock production)
• Advises and support communities for the implementation of dryland agricultural measures
• Advises the project on alternative measures to harness available moisture in dryland areas
• Undertakes identification of appropriate cropping and livestock practices in dryland areas
• Identifies the best available practices elsewhere for improving water use efficiency and agricultural productivity
• Develops costs assessment of interventions and prepare implementation plan of recommended measures
• Follows up and ensures proper implementation of dryland and flood framing measures and provides technical reports
• Reports on output/outcomes of implemented technical measures.
• Build capacity of partners and other actors in participatory community planning.
• Liaise the project with the national and regional relevant partners
• Assist in developing and implementing communication strategies and materials to promote the mission and activities of the DVRPU
• Promote best practices and success stories on soil health and fertility to encourage the replication of successful models.
• Support the establishment and strengthening of Watershed User Cooperatives (WUCS), including the registration and legal compliance of new cooperatives and field visits to monitor and support the activities of established cooperatives.
• Support data collection on rainfall, flood occurrence, and productivity to inform planning.
• Guide the zoning and management of farmland according to moisture gradients (Zone 1–5).
• Deliver training on soil moisture assessment, crop selection, agronomic practices, and farming system management.
• Provide ongoing technical assistance to farmers and cooperatives for improved water use, soil conservation, and diversified crop-livestock systems
• Liaise with GIZ Agriculture and Rural Development

Other duties/additional tasks

Assists other colleagues as needed in the project, program or office on request of the project manager

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Dryland Agriculture, Natural Resource Management, Rural Development, or related field.

Professional experience

• 0 to 6 months only
• The following training is a plus
  • field experience in community-based agricultural extension or watershed development and dryland farming.
  • Familiarity with flood-based farming, water harvesting, or soil-water conservation in dryland settings is highly desirable.
  • Know how about MoA, Regional BoAs, Research, private sectors, etc

Other knowledge, additional competencies

• High level of motivation, proactivity, self-discipline, integrity and accountability.
• Team worker
• Hands-on Training in the Coop management and DVRPU
• Readiness to travel to regions regularly and work in rural circumstances

Very good skills in English and Afarign/Somalign reporting and presenting (mandatory)