Opportunities

Project: Knowledge Hub for Organic Agriculture in Southern Africa
Role: Knowledge and Monitoring and Evaluation (KME) Officer
Contracting body: Kusamala Institute of Agriculture and Ecology (Kusamala).
Report to: The KHSA Country Project Manager (Kusamala) and KHSA Knowledge and Monitoring and Evaluation (KME) Manager based at the Sustainability Institute (SI), South Africa
Contract terms: Role is 60% time; fixed-term contract from September 2022 to September 2023 (2 months), renewal optional (based on extension of KHSA activities) and performance-based.
Remuneration: Market-related

Project Overview
The Knowledge Hub for Organic Agriculture in Southern Africa (KHSA) is part of the Knowledge Centre for Organic Agriculture in Africa (KCOA), a collaborative country-led partnership funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and nongovernmental organisations across Africa. The KCOA aims to scale up adoption of organic agriculture and agroecology farming practices through five Knowledge Hubs in Africa. The project runs from 2019 to 2025.

The South African-based Sustainability Institute supports project implementation in Southern Africa. Activities are being implemented in Zambia by Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Zambia and Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre (KATC); in Namibia by the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) in collaboration with the Namibian Organic Association (NOA); in South Africa by the South African Organic Sector Organisation (SAOSO) in collaboration with PGS South Africa; and in Malawi in 2022 by Soil, Food and Healthy Communities (SFHC) and Kusamala Institute of Agriculture and Ecology (Kusamala). The other Knowledge Hubs are implemented by GIZ with partners organisations in North, West and Eastern and Central Africa.

In-country partner overview
Kusamala Institute of Agriculture and Ecology (Kusamala) is a local, non-governmental organization that promotes household-level permaculture and agroecology systems in Malawi. Founded in 2009, Kusamala educates individuals and communities on how to improve nutrition, income generation, and environmental health. Through grants and programs, Kusamala conducts outreach, research, and advocacy with the aim to show the viability of permaculture as a local and national agricultural strategy. In a country where approximately 80% of the population are subsistence farmers, Kusamala demonstrates how local resources can meet human needs while improving quality of life both for people and the environment.

Job Description
The KME Officer will be responsible for the knowledge management, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and reporting components of the KHSA project for Kusamala in Malawi. The incumbent will work under the leadership and guidance of the Knowledge and M&E Manager (based at the Sustainability Institute) where s/he will receive technical support, and strategic and technical direction. S/he will report to the in-country Project Manager and to the KHSA Knowledge and M&E Manager.

Specific tasks
M&E component
● Develop an in-country project M&E plan, ensuring alignment with the regional Results matrix and log frame, for approval by the KME Manager.
● Co-develop, coordinate, facilitate and report on in-country monitoring, evaluation and learning activities.
● Co-design, administer, collate and analyse results for all data gathering activities e.g. stakeholder mapping, needs assessments, baseline study, evaluation of training programme, etc carried out under the KHSA project.
● Implement the KHSA knowledge management strategy in Malawi including:
o Identifying, collecting, and uploading organic/agroecological agriculture knowledge products;
o Supporting the process validation of KPs by external experts;
o Adapting/transforming KPs and/or, contracting and supervising an external expert to transform KPs.
● Regularly update the KHSA knowledge collection and dissemination tracking sheet with knowledge products collected and disseminated in Malawi.
● Develop and put in place tracking documentation for KHSA activities in Malawi, ensuring all verification documents e.g. attendance registers, reports, photographs etc are promptly uploaded to the shared drive.
● Compile quarterly monitoring report of KHSA project activities, including updating the results framework.
● Compile annual and project end reports.
● Liaise weekly with the regional KME team to review progress against the KHSA Results Matrix.

Required skills and experience
• The KME Officer will be based at Kusamala’s head office in Lilongwe, Malawi;
• Proven experience in monitoring & evaluation including statistics, analytics or a related field is required. At least a bachelor’s degree in a related field is a pre-requisite i.e. Sustainable Development, Social Development, Agriculture, Anthropology, Sociology, Environmental Sciences, Climate Change etc;
• Minimum of 2 years of experience working with monitoring and evaluation systems, ensuring data quality, and managing data intensive, performance-based programmes funded by international donors;
• Demonstrated ability to utilise appropriate M&E tools and packages;
• Strong qualitative and quantitative research skills including a demonstrated ability to perform data analysis and make recommendations based on findings, and convey data in an accessible and easy to understand way.
• Experience in working in the field of agriculture
• Excellent written, communication and interpersonal skills in English;
• Proven ability to work under pressure with multiple concurrent demands;
• Dynamic and adaptable;
• Willing and flexible to travel if necessary.

Preferred skills and experience
• Familiarity with sustainable agriculture (including livestock) of the sub-region (Southern Africa) and demonstrated working knowledge of ecological organic agriculture in Southern Africa will be an advantage.
• Experience and/or knowledge of information systems and monitoring and evaluation processes as they relate to data collection for result based monitoring (RBM) and reporting;
Good command of English and Chichewa.
Applicants to submit a 2-page CV plus references and motivating cover letter. All applications and queries to be sent to recruitment@kusamala.org by 31st August, 2022 at 17h00.

Kusamala is seeking interested individuals to join the board. Kusamala is led by a robust board of 7 directors who terms
are staggered so that they cycle off the board in stages every few years. Positions are voluntary without any
remunerations and are for a period of 3 years (with possibility of renewal). Board meetings are held in Lilongwe and
members are expected to attend four board meetings per year and be involved in some of the activities of the
organization between board meetings. Board members are diverse and bring a range of skills and experience to
Kusamala. We are seeking to recruit several potential board members and expect that different candidates will bring
a range of skills and experience to Kusamala.

General, willingness to:
• Fulfil the duties and standards of conduct required of a board member.
• Commit to the objectives of Kusamala Institute of Agriculture and Ecology.
• Interpret the organization’s work and values to the community.
• Represent the organization and act as an ambassador.
• Actively participate in fundraising for the organization.
• Promote permaculture and agroecology.

Experience in one or more of the following:
• Fundraising (e.g., from individuals, partnerships with business and/or civil society organizations, donor funding
and/or sales of goods and services).
• Lobbying policymakers and/or business and/or representative groups.
• Working for or with managers and boards in relevant sectors e.g., donor community,
• Media and communications or PR, including social media.
• Developing business models in organizations comparable to Kusamala.
• Board level experience, ideally NGO or company of a similar size to Kusamala.
Skills, Expertise & Knowledge valuable to the Kusamala board:
• Permaculture, Human resources and labour issues, Environmental issues, Finance
• Legal issues and Business development
• Strategic planning skills, Analytical skills, Ability to operate as part of a team

How to apply.
Please submit a CV and covering letter stating why you wish to be considered for the role, and how you meet the
relevant requirements list. Send to: BOD-Chair@Kusamala.org with copy to Info@Kusamala.org.

There is no deadline for sending your interest to serve; we will keep requests on file for when positions open.