Vacancy Announcement
SNV Indonesia
SNV
is looking for a Consultant for:
Project Coordinator
Development BMP materials for the oil palm
sector
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
About SNV
SNV is a not-for-profit international
development organisation. Founded in the Netherlands nearly 50 years ago, we
have built a long-term, local presence in 38 of the poorest countries in Asia,
Africa and Latin America. Our global team of local and international advisors
work with local partners to equip communities, businesses and organisations
with the tools, knowledge and connections they need to increase their incomes
and gain access to basic services – empowering them to break the cycle of
poverty and guide their own development. By sharing our specialist expertise in our four
focal sectors: Agriculture, Renewable Energy, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
and REDD+, we contribute to solving some of the leading problems facing the
world today – helping to find local solutions to global challenges and sowing
the seeds of lasting change. To specifically address the issues related to
sustainability, SNV has established the “REDD+ Energy and Agriculture
Programme’’ (REAP).
REDD+ Energy and Agriculture Programme (REAP)
The REAP is designed to advance understanding of the
interface between agriculture and energy use across different forest landscapes
in order to support low emission, pro-poor development pathways. By developing
knowledge across the landscape the REAP Programme is providing knowledge
products, working with governments, businesses and local communities across the
landscape to support the development of sustainable development. REAP is
currently looking for enthusiastic suitable candidates that can coordinate the
development of training materials for Better Management Practices in the oil
palm sector.
Terms of Reference -
Coordinator development BMP materials for the oil palm sector
Background
The debate concerning sustainability of oil palm
production is ongoing, as problems with deforestation, loss of biodiversity and
social issues are still associated with oil palm cultivation and expansion.
Improving yields is a key aspect of sustainability, as higher yields per
hectare improve land use efficiency and decrease the need for expansion into
pristine natural areas to meet demands. However, in the last years oil palm
yields have stagnated or declined, in the face of an increasing demand of oil
palm for food and biofuel. Smallholder farmers often achieve yields of only
10-15 t/ha, roughly half the 20-25 t/ha achieved by large plantations. Many
smallholder plantations are established on peat soil, which has the additional
problem of causing large carbon emissions from peat oxidation.
The Position Paper on Oil Palm (BMP8) of the WWF states
that: “Strategies recommended by WWF include increasing the level of oil
production from existing plantations through the use of better management
practices.” Criteria 4.2 for RSPO certification states: “Practices maintain
soil fertility at, or where possible improve soil fertility to, a level that
ensures optimal and sustained yield”. Best management practices for yield
improvement have been developed and implemented in the last decades. For peat
soils, BMPs are less well developed. Additionally, the BMPs are designed for
large commercial plantations. Smallholders work under highly varied
circumstances, with different objectives and constraints. There is an urgent
need to adapt and introduce BMPs to smallholder farmers.
For the oil palm sector there are currently a number of
manuals for commercial plantations on Best Management Practices (BMP). Such
handbooks on BMP’s are, however, not taking into account the constraints
smallholders face. The constraints of smallholders vary significantly from
those faced in commercial plantations, specifically in terms of planting
material, investments and scale. As the share of land under management of
smallholders is large and potential for increased production is higher compared
to commercial plantations, the benefit from such guidance is very significant.
Project Objective
In a partnership between Wageningen University and SNV
have set as an objective to develop such guidance on Better Management
Practices for smallholders and develop a training program to assist farmers
implementing improved management and increasing production while mitigating the
environmental impact. The training program will be focussed on Training of
Trainers.
Implementation
Strategy BMP trainings
Phase
I: Handbook for Trainers Introducing Better Management Practices to
smallholders in the oil palm industry
In
the first phase a handbook addressing Better Management Practices in existing
plantations will be developed. As options for capital investments from the
smallholders are in general constrained, the order of interventions/management
activities should prioritise options with the highest return on investment,
while taking into account pre conditions for interventions to have maximum
impact (for example by only introducing fertilizers after basic maintenance is
implemented).
Phase
II: Development of Training Material
Once
the handbook has been (almost) finalized, the information must be converted to
training materials. The development of training materials exists out of two
components: 1 development of trainer guides (guidance to the trainers while
training) and 2: design briefs for flip files that will be used during the
training.
Phase
III: Pilot training approach and development of demonstration plots
Once
the training material is (almost) completed, the preparation of the pilots can
start. The first step is selecting demonstration plots. Ideally with farmers
with less then 5 hectare of oil palm under 15 years old. In these plots initial
individual training will be provided in line with the BMP training approach.
Phase
IV: Training smallholders on BMP using HITT
Once the training
materials are ready and the demoplots in place master trainers will be trained
by the HITT consultant (these are SNV staff and experts from partner
organistations). The trainers that will train farmer groups using the HITT
approach will also set up monitoring and evaluation systems to enable measuring
progress. This will be done in collaboration with University of Wageningen.
Once the Better Management Practices Training material
is completed, similar materials will be developed for:
cooperative/institutional development, environmental awareness /improved forest
management, optimizing use of waste streams.
Activities Project Coordinator
The project coordinator will be the contact point for the designer
and the training guide developer and report to the Coordinator of the
Commodities and Climate Change programme. The project coordinator will support
the development of the training materials, in particular the coordination of
the work. A workplan has been drafted for the expert staff, and the coordinator
will ensure all the experts provide the information on time and of sufficient
quality. The coordinator will ensure the communication between the developer of
the trainer guide and the designer with the expert team will be efficiently
convey tasks and questions from either side. The coordinator will support in
the translation of the materials and ensure the materials use the right context
for the target group (smallholder farmers in Indonesia).
Required Skills:
·
Excellent
communication skills
·
Experience
working in coordinating multi disciplinary/cultural teams
·
Experience in
development of communication material in Indonesia
·
Experience in
translating training materials from English to Bahasa
·
A team player
·
Fluent English
·
Understanding
of training methods
·
Minimum a Master
degree in a relevant field
Required documents for submission
All candidates must provide the following
documents in their application:
CV of the individual(s) detailing the capability
and experience delivering the services and products specified in this Terms of
Reference, including contact details of at least 2 referees to whom similar
services have been provided including names, telephone numbers and email
addresses of appropriate contact persons.
Application process
To be inserted if necessary
Please send your proposal by
latest 5 April 2014 to wmuhammad@snvworld.org with
“Project Coordinator development BMP” as subject.
For more information on SNV please refer to our website: www.snvworld.org
We do not appreciate
third-party mediation based on this advertisement.
