Agriculture Specialist

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Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

About Oxfam

Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. Together we save and rebuild lives in disasters. We help people build better lives for themselves. We speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality, discrimination against women and climate change. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can live without poverty.

Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation Oxfam.

Team Purpose

To provide assistance that meets humanitarian and long-term needs and reduces underlying drivers of conflict at all levels.

Job Purpose

To provide support to Reliance Livelihood (Programs as a part of the Anbar BMZ team for our areas of operation in Anbar. Key areas of intervention will include agriculture activities, value chain, women empowerment and advocacy.

Core Details

Location:

Anbar

Our package:

Internal Grade:

D2

Contract type:

Fixed term

Hours of work:

40 hours per week. This is a full-time role.

This role reports to:

Livelihood Project Manager

Staff reporting to this post:

N/A

Annual budget for the post:

N/A

Key relationships/interactions:

Have teamwork with all the sectors

Project Description: Oxfam is implementing a project entitled “Contributing to Economic Resilience in Central Iraq” with the financial support of BMZ. The agriculture sector is a vital to Iraq’s economy but today accounts for less than nine percent of the country’s GDP. The size and productivity of the agricultural sector has been affected by decades of conflict, availability of cheap imports and a lack of government policies to effectively manage, protect or preserve Iraq’s natural resources. There are good reasons to believe that the agriculture sector could be a driver of economic growth in post-conflict Iraq in ways that favour the poorest populations. The objective of the project is to strengthen economic resilience of agriculture and food market systems to contribute towards social and structural economic empowerment of communities and public private partners (C3P) in Central Iraq is managed and implemented by Oxfam in Iraq at country level. Supporting smallholder farming families and promoting linkages with market actors are of particular focus of the project. An Agricultural Specialist will focus on the main responsibilities as below:

key Responsibilities

• The Agriculture and food specialist will work closely in value chain knowledge and skill development of representative staff from Directorate of Agriculture (DoA), Labor Vocational Training Directorate (LVTD) and Farmers Association Union (FAU) in Anbar to ensure of implementation of join responsibilities according to the already signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) among these parties and Oxfam.
• With coordination to Community Action Groups (CAGs), district level governorate, DoA, LVTD, Agricultural Advisory Office (AAO) of the University of Anbar and our other MoU parties to support establishing farmers field schools (FFS) at district/sub-district level in order to conduct trainings, raise awareness and promote the adaptation of climate resilient approaches and technologies to enhance crops and livestock production and farming technologies.
• Liaise and coordinate with DoA, LVTD, AAO and relevant stakeholders on the existing practices and principles on FFS and Business Center approaches.
• Together with LVTD to support targeted SME’s beneficiaries of the selected areas whose business are associated with agricultural practices and marketing.
• Support on-farm demonstration plots in FFS that will be used to share ideas and experiences so that Good Agricultural Practices and Farming Technologies can be tested to improve productivity.
• Together with Emergency Food Security and Vulnerable Livelihoods (EFSVL) team to plan and, responsible for technical implementing of the FFS and Business Center approaches.
• Work closely with the DoA, LVTD, AAO, FUA and CAGs to train current extension agents and the agents in LVTD as ToT to train farmers and SMEs with emphasize to increase number of women’s extension workers. This will be led to facilitate development of pro-women’s value chains in agriculture markets.
• In coordination with DoA and LVTD and with support of SME’s consultant to seek Women’s SSP and SMEs and conduct training to improve their skills on GAP, production and agri-business management skills.
• In coordination with DoA and AAO to launch application to hire fresh graduate youth and women, provide vocational training in the agriculture and agrobusiness sectors so that they will be able to play a collaborative role in FFS and Busines Center and deliver technical support to farmers, SSPs and SMEs.
• Provide support to the EFSVL project team in conducting registration of beneficiaries, respective to FFS and Business Center.
• Conduct technical specifications of all agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides for both summer and winter crops like cereal, vegetables.
• Technically support the Iraq Response Innovation Lab (IRIL) of Oxfam to restructure and rehabilitate of the agricultural research labs and innovation.
• Plan and organize agricultural input and tools distribution to the beneficiaries.
• Ensure mainstreaming gender and protection, code of conduct and safeguarding throughout the project cycle.
• Supervise the overall training program and will ensure the quality of delivery through use of participatory, interactive and practical approaches especially learning by doing approaches.
• Conduct awareness raising session (environmental protection, social cohesion and organic farming).
• Conduct regular visits to the field sites to provide support and guidance to improve quality of the programmes.
• Working closely with MEAL team in conducting post-distribution monitoring and as well vegetable and crop monitoring.
• Take the lead in come up with innovative ideas and appropriate techniques based on the context.
• Collect and document all the lesson learnt in agricultural technologies.
• Any other duties as required by the line manager.

skills, experience and knowledge

• Diploma or Degree in Agriculture science/ Agronomy or Agricultural engineering
• At least 2 to 3 years of experience in conducting agricultural training
• Familiar with food safety standards.
• Familiar and experienced with Good Agriculture Principles (GAP) and Climate Smart Agriculture practices. Desirable to have certification
• Experience of working with an NGO – especially in project implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• A good understanding of the Iraqi/Kurdish context and cultures.
• Strong communication interpersonal skills
• Negotiation skills and the ability to influence and inspire confidence in others in diverse working environment
• Community mobilisation experience
• An understanding of gender, protection and diversity issues in Cash and Voucher Programming would be advantageous
• Ability to work effectively with others
• Ability to work well under pressure and in response to changing needs.
• Ability to travel and to work in difficult circumstances.
• MS Office Skills (Word, Excel)

Essential

• Good written and spoken English, as well as strong spoken and written Arabic is essential.

Desirable

• A good understanding of the Iraqi/Kurdish context and cultures.

Key Attributes

• Strong communication interpersonal skills
• Good training skills
• Negotiation skills and the ability to influence and inspire confidence in others in diverse working environment
• Community mobilisation experience
• An understanding of gender, protection and diversity issues in Cash and Voucher Programming would be advantageous
• Ability to work effectively with others
• Ability to work well under pressure and in response to changing needs.
• Ability to travel and to work in difficult circumstances

Organisational Values

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences

Note to candidates: Shortlisted candidates will be assessed on our organisational values and attributes at the interview stage. The successful candidate(s) will be expected to adhere to our code of conduct. We encourage candidates to read and understand our code of conduct here.

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At Oxfam, our job descriptions provide a guide to what might be expected in the role. Along with our strategy the job profile is used to help to shape specific objectives for employees. Employees are supported to deliver these objectives and they are annually assessed against them as part of the Oxfam performance review process. This job profile is not incorporated into the employment contract.