SNV Netherlands Job Vacancy: Senior Agronomist - BMP Training for Oil Palm Smallholder, Jambi

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Senior Agronomist - BMP Training for Oil Palm Smallholder

Berbak Green Prosperity Partnership

SNV Netherlands Development Organization
SNV is an international not-for-profit development organisation, working in 38 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. SNV specializes in supporting the resourcefulness of development actors by developing local capacities, improving performance and services, strengthening governance systems, helping to create access for excluded groups and by making markets work for the poor. Our global team of advisors use their specialist sector and change expertise in Agriculture, Renewable Energy and WASH to facilitate sustainable change in the livelihoods of millions of people living in poverty.

SNV is working with a consortium of international and local partners led by Euro Consult Mott MacDonald to deliver the Berbak Green Prosperity Partnership (BGPP).

MCA-Berbak Green Prosperity Partnership Project

The BGPP will work in Jambi, Sumatra in the 250,000 ha peatland dominated Berbak landscape. It aims to rehabilitate degraded peatland and provide enhanced and alternative economic opportunities for communities that derive their livelihoods from palm oil production and other peatland-based agricultural activities/enterprises.

It will deliver four components:

• Peatland, Land Use Zoning, Hydrological Rehabilitation and Water Management to establish the biophysical basis for GHG emission reductions and land use to enable green prosperity. It involves canal-blocking to reverse peatland drainage and improve community farm water management systems.
• Smallholder Enterprise and Farm Systems focuses on improving smallholder yields and income from palm oil, rubber, rice and aquaculture and helping palm oil smallholders on the border of the landscape to deliver sustainable production in line with emissions reduction goals.
• Private Sector Commitment and Action to ensure that companies operating in the landscape understand the sustainability context and apply relevant policies and practices. It will focus on oil palm and HPH concessions and involve the use of palm oil mill effluent (POME) for renewable energy.
• Promoting District and Province-wide Green Prosperity.

SNV on this project will focus on achieving the training and certification targets as described on below tasks:

• Develop detailed phase 1 work plan
• Train 400 rubber smallholders in BMP
• Train 10.000 smallholder oil palm producers in BMP and Support 2,000 smallholders in achieving ISCC/RSPO certification
• Secure private sector co-financing to develop and test-pilot finance replanting for 400 Independent Smallholders
• Install 15 medium-scale biogas digesters using POME and cattle waste
• Establish a Green Prosperity Private Sector Forum to promote public-private dialogue towards achieving sustainability
• Provide project management support for the overall BGPP project SPO component.

As to achieve the task 3, SNV will train 10,000 farmers through a Training of Trainers (ToT) approach, employing the High Impact Training methodology (HIT) for informal workers. In the HIT approach, a group of master trainers (20) will train farmer group leaders to become trainers (in total about 100). These 100 farmer trainers will be identified by selecting the most knowledgeable/active farmers in each participating KUD, furthermore they will train in total of 10,000 smallholders in BMP Oil Palm and Environmental Awareness (in line with RSS approach).

Scope of Work
Senior Agronomist position is designed for inclusion in the oil palm smallholder team whose work covers preparing oil palm certification for smallholders, promoting better management practices (BMP), improving smallholder organisations and supporting the position of smallholders in value chains through inclusive business approach.

Senior Agronomist will work closely with Project Director BGPP and Project Coordinator for Oil Palm BMP training to ensure that implementation is working well and is in line with SNV's goals and objectives, specifically with the oil palm programme.

Responsibilities

• Support in Identifying potential targeted smallholder groups within the scope of the project in Muaro Jambi Regency and perform necessary step engaging them into the programme together with Project Coordinator for BMP Training and local partner;
• Coordinating implementation of work plan together with cooperative level down to farmer group or other related stakeholders together with local partner;
• Coordinating and overseeing the training implementation conducted by local partner, ensure the local partner compile all requirements needed upon the training;
• Coordinating related activities within the scope of BMP training in the targeted locations in Jambi Province or any other suitable area;
• Build and maintain a good inter-organisation relation with local authorities such as Regional Planning Office (BAPPEDA), Plantation Office (Dinas Perkebunan), Forestry Office (Dinas Kehutanan), BLHD, or any other related authorities at within the regency up to provincial level;
• Participate and represent SNV in engagement processes with government, companies, smallholders and other stakeholders throughout programme implementation;
• Oversee and undertake technical reviews on the implementation of the training as well as any other oil palm related work and perform corrective action if it is deemed necessary;
• Perform any additional tasks when identified and within the scope of SNV oil palm team activities (in consultation with Project Director or Project Coordinator and donors);
• Able to deal with tight schedule and unscheduled tasks, and target oriented under minimum supervision;

Work Days and Time Schedule
Senior Agronomist is a consultancy position with a total 110 work days of 7 months contract starting (immediately) from July 2017 to January 2018. 

Duty Station
Muaro Jambi with frequent travel to the site areas.

Skills and Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree in one or more of the following areas: Agriculture, Forestry, Biology and other related fields;
• Having minimum of 15 years of experience working in oil palm plantation. Experience in working in Jambi or the region, would be a key advantage;
• Proven technical expertise in oil palm good agricultural practices programs in Indonesia, having field-level experience working in the aforementioned area would be an advantage;
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, financial and organizational development skills, strong coaching skills and excellent analytical and financial planning skills;
• Programme management skills, including activities and budgets planning, delivery, monitoring, evaluation, and team management;
• Having knowledge on recent issues on oil palm sector would be encouraged;
• Ability to communicate and maintain strong relationship with the stakeholders;
• Ability to work independently under minimum supervision;
• Excellent computer skills: MS Word, Excel, Power Point;
• Indonesian native speaker, fluent in English (writing and speaking).

Application Process
Applicants should send their resume, CV and expected fee for the assignment mentioned above to SNV Procurement email: procurement.snv@gmail.com by latest July 6th 2017 with subject "Agronomist BGPP".

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted