About Self Help Africa :

Established in 1984, Self Help Africa is an international development organisation that works through agriculture and agri-enterprise development to address hunger, poverty, social inequality and the impacts of climate change. We believe that equitable economic development is key to lifting communities out of long-term poverty, empowering them to take control of their futures and improving their quality of life.

In early 2023 we launched a new five-year organisation strategy, which defines shared mission as the alleviation of hunger, poverty, social inequality and the impact of climate change through community-led, market-based and enterprise-focused approaches, so that people can have access to nutritious food, clean water, decent employment and incomes, while sustaining natural resources.

Our wider organisation also includes social enterprise subsidiaries Partner Africa, which provides ethical auditing and consultancy services, and CUMO, Malawi’s largest micro-finance provider.

Our three core values are:

• Impact: We are accountable, ambitious and committed to systemic change.
• Innovation: We are agile, creative and enterprising in an ever-changing World.
• Community: We are inclusive, honest and have integrity in our relationships.

Job Purpose:

The Field Facilitator will play a key role in the implementation of the RESAF project in Chitipa district, supporting the adoption and scaling up of ecosystem-based landscape restoration strategies. The position will focus on strengthening local capacity in land and forest management through evergreening practices, increasing tree biomass and carbon sequestration, and enhancing crop productivity. The Field Facilitator will work closely with communities, local decision-makers, and stakeholders to promote sustainable land restoration, support climate-resilient value chains and market linkages (including carbon markets) and facilitate cross-learning opportunities. Additionally, the role will involve leading behavior change communication campaigns and implementing monitoring systems to track the success of ecosystem-based activities, tree growth, and biomass accumulation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Day to day activity implementation of the GEA Project in target communities.
• Participatory selection of target communities, project participants and stakeholders.
• Participatory selection of volunteer community trainers (lead farmers, community facilitators, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) facilitators, Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLA) trainers, etc)
• Prepare/ adapt training materials for agroforestry, FMNR, landscape restoration, Natural Resources Management (NRM) planning, VSLAs, Value chain analysis, business skills development, nutrition.
• Training, mentoring and supervision of volunteer community trainers.
• Training, mentoring of NRM committees, farmers’ groups, micro-enterprises.
• Assist NRM committees to develop and update Natural Resources management plans and maps.
• Undertake regular monitoring of project activities.
• Assist the M&E team to plan and conduct surveys.
• Measure tree growth, tree densities, tree cover, and tree carbon, and conduct remote sensing and field measurement.
• Assist the GEA Malawi Project Manager to prepare narrative reports.
• Liaise with the District Authority and implementing partners and stakeholders.
• Perform other duties and tasks as assigned by the GEA Project Manager.

Key Relationships:

Internal:

• SHA Finance, Logistics, HR and Administration Team,
• Programme Manager
• Directors
• HQ Programme Quality Team
• Global Technical Advisory and Research Team

Responsible for:

• Community Based Trainers.

External:

• Chitipa District Council
• EPA staff
• Local NGOs
• CRS
• Consortium Partners
• GEA
• Farmer’s groups

Qualification:

Essential:

• Diploma or BSc in Forestry, Agroforestry, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Agricultural science, Agribusiness, or related discipline.
• Minimum of three years of technical experience in forestry, agroforestry, or natural resource management.
• Experience of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, tree planting and agroforestry systems on smallholder farms.
• Experience of forest-based value chains.
• Experience of Forest Mensuration.
• Basic land and soil survey skills.
• Experience in soil and water conservation, watershed management and landscape restoration.
• At least three years of working experience in an NGO or in government or private sector.
• Practical experience of developing community natural resources plans and maps.
• Good understating of gender roles in forestry and practical experience of integrating gender equality into forestry, agroforestry, and rangeland management.
• Commitment to international and humanitarian NGO codes, standards, and practices

Preferred:

• Experience of working with forest dependent communities.
• Microfinance experience.
• Experience of integrating nutrition into agriculture, forestry and NRM projects (nutrition sensitive).

Knowledge, Experience and Other Requirements:

Qualifications:

• University degree in relevant field (Social science/ Agriculture/Community Development /Gender or any relevant comparable field)
• A minimum of three years of professional experience in fields related to Gender and protection issues
• Excellent communication and team-working skills, with the ability to build good relations, both internally and externally.
• Attention to detail and a flexible approach to work.
• Determined hard worker, capable of rapid and quality on a high workload
• Outgoing personality with solid interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
• Demonstrated cross cultural communication skills and commitment to safeguarding

• Day to day activity implementation of the GEA Project in target communities.
• Participatory selection of target communities, project participants and stakeholders.
• Participatory selection of volunteer community trainers (lead farmers, community facilitators, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) facilitators, Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLA) trainers, etc)
• Prepare/ adapt training materials for agroforestry, FMNR, landscape restoration, Natural Resources Management (NRM) planning, VSLAs, Value chain analysis, business skills development, nutrition.
• Training, mentoring and supervision of volunteer community trainers.
• Training, mentoring of NRM committees, farmers’ groups, micro-enterprises.
• Assist NRM committees to develop and update Natural Resources management plans and maps.
• Undertake regular monitoring of project activities.
• Assist the M&E team to plan and conduct surveys.
• Measure tree growth, tree densities, tree cover, and tree carbon, and conduct remote sensing and field measurement.
• Assist the GEA Malawi Project Manager to prepare narrative reports.
• Liaise with the District Authority and implementing partners and stakeholders.
• Perform other duties and tasks as assigned by the GEA Project Manager.

• Excellent communication and team-working skills, with the ability to build good relations, both internally and externally.
• Attention to detail and a flexible approach to work.
• Determined hard worker, capable of rapid and quality on a high workload
• Outgoing personality with solid interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
• Demonstrated cross cultural communication skills and commitment to safeguarding

• Diploma or BSc in Forestry, Agroforestry, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Agricultural science, Agribusiness, or related discipline.
• Minimum of three years of technical experience in forestry, agroforestry, or natural resource management.
• Experience of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, tree planting and agroforestry systems on smallholder farms.
• Experience of forest-based value chains.
• Experience of Forest Mensuration.
• Basic land and soil survey skills.
• Experience in soil and water conservation, watershed management and landscape restoration.
• At least three years of working experience in an NGO or in government or private sector.
• Practical experience of developing community natural resources plans and maps.
• Good understating of gender roles in forestry and practical experience of integrating gender equality into forestry, agroforestry, and rangeland management.
• Commitment to international and humanitarian NGO codes, standards, and practices
• Experience of working with forest dependent communities.
• Microfinance experience.
• Experience of integrating nutrition into agriculture, forestry and NRM projects (nutrition sensitive).
• University degree in relevant field (Social science/ Agriculture/Community Development /Gender or any relevant comparable field)
• A minimum of three years of professional experience in fields related to Gender and protection issues