Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ghana

Environmental Advisor - Ghana

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility criteria:   Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Location:   Salaga, Bimbilla, Kpandai, Kpalbe, Wulensi

Start Date:   Exact timing will be negotiated with the successful candidate.

Duration:   3-6 months, in-country and online support

Language Requirement:   English (Mandatory)

Reporting to:   Country Program Officer

The Project – VOICE for Women and Girls

The VOICE for Women and Girls project is a seven-year initiative (2020 – 2027) aimed at strengthening the performance of developing country partner (DCP) organizations to advance gender equality and economic empowerment of 50,000 women and men from marginalised communities, in particular young women (target: 60% women and girls), in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Malawi with a focus on action areas of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), namely:

• Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls, and
• Growth that Works for Everyone.

The Project responds to the needs identified by women and men of cooperatives and the entire members in the countries of operation and is designed to increase the capacities of individual producers and primary co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. Supporting institutions, including apex co-operatives, co-operative colleges, and government/regulatory institutions will also be engaged to increase the capacity and prioritization of vulnerable groups.

The Partner you will work with

SEND Ghana has previously implemented the ACCESS and Fostering project and in some initiatives including 4R-NSP (Right source, right time, right place, right price fertilizer nutrition stewardship programme) in partnership with Cooperative development Foundation Canada, (CDF) with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC). SEND Ghana focuses on research and advocacy to increase good governance practices of accountability, transparency, equity and participation in pro-poor policies and social services as well as empowers resource poor women and men to expand their small enterprises to improve income and farmers to increase food and nutrition security.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

VOICE has completed data collection and analysis on the environment from the coop members and determined the focus areas for the environmental strategy. The is a great gap between the effort co-op members put into farm productive activities, the impact they make on the environment and the yields that accrue from their labor. Women are those affected the most. They have access to lands on the fringes which are often barren and lack nutrient to support any cash crop production.

VOICE is currently at the stage of completing and finalizing the environmental strategy by reviewing and incorporating the needed feedback through consultation and validation of the information with key government institution to ensure the strategy is not duplication. The activities needed to be undertaking must be outlined and the narratives on how the strategy will be rolled out the roles of volunteers, partner and government stakeholders’ institutions collaborating with VOICE clearly outlined. VOICE is looking for a volunteer with the capacity and background to support the completion of these tasks.

There are 4 credit union co-ops covering 5 districts with over 12 branches working with the VOICE for women and girl's project. The focus is to help the coops, especially women in these districts and branches to gain the needed information that will enhance the preservation of the environment to ensure that the environment continue to yield its benefit to support their livelihood and other activities that they are engaged in within the branches and communities where they live.

Objectives

Your role is to support the primary groups in the credit unions to learn new and improved methods of environmental adaptation which will help them to preserve the soil, conserve water and mitigate the impact of climate change. You will identify training needs of the farmers and train the co-op development facilitators and to support the co-ops and downstream the training at the lower levels. You will work closely with the coop development advisor crops and animal production to ensure the use of environmentally friendly methodologies in all training activities.

Deliverables

Co-op support

• Meet with the relevant government institutions to validate and finalize the environmental strategy for the VOICE program
• Have discussion with the CPO, partner and the relevant stakeholders to develop the needed activities that will enable the achievement of the environmental strategy  
• Provide training and guidance on best environmental practices to volunteers the co-op development facilitators, co-op managers and the institutions that support co-op development to enhance farmer income and economic circumstance
• Have exceptionally good understanding of proposal writing and development to be able to apply for financial support from the SIF fund to support acquisition of necessary material.
• Visit the coops regularly to learn from them their challenges and discuss with the technical persons from institutions supporting co-op development, partner, and CPO to discuss solutions to address the challenges
• Discuss with the CPO the best approach to develop the session plans, ensuring better understanding of training steps for third party users
• share knowledge with the partner to help to improve the technical understanding of environmental issues of co-op operations to provide innovative services to the coops.

Project Management

• Document all program related information and share with the country Program officer and assist with field data collection when required
• Stay in constant communication with the CPO, partner’s focal person and the co-op managers to obtain the needed information regarding the co-ops
• prepare and submit weekly deliverables to the CPO and discuss logistic to meet deliverables
• complete monthly reports and times sheets and submit to the volunteer coordinator

Training and development of training materials

• Will be required to prepare session plans or use available learning material to provide training for the co-ops in areas they require improvement for effective co-op management
• Develop training assessment tool, use the tool to collect information about the training and use the information to revise the session plans
• Ensure that only the most current session plans are appropriately stored in a format that is easy to retrieve and use
• Coordinate with the co-op development facilitators to ensure that co-op development training activities are appropriately down streamed

Your qualifications

Education:

• Degree in environmental policy, integrated development studies, or climate change or environmental science or other equivalent qualifications.

Experience:

• Experience and knowledge in environmental strategy development, understanding of integrated environmental strategy supporting agriculture, soil quality and water conservation or climate change.
• Experience in developing concept notes and proposals for small grants.
• Knowledge and skills in facilitation with understanding in adult learning methodologies
• Experience and knowledge of co-operative development in a developing country will be an asset.
• Formal training in one of the following: environmental impact assessment, environmental studies, environmental science, development studies is necessary.
• Years with co-op on the areas of focus could compensate for formal education listed above.
• Ability to break down complex technical information into simple forms for easy understanding.
• Excellent capacity to analyze, develop recommendations and capture lessons learned
• Ability to travel to and live in remote locations where services (internet) are minimal
• Demonstrated experience working internationally, including rural and remote contexts

Support package

This is a voluntary assignment. CDF Canada supports volunteers through the provision of a comprehensive package designed to cover a modest and healthy lifestyle, while allowing for effectiveness in the placement:

• Monthly allowance.
• Return-trip international and/or domestic airfare.
• Visa-related costs (if needed).
• International health insurance.
• Vaccination and health-related costs (if needed).
• Interpreter and/or translator (if needed and depending on the position and duration of the assignment).
• Pre-departure support and orientation.
• Support and orientation during the assignment.
• Debriefing upon completion of the assignment.

E-volunteering

Depending on the nature of the placement, volunteers are encouraged to provide e-volunteering support to our local partners before or after their placement.

Engaging Canadians

CDF Canada provides technical and logistical support to young and experienced professionals through volunteer assignments to apply and acquire new skills and knowledge in international co-operative development. We ask each volunteer, regardless of the duration of their mandate, to share their experience during and/or at the end of their assignment either in the country of assignment or in Canada. The experience can be shared by providing stories of human interest and photographs that can be used for social media outreach; Participate in events/conferences or other public engagement activities to share their experience to motivate others.

Application Process

Please submit a cover letter and CV/resume, by applying directly on our recruitment webpage. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Successful candidates will be required to obtain a police-check from their local police or RCMP detachment. All applicants are thanked for their interest in CDF Canada; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.