Field Coordinator (Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Trincomalee)

Colombo

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
Location: Colombo
Grade: Consultancy - SB-4 (SC8/SC9), Service Contract, Local Contractors Agreement
Occupational Groups:
- Operations and Administrations
- COORDINATION
- Managerial positions
Closing Date: Closed

Background

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

Sri Lanka’s recent economic gains, following the end of a debilitating 30-year war and the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, are being threatened due to its increasing vulnerability to climate change, which is characterized by increasing temperatures and unpredictability of rainfall. Over 80% of poor Sri Lankans live in the rural areas and depend on agriculture for food and income. IPCC’s fifth assessment report predicts that South Asia, including Sri Lanka, is vulnerable to drought, flood, food shortages and heat-related mortality. The country has been experiencing severe shifts in its seasonal rainfall patterns accompanied by increased flood and drought in the last decade directly impacting rural food security and incomes, especially in the Dry Zone.

The impacts of climate related rainfall variability and extreme events directly affect the agricultural livelihoods, incomes and food security of Dry Zone farmers and compounds existing vulnerabilities owing to poverty, low incomes, and recovering from three decades of conflict. Recurrent hydrological disasters have eroded the coping capacity of Dry Zone communities making them even less able to plan for and overcome climate-related variabilities in water availability. Climate-change induced droughts impact access to reliable irrigation water as they reduce the sufficiency of water supply. Floods affect the irrigation water availability by destroying village irrigation reservoirs. Farmers in the Dry Zone are also increasingly exposed to water related chronic illnesses such as kidney disease. High rates of morbidity and mortality among young male farmers are reported in the north central and northern provinces.

In this backdrop, Government of Sri Lanka, with the assistance of UNDP, has secured funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for “Strengthening the resilience of smallholder farmers in the Dry Zone to climate variability and extreme events through an integrated approach to water management”. The objective of the project is to strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers, particularly women, in the Dry Zone through improved water management to enhance lives and livelihoods. The expected key Fund Level impacts are increased resilience of health and well-being, and food and water security and increased resilience and enhanced livelihoods of the vulnerable smallholder farmers in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. The primary measurable benefits include about 770,500 direct and 1,179,800 indirect beneficiaries who will gain from improved water management, resilient agriculture practices, and provision of climate and weather information. The objective will be achieved through following three Components:

Component 1: Rehabilitating and upgrading of 325 village irrigation systems and scaling-up climate-resilient farming practices in three river basins of the Dry Zone.

Component 2: Implementation of 35 community water supply schemes, 125 water purification and filtration systems, and 4,000 rainwater harvesting units to enhance climate-resilient, decentralized water supply and management solutions to provide year-round access to safe drinking water to vulnerable communities.

Component 3: Establishment of early warning and forecasting systems and climate advisory services to enhance water management and adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to droughts and floods.

The Project focuses on small holder farmers living in three climate vulnerable river basins in the Dry Zone, namely: Mi Oya, Yan Oya and Malwathu Oya. This is the first time that an integrated approach to water management is being advanced in the country incorporating climate change concerns, understanding linkages across river basins/sub-river basins, and including multiple uses of water. Therefore, integrated nature of the above components is respected in project implementation.

The project commenced in 2017 and planning to be implemented over 07 years with a total budget of US $ 52.084 in - North Western, North Central, Northern and Eastern Provinces focusing on GN divisions fall within Mi Oya, Malwathu Oya and Yan Oya river basins. Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment will serve as the implementing partner while following agencies will act as responsible parties for different components of the Project.

•Department of Agrarian Development (DAD)

•Department of Agriculture (DoA)

•Department of National Community Water Supply (DNCWS)

•National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB)

•Ministry of Disaster Management (MDM)

The Project implementation modality includes a Project Management Unit established under the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment with the Project Director, Project Accountant and other project staff, and a Field Office established in Anuradhapura with the Deputy Project Director. UNDP provides technical assistance to implement the project and also delivers the quality assurance function. Under this, specialized agricultural technical services are provided by UNDP to facilitate the implementation of Climate Smart Agriculture development component with Provincial Departments of Agriculture in North Western, North Central, Northern and Eastern provinces. Field Coordinators will be a part of UNDP’s technical team and will provide field level technical coordination to promote climate smart agricultural practices in project areas. The Project has also recruited competent Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to carry out social mobilization and community planning in respective districts.

Against this backdrop, UNDP aims to recruit two “Field Coordinators-Climate Smart Agriculture” to facilitate the implementation of field operations of the Climate Smart Agriculture Development Component in Kurunegala, Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya and Trincomalee districts in collaboration with Provincial Departments of Agriculture, under the Component 01 of the project. Working under the overall guidance of Chief Technical Advisor (DRR/CCA) and the supervision of the Technical Specialist (CSA), the Field Coordinator, in collaboration with CSOs, is also responsible to ensure that the target communities are mobilized towards the Climate Smart Agriculture development. Field Coordinator is also responsible for collection, recording and analyzing data on climate smart agriculture development activities implemented by the project through the Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Civil Society Organizations.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of functions

Planning, implementation and management of climate smart agriculture development project activities at field level.
Planning, implementation and management of climate smart agriculture development project activities at field level.
Ensure Filed Level Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

Liaise with Provincial Departments of Agriculture (PDOAs), UNDP, the Project Management Unit (PMU), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and field level stakeholders to implement the climate smart agriculture (CSA) development activities;
Support the preparation and implementation of district level annual action plans for Climate Smart Agriculture development in consultation with the PMU and PDOAs;
Facilitate the implementation of field level project activities as per the Annual Work Plan in a timelyand efficient manner
Identify the risks and implementation challenges well in advance, communicate to the Technical specialist and assist the Technical Specialist to mitigate risks and address scuh implementation challenges
Prepare in consultation with the PDOAs and CSOs, quarterly financial and narrative progress reports for the field sites[;
Consult with PDOAs and provide necessary technical specifications for all CSA procurements to be carried out by PMU;
Support the Project Technical Specialist on relevant aspects of project implementation, especially monitoring of project outputs and results;

Stakeholder engagement to implement CSA activities at field level

Engage with stakeholders and develop partnerships to ensure the sustainability of project actions at provincial, district, divisional and village level
Facilitate the coordination amongst local level stakeholders to ensure smooth implementation of activities in a timely manner
Coordinate between national level and local level stakeholders to ensure implementation of activities in a timely and efficient manner

Participate in relevant district and divisional agriculture/coordinating committees and represent the project and UNDP’s technical team, when and where necessary

Ensure Filed Level Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

Undertake rigorous monitoring against the AWP at the field locations to ensure that project activities are on track
Support the Technical Specilaist to monitor the consultants hired by the UNDP in project areas under climate smart agriculture programme
Undertake regular monitoring against the district level indicator targets of M&E plan to ensure that the project is achieving the desired results;
Maintain district level CSA project progress data-base against the log frame indicators
Support the Technical Specialist to compile Annual Progress Review Report through analyzing of CSA progress data against the log frame indicators
Maintain excellent progress monitoring reports, and provide quarterly financial and narrative progress reports to the Project in a timely manner
Organize field missions for UNDP officials, evaluators and donor to review/evaluate the progress of project activities as well as other collaborative actions

Impact of Results

Efficient and coordinated implementation of climate smart agriculture development field operations of CRIWMP project
The achievement of CSA delivery targets and results as outlined in the AWP and indicator targets outlined in the log frame

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrate integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
Promote the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
Treats all people fairly without favoritism

Functional Competencies:

Good understanding of the UN system and field management of agricultural development projects
Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
Proven problem solving skills
Ability to work with accuracy under time constraints and pressure in a stressful environment; with patience, tactfulness, maintain confidentiality, take initiative and exercise good judgment
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and respects diversity
Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and encourage sharing of knowledge to achieve organizational goals
Ability to identify priority activities and assignments; adjust priorities as required
Ability to plan own work and use time efficiently, manage conflicting priorities and work under pressure of tight and conflicting deadlines

Technical Competencies:

Strong analytical skills and knowledge on Agriculture and Climate Change Adaptation, and climate resilient agriculture packages
Ability to design and prepare strategies and action plans for interventions aimed at building climatic resilience in dry zone agriculture sector
Excellent understanding of challenges to rural development in Sri Lanka, especially in the agriculture sector
Excellent facilitation skills managing multi-stakeholder national/local dialogues

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in the areas of Agriculture, Environmental Science, Development Studies, Natural Resource Management, Ecology, or related field. OR
Bachelors Degree or equivalent in the areas of Agriculture, Environmental Science, Development Studies, Natural Resource Management, Ecology, or related field with
minimum 3 years’ of post qualifying experience in the field of Agriculture and Climate Change Adaptation

Experience:

Experience in filed coordination of rural development projects, project monitoring at field level and developing narrative reports
Experience in climate resilient agriculture development in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka would be an added advantage
Experience in supporting development/capacity building activities especially in the government institutions will be advantageous
Past experience with UNDP or UN-related programmes will be of added advantage

Language Requirements:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Sinhala or Tamil

Disclaimer

Important applicant information

All posts in the SC categories are subject to local recruitment.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Workforce diversity

UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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This vacancy is now closed.
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