Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Sharing Officer – FAR Full-Time

International Fertilizer Development Center is hiring two (2) Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Sharing Officer – FAR

Justification and context

The International Fertilizer Development Center’s (IFDC) is expected to sign an Agreement with the Embassy of Sweden (EoS) to continue the Food Security Through Climate Adaptation and Resilience (FAR-Mozambique) Program under a Phase 2 initiative to be implemented by a consortium of four Implementing Organizations (IOs) from Phase 1, namely IFDC, the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), United Purpose (UP), and Associação Kwaedza Simukai Manica (AKSM). Phase 2 of the FAR Program will build on Phase 1 successes, seeking to further scale geographic reach within Phase 1 areas and new locations, and to broaden networks and engagement by public and private sector actors to link farmers to markets and increase market-responsive skills and climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices to improve food access and availability, and increase knowledge of and uptake of climate-smart agriculture solutions farmers for long term sustainability. IFDC and its partners will apply a facilitative approach and continue to scale into new regions and reduce presence in successful pilot areas. Phase 2 management and implementation will be adapted for challenges COVID-19 pandemic, given the potential impact on the agriculture sector and household food security, especially for women.

By the end of Phase 2, IFDC and partner IOs anticipate reaching over 40,000 farmers (56% women/44% men), with 50% adopting CSA practices through improved skills and access to productivity-enhancing inputs, extension services, and markets through a network of agro-dealers and VBAs, as well as through Information and Communications Technologies for Agriculture (ICT4Ag)-enabled services and support.

IFDC is seeking recruitment for an FAR Phase 2 Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Sharing (MELS) Officer to track, document, and analyze data to capture progress against program targets, identify bottlenecks, and capture lessons learned in close collaboration with the Program Manager (PM) and IO partners. This position will be vital to ensuring accurate reporting and transparency in program performance for the EoS, FAR Phase 2 partners, and beneficiaries. The FAR PM and MELS Officer will support gender-sensitive activities, and lead reporting and other communication functions. The MELS Officer will monitor progress on achieving project outcomes versus targets and given the program design corresponding with the FAR Phase 2 Result Framework. The MELS Manager will ensure that MELS Systems support the FAR Phase 2 adaptive management approach.

Functions and Responsibilities of the MELS Officer

• The MELS Officer will be responsible for data collection, storage, analysis, presentation and periodic reporting based on reporting from the IOs;
• The MELS Officer will conduct periodic visits to the IOs together with IO staff to ensure consistency of data collection and management;
• Support the design and roll out of the project MELS Systems in collaboration with each of the IOs;
• Collected data and information to inform lessons learned and success stories for sharing and dissemination to partners and stakeholders together with the project’s communication staff;
• Ensure the coordination of learning agenda activities in coordination with the IOs;
• Effectively inform project leadership, IOs and partners in making vital adjustments for maximizing project effectiveness;
• Design standard data collection and survey tools based on project needs and conduct pre-tests and adjustments for uniform comprehension;
• Contribute to planning and execution of baseline, annual surveys, and impact evaluation studies at household level;
• Ensure accurate data entry into the project database; maintain data storage and data quality;
• Conduct data analysis, including creation of GPS maps;
• Support the development of work plans and annual reports;
• Assure quality of trainings and other activities delivered by local partners and compose reports of observations and recommended actions.

Reporting relationships

• Reports to the FAR Program Manager in Mozambique.

Female candidates strongly encouraged to apply

Required Skills

Requirements

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree; Master’s preferred, preferably in Agricultural Economics, Statistics, Environmental Science, Development Studies or similar fields;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Portuguese, including the ability to present materials in meetings, at conferences and to write project documents (including evaluation design plans, results frameworks, data collection and data analysis plans, and progress reports);
• Ability to work well a multi-disciplinary team, good interpersonal skills, is attentive to detail;
• Willingness to travel extensively in the project target areas (Sofala and Manica Provinces);
• This position is open national (Mozambican) applicants;
• This position will be based in Beira, Sofala Province.

Required Experience

• Minimum 3 years relevant field experience in MELS management for agriculture/agribusiness projects
• Proven experience in use of gender- and youth-related monitoring tools and development of learning and sharing systems
• Experience with the implementation of real time data collection methodologies employing mobile phone apps and PDA’s and advantage.
• Experience in survey design and data collection (key stakeholder interviews, focus groups, surveys, and secondary data analysis techniques), data management, and data analysis skills, particularly experience with MS Access, SPSS or STATA
• Experience in the development of learning products and their incorporation into project implementation

How to apply

Link: http://bit.ly/3rNtpid