Livestock Development Specialist

We are seeking a highly motivated and innovative Livestock Specialist to lead outreach activities of the project geared at building capacity and empowering women livestock farmers in their husbandry practices; preparation of safe and nutritious family food; value addition; and enhancing their opportunities for income generating activities to support their families.

The successful candidate will report to the Senior Programme Officer and be part of a technical team, close collaborating with various sectoral specialists, and project team both at the province and districts. The position will be based in Quetta, Balochistan.

Key Responsibilities:

• Facilitate integrated capacity building interventions tailored for empowering women livestock farmers through Farmer Field Schools; enhancing value addition and processing of dairy and meat products + wool; income generation activities and market linkages.
• Develop a comprehensive gender-sensitive activity plan for empowering youth and women livestock farmers in the project area through Farmer Field Schools to be established and implemented through local organisations
• Ensure that the community outreach activities for the women livestock farmers through Farmer Field Schools are appropriate and tailored to meet their unique needs
• Support the Service Providers for the community outreach to articulate value addition and business opportunities, and requisite training needs for the different clusters of women livestock farmers
• Provide technical backstopping to the Project district teams and Service Providers and quality assurance of interventions being implemented through the Farmer Field Schools to enhance knowledge and skills of women livestock farmers in climate smart livestock production technologies and practices; safe and nutritious family food preparation; values addition and entrepreneurial skills.
• Plan/coordinate procurement and distribution of appropriate learning materials, biosafety items, assorted equipment and food processing kits for the women livestock farmer groups/clusters
• Support the district project teams and respective Service Providers to put in place a functional records and documentation system
• In collaboration with other Sectoral Specialists, ensure timely production and distribution of simple and well-illustrated appropriate Information, Extension and Communication (IEC) materials for the women groups
• Facilitate and undertake tailored capacity building for district project teams, Service Providers and Extension Workers
• In collaboration with the Provincial project team, support the district teams in the oversight and quality assurance in the implementation of Letter of Agreements with different Service Providers.
• Keep close track and completeness of all targets, identifying strategic linkages for sustainability completeness
• Conduct regular field visits to the project area and provide guidance on the ongoing interventions in the community outreach for the women livestock farmer groups.
• Facilitate production and collating of work plans and progress reports (monthly, quarterly, and final) on the community outreach for women livestock farmer groups
• In liaison with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) colleagues, document, report and develop database, based on the progress of trained beneficiaries' information
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Requirements:

• Advanced university degree (DVM/MS/M.Sc/M.Phil/Ph.D) in Livestock/Veterinary Medicine or Animal Sciences (any Specialization/Discipline)
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in livestock management especially small ruminants
• Working knowledge of English and working knowledge of Urdu, Sindhi, Saraiki and other local languages used in relevant province
• National of Pakistan

Technical/Functional Skills:

• Practical knowledge of livestock management especially small ruminants and poultry & Community organization skills
• Proficient in basic computer skills including MS Office
• Good interpersonal & communication skills
• Good report writing skills
• Analytical, communication and presentation skills
• Good networking and advocacy skills
• Ability of working in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic environment and rural communities
• Familiarity with UN systems and procedures regarding code of conduct and resource use

Selection Criteria:

• Proven experience in Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology
• Climat Resilient Agriculture/Livestock (CRA), private sector, livestock value chain experience will be an asset.