|| ECOSORN Project || Social and economic development in north-west Cambodia

Vakakis International Company is the main technical assistant provider to Economic and Social Relaunch of the Northwest Provinces in Cambodia (ECOSORN). ECOSORN is an integrated rural development project operating in 3 Northwest Provinces: Battambang, Banteay Meancheay and Siem Reap.

The Project is urgently looking for (1) Agriculture Extension Worker (AEW) based in Banteay Meanchey, to work with the Vegetable Production and Value Chain Development Component (M4).

Duties and tasks of AEW are:

Assist the IRDM Provincial and IRDM Training Officers and other Senior Staff in their duties at target villages.
Assist Villagers in constructing the Village Community Halls.
Carry out the description and diagnosis of pilot farms and overall action planning with pilot farmers groups. Undertake the collection and compilation of all input needs by pilot farmers and other farmers.
Organise and carry out participatory meetings with IRDM Pilot farmers, under supervision of the IRDM Provincial / Training Officers.
Undertake training and mainly extension activities for pilot farmers and other beneficiary farmers, including farmers coaching, demos, field days, farmers’ exchanges and study tours related to commercial crop production (vegetables, fruits, mushrooms0 associated with animal production (pig and chicken).
Collaborate with the local Village Animal Health Worker for implementation of the Animal Production and Health Programme (including vaccination and animal banks)
Assist in selecting sites for on-farm demonstrations of improved farming systems, and extension package delivery.
Assist to develop required visual aid material and technical information for the extension programme.
Any other duty requested by the Programme Coordinator consistent with the sound implementation of the crop and animal production component of ECOSORN

Essential Requirements

Graduate in agriculture
A minimum of 2 years of work in rural areas, with extensive field experience in training and extension for vegetable, fruit and mushroom commercial farming all-year round..
Marketing and value chain understanding.
Fluent in Khmer (speaking and writing)
Good English (speaking and writing)
Good interpersonal and communication skills
Previous donor funded project experience

Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Candidates are kindly requested to send (i) a letter of motivation; (ii) curriculum vitae including names of 2 referees and copy of educational and professional certificates to:

Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Watdamnak Village, Salakamreak Commune, Siem Reap District, Siem Reap Province.
Postal Box: 93 241 Siem Reap Angkor
Attn: Mrs. Prach Sokunthy, Administrative and Human Resources Officer
Email: prach.sokunthy@ecosorn.org

Application deadline is 14th November 2008 at 17:30PM
Only short listed candidates will be contacted

The Economic and Social Relaunch of the Northwest Provinces (ECOSORN) is an European Commission funded project (FA No. 16793 – KHM/AIDCO/2004/16793) executed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Project in 3 provinces (Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey, Battambang and a coordination office in Phnom Penh).

The Project is seeking staff for the two positions as follow:

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist based in Banteay Meanchey (Re-announce)

The main tasks of the M&E Specialist are :

Monitoring day-to-day operations of the provincial office, as described in the approved Annual Work Plans (AWP) and Overall Work Plan (OWP).
Monitoring the activities as approved in the provincial work plan;
Output monitoring based on monthly technical progress reports from technical components;
Preparing of standardized six- month progress reports;
Supports establishment of project baseline;
Support preparing a scenario for phasing out of project activities in an early phase of project implementation, latest in the work plan for the final year;
Data processing and analysis;
Maintain and update the projects Logical Framework Matrix;
Establish and maintain a GIS for target communes and/or IRDM villages
Supporting visibility events of the project on provincial level;
Promotion of links between project and other projects on M+E matters

Qualifications and skills

Graduate in planning, monitoring, economics
A minimum of 5 years experience in similar tasks
Fluent in English and Khmer (speaking and writing)
Very good computer skills, very good knowledge of relevant hard and software
Good interpersonal and communication skills
Proven ability to work with international and local staff; team spirit.
Dedicated to timely achievement of project results, in line with the EC’s Project Cycle Management approach
Key words: Pro-active, engagement, initiative, reporting skills, systematic thinking and working, quality achievements
Previous donor funded project experience is an advantage.

Farmers Organization Specialist (22 months)based at Siem Reap Project Office, with frequent travels to the 2 other Provinces

Responsibilities
As Assistant to the Programme Coordinator (for Farmers Organisation support activities)

Report primarily to the ALF/M4 Programme Coordinator, with a secondary reporting line to the ALF Head and TA TL.
Manage all activities specified in the ToR of the ALF/M4 project component for Result 2, incl. planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, reporting and financial management., in close collaboration with the Programme Coordinator
Coordinate all activities under Result 2 to ensure that all planned activities are implemented adequately and on time according to the approved schedule
Manage and supervise 3 Farmers Organisation Promotion Workers(FOPW, one in each Province), in collaboration with the 3 Provincial IRDM Officers
Assist the Programme Coordinator for administrative, preparatory and ancillary tasks relating to the management of all activities under Result 2.
Liaise with the ECOSORN PTF (especially CMU), and the other project consultants to ensure timely delivery of supplies and services required for the implementation of activities.
Liaise with the ECOSORN ALF Group and the other ECOSORN Groups (CGR, RIS, SAL and FA) as appropriate and required to ensure continuous coordination of implementation of ECOSORN components and activities.
Liaise with other stakeholders in the project areas, including government, non-government and donor activities.
Ensure that all planned/implemented activities are regularly monitored and evaluated - using contractual output and result indicators - and that monitoring data are recorded in the ECOSORN M+E database.
Assist in capacity building of villages authorities / communes councils concerning promotion and development of farmers organisations
Any other duty requested by the Programme Coordinator consistent with the sound implementation of the Farmers Organisation component of ECOSORN

As Farmer Organisation Specialist (for undertaking specific activities)

Organise and undertake a campaign to promote the establishment of farmers’ organisations (FO) in 90 target villages and 40 target communes, including posters and village meetings, in coordination with the Visibility component of ECOSORN.
Recruit and train the 3 Farmers Organisation Promotion Workers to enable them to organise and carry out village meetings for FO promotion
Manage and supervise the implementation of the promotion campaign
Collaborate with ADDA and ALF/M4 Teams to identify, assess and select qualifying Farmers Groups to be supported by the project
Elaborate programme and curriculum for the training of Board / key members of selected Farmers Groups / Organisations (Group management, Financial management, Advocacy, Official registration, Project formulation, Business planning, etc). Undertake training.
Assist selected Farmers Groups / Organisations in elaborating their micro-projects & business plans, identifying organisations for financial support, preparing support requests, and negotiating loans with MFI and Credit institutions / Banks.
Collaborate with other ECOSORN Groups / Contractors for Technical training of Board / key members of selected Farmers Groups / Organisations in specific subjects related to their proposed projects (e.g. O&M of machinery, group marketing, input procurement)
Collaborate with ALF Team and other stakeholders to elaborate criteria for the award of equipment/machinery to selected Farmers Groups/Organisations. Manage the procurement of awarded equipment/machinery and their delivery to beneficiaries.

Qualifications and skills
Bachelor degree in agriculture extension or equivalent
Good understanding of micro-projects and business plans
Fluency in both English and Khmer
Good practice of MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Professional experience
At least 5 years in the management of agricultural training & extension programmes / projects in developing countries.
At least 2 years in the development of farmers’ organisations in South East Asia, preferably in Cambodia.

Experience in working with rural communities is required

The Project is urgently looking for

(1) IRDM Training Officer, to work with the Commercial Vegetable, Fruits and Mushroom Production and Value Chain Development Component (M4).

(1) IRDM Training Officer based in Banteay Meanchey

Assist the Programme Coordinator and the other Senior Staff (especially the Training and Extension Specialist and the Farmers Organisation Specialist) in their duties at Province level.
Manage, assist and supervise the Agricultural Extension Workers operating with the project team in M4 target villages of the province
Implement training and extension activities for pilot farmers and other beneficiary farmers, including demonstrations, field days, farmers’ exchanges and study tours.
Assist to develop required visual aid material and technical information for the extension programme.
Organise and carry out the initial participatory meetings with IRDM Pilot farmers, in collaboration with Agricultural Extension Workers and Village Animal Health Workers.
Assist in implementing the animal vaccination programme and for receipt and distribution of young animals to target farmers.
Supervise the implementation of quality control systems for vegetable production
Assist in capacity building of villages authorities / communes councils concerning training and extension strategies for the development of improved production technologies
Any other duty requested by the Training and Extension Specialist consistent with the sound implementation of the crop & animal production components of ECOSORN

Essential Requirements

Graduate in agriculture
A minimum of 5 years of work in rural areas, with extensive field experience in agriculture development, training, & extension work, especially vegetable / fruit / mushroom farming
Fluent in Khmer (speaking and writing)
Good English (speaking and writing)
Computer skills.
Good interpersonal and communication skills
Previous donor funded project experiences

Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Candidates are kindly requested to send (i) a letter of motivation; (ii) curriculum vitae including names of 2 referees at least and copy of educational and professional certificates or relevant documents to:

Application deadline: November 07, 2008 at 17:30PM

Only short listed candidates will be notified