Project Assistant (3 Positions)

Project Assistant

Cluster or office Climate cluster

Duty station Sidama (Arbegona woreda); Central Ethiopia (Gumer woreda) and Oromia ( Negele Arsi woreda)

Contract duration June 30, 2027

Since 2008, the Ethiopian government, namely the Ministry of Agriculture, operates the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) program to reverse land degradation and increase agricultural productivity in the highlands. The SLMP aims at reaching two million households in more than 7,000 micro-watersheds in Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz, Gambella, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray.

GIZ provides technical assistance to this national flagship program since its inception, at national, regional and local levels. This project seeks to institutionalize Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) at national, regional, and local levels to enhance living conditions in rural areas over a three-year period (from July 2024 to June 2027) in four regions (Oromia, South Ethiopia, Central Ethiopia and Sidama)

The underlying hypothesis is that effective institutionalization and increased implementation of ILM will yield more sustainable natural resource use and protection, thereby improving the livelihoods and nutritional status of the rural population, particularly in the face of climate change. ILM is crucial for supporting those reliant on natural resources, contributing to food security for the Ethiopian population.

Furthermore, Community empowerment of local institutions for the further development and implementation of community-oriented and community-based ILM approaches is crucial. This includes strengthening the bottom-up influence of these actors at national and regional government levels. The impact hypothesis is that community empowerment will increase the ownership of municipalities, local decision-makers, and interest groups, thereby strengthening the institutional anchor of ILM

Job description

Facilitate landscape development planning and implementation

• • Assist local communities and extension workers in preparing watershed and landscape level gender responsive and integrated land use and management plans
  • Facilitate the development of community and landscape level resource governance rules and conflict resolution mechanism
  • Facilitate the development and adoption of controlled livestock grazing management system
  • Facilitate the establishment and strengthening of community watershed user cooperatives and cooperative union
  • Guide, coach and backstop community and district level agricultural extension workers in preparing annual and multi-year gender responsive landscape development planning

Facilitate training, learning and knowledge exchange

• • Identify technical and institutional capacity gaps at the district and landscape level and facilitate the implementation of capacity development measures
  • Facilitate the establishment of learning sites for communities and extension workers on integrated landscape development
  • Facilitate knowledge exchange and experience sharing among communities within and outside the landscape
  • Facilitate targeted training of community trainers and community leaders and follow up training impacts on community leadership, participatory land use, gender mainstreaming and climate risk analysis and mitigation measures
  • Establish mentorship programs where experienced facilitators coach local leaders in planning, implementation, and management of natural resources.
• Organize knowledge exchange and skills training in ILM strategies, progress and technologies.

Facilitate networking, discussion and workshop

• • Undertake stakeholder mapping
  • Facilitate partnership and collaboration in the development of the landscape
  • Facilitate community-led forums and workshops to foster dialogue and ownership over natural resource management initiatives
• Create platforms for women to engage in decision-making processes and highlight their contributions to sustainable practices
• Establish networks among community institutions to foster collaboration, sharing of resources, and collective problem-solving in natural resource management.

Assist the documentation and dissemination of knowledge/best practice.

• • Ensure timely and quality data collection at landscape and district level related to the ILM implementation processes, approaches and technologies
  • Assist the documentation of context specific tested ILM measures
  • Facilitate the establishment of district and kebele level technical working groups for the documentation of ILM practices
  • Facilitate community, woreda and zonal level project progress reviews and evaluations of project performance by partner institutions
  • Support the development of innovative financing solutions for community watershed users’ associations/cooperatives to sustainably manage natural resources (Payment for Ecosystem Services, management and mobilization of local grants and contracts)
  • Assist dissemination of best practices through social media, district level discussion forums and strategic meeting
• Provide input and assistance to project M&E, reporting and administration

Qualifications

• B.Sc or M.SC in agriculture or natural resources management; Rural development, Agricultural Economics, Watershed development & management; Land use, community development and related field of study
• With a minimum of five years’ experience in community-based watershed development planning and implementation,
• at least 3 years professional track record in facilitating landscape development in the project intervention district,
• Experience in facilitating capacity development programs, training facilitation, familiarity with stimulation/awareness methods, community development works is desirable
• Experience in facilitating capacity development programs, training facilitation, familiarity with stimulation/awareness methods, and community development work is desirable. Including coaching & mentoring skills of local government bodies and community-based institutions. Developing case stories, success stories, and documentation
• Professional knowledge in English, and Amharic (written and spoken).
• Knowledge of the local langue is mandatory (Affan Oromo for Negele Arsi/ Sidamu affoo for Arebegona woreda)

Professional experience

• General professional experience: 5 years of professional experience in gender responsive and community-based natural resources management, watershed development planning and implementation, and community development.
• Regional experience: minimum of 2 years work experience in the region, ability to speak the local language is preferred:
• Other skills like computer (Microsoft word, excel, PowerPoint, digital communication tools – email, data collection tools, other social media platform etc.)
• Very good report writing skills, in English
• Motorcycle driver’s license and minimum 2 years of motorcycle driving experience

Other knowledge, additional competencies

• Self-starter and self-organiser, ready to achieve high standards of work, as documented through steady professional growth
• Time management and effective report writing skills
• Integrity, loyalty and self-discipline for remote work and time management
• Strong communication skills
• Team player with a focus on jointly achieved results
• Proven experience to develop and build good working relationships with development partners, government organizations and other public and private sector actors.
• Willingness to learn independently and proactively
• Knowledge and understanding of the SLM sectors
• Good working knowledge of MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) and ICT
• Ability to work with minimum supervision