JOB DETAILS:
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations on behalf of the German Government.

Implemented by GIZ, the Global Fund to Promote Innovations in Agriculture and Nutrition (i4Ag)” is part of Priority Area “Transformation of the Agriculture and Food Systems”. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), i4Ag promotes gender-sensitive and use-centered innovations. With co-financing from the European Union and the Dutch Government, i4Ag is financing the project Sustainable Agriculture for Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) in Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Zambia, Peru, Cameroon, Vietnam, DRC and Uganda.

Tropical agricultural commodities like palm oil, cocoa and coffee provide the livelihoods for millions of smallholder farmers around the world and have contributed to rural development. However, the rise in their production over the last decades has also been linked to deforestation and forest degradation. As forests are critically important to mitigating climate change, maintaining biodiversity and providing ecosystem services, their sustainable management has become a global priority.

Against this backdrop, the European Commission (EC) has drafted a regulation on deforestation-free products. The European Union Regulation on Deforestation-free Commodities and Products (EUDR) requires the coffee sector to be deforestation-free; failure to comply with the regulation, or a lack of traceability, will effectively close the European market by December 2024.

To address these challenges in Uganda, EU and the Dutch government have commissioned GIZ to improve the protection of forest while supporting local communities in accessing markets and increasing their incomes through sustainable coffee production.

GIZ Ugana is recruiting a Rural Development Advisor to support smallholder coffee farmers to enhance sustainable agricultural practices, implement climate-smart strategies and ensure compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

Number of vacancies: 1
Sector: NGO
Industry: Civil society

Knowledge, skills and competences
• Strong network with institutions working on agricultural commodities and forest protection.
• Ability to communicate complex topics to be understood by different audiences.

• Knowledge of GIZ instruments, procedures and (procurement) rules is considered an advantage.
• Pro-active attitude, flexibility and intercultural competence.

Responsibilities
The Rural Development Advisor will be responsible for:
• EUDR Compliance: Assist smallholder farmers and their organization in understanding and meeting the requirements of the EUDR, including registration processes and documentation.

• Capacity Building: Provide training and support to smallholder farmers in sustainable coffee cultivation practices, and climate-smart agriculture techniques, and agroforestry systems.
• Technical Assistance: Offer ongoing technical support in crop management, pest control, and soil health to optimize yields while minimizing environmental impact.

A. Specific Tasks
The Rural Development Advisor performs the following tasks:
1. Knowledge and advisory services
• Support the development, translation into local languages and/ or dissemination of harmonised information on EUDR to smallholder farmers and their organisations.
• Support to EUDR awareness raising campaigns.
• Support the roll out of a common coffee traceability system ensuring compliance with EUDR.
• Strengthen smallholder farmers capacities to sustainable climate smart coffee production using existing training materials and resources; organize and facilitate training workshops and field demonstrations.

• Development or popularisation of procedures for smallholder farmers to access land use rights while paying special attention to female farmers.
• Supporting to train local government extension staff, smallholder farmers and their organisation on sustainable use of forest ecosystems.
2. Partnership coordination
• Cooperate and maintain regular contact with relevant parties from local government, civil society, research institutes, private sector and international agencies.
• Participate and contribute to relevant processes, fora, events and meetings on the national and sub-national level.

• Support the planning and implementation of study tours, visiting delegations, exchange visits, missions and other official events as required.
• Contribute to integrated planning and implementation of activities with other GIZ projects starting with the Rural Development focal area.
3. Project coordination
• Support to develop an adapted a Theory of Change, overall workplan and annual workplans.
• Support the preparation of terms of reference for service contracts or financing agreements in line with GIZ rules and regulations and supervise contracted third parties.
• Coordinate the implementation of project activities with members of the steering team, partners and contracted third parties.
• Provide monitoring data and contextual knowledge to contribute to reporting and public and internal communication.
• Organize internal and external events and meetings.

Other Duties/Additional Tasks
Perform other duties and tasks at the request of management.

Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture or a related field (preferably with a focus on sustainable supply chains and coffee production). A master’s degree in a related field is an added advantage.

Details of experience
• 5years of professional experience in a comparable position.
• 5 years’ experience in providing advisory services on sustainability in agricultural supply chains to smallholder farmers
• Knowledge of the international discussion on sustainability in agricultural supply chains and forest preservation.
• Proven experience working in or in close cooperation with small-holder cooperatives and associations.
• Experience working for or in cooperation with the private sector in agricultural supply chains, particularly in the coffee sector
• Familiarity with the concept of due diligence, transparency and traceability in agricultural value chains

Applications and CVs should be in one document and a maximum of 5 pages only and sent electronically, quoting the position and reference number.

Please include name and contact of three references. One official reference from your current workplace is a MUST.

Eligible candidates are encouraged to apply to the Head of Human Resources by email.

Please note: This is a national position. Only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Disclaimer: GIZ DOES NOT charge any kind of FEE(s) at whichever stage of the recruitment process.