Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ghana

Co-operative Development Advisor (Alternative Livelihoods)

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility Criteria: Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Location:   Salaga, Bimbilla, Kpandai

Start Date:   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 in partnership with CDF with funding from 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

The alternative livelihood advisor will be reporting directly to the Country Program Officer, who is coordinating all project activities at the country level. He/She is also expected to work hand in hand with the local partner SEND Ghana, the board of directors (BOD) and management of the credit unions on a regular basis. The alternative livelihood advisor is expected to host meetings and sessions with the partner, the BOD, and the branch managers of the credit unions to interact and collaborate to get project goals accomplished.

The alternative development advisor will be working with the co-op credit union groups to support them to identify business opportunities and assist them to develop the needed plans and procedures to have their businesses developed. The ideal candidate will be supporting the primary co-op groups to develop their entrepreneurial skills which will enable them to engage in additional income generating activities for the women and other marginalized and vulnerable populations of the primary groups.

Objectives

The role will support the formation of rural commercial women groups and entrepreneurial oriented women in the coop at the community level and train them to have the skills to identify, develop and manage their businesses. You support the establishment of alternative income generating activities to engage women in income generating activities during the off season.

You will develop training materials, guides, tools and templates to help women to explore opportunities for income generation at the community level. Train women in values addition and prepare women to venture into wholly men dominated enterprises. 

Deliverables

As the Alternative Livelihoods Advisor volunteer, your mandate will be to lead activities and processes designed to leverage the partner and BOD of the co-op credit union’s capacity to implement innovative and sustainable development initiatives for the coops, whilst shaping an inclusive enabling environment for their women entrepreneurs. 

Co-op support

• Develop activities for training women in the groups in the coop on alternative livelihood with guidance from the capacity building plans in the alternative livelihood for coops and women thematic area of the capacity building plan. 
• Provide training for the co-op primary groups within the clusters where they are located to identify their alternative livelihood opportunities, develop their plans and guide them to role the plans out
• Provide training, (TOT) tools, orientation that will enable the co-op managers to support the co-ops to continue to find alternative livelihoods that are viable even when the project comes to an end.
• Assess current situation on alternative and other sources of livelihood in the project areas being practiced by the primary groups
• Develop recommendation on sustainable alternative livelihoods in the region
• Develop and improve innovations on existing sustainable livelihood
• Develop training materials based on needs
• Facilitate learning visit for women groups to gain exposure and experience
• Have ToT for the CDf and women leaders in the coop and support downstream of training to coop members
• Have engagement with the partner, the leadership of the groups in the coop and the co-op managers to obtain information to develop the training session plans
• Collect field success stories and share with the communication advisor and have them published. Assist with field data collection on the progress and impact of the project on the members of the co-op groups
• Discuss with the CPO the best approach to develop the session plans, identify a training session plan development template that ensures better understanding of training steps for third party users

Project Management

• Planning, implementation, monitoring in collaboration with CPO, local partner and other relevant stakeholders
• Document all lessons, best practices, share with local partner, and project stakeholders

Training and development of training materials

• Assessment of coops to see the level of training they require the entry point
• Review of existing material and development of contextualized material for training and supporting coop growth.

Your qualifications

Education:

• Degree or equivalent experience in business and strategic plans development or related field, with a proven track record in livelihoods programming 

Experience:

• Experience and knowledge in developing and delivering session plans on livelihoods interventions.
• Knowledge and skills in facilitation with understanding in adult learning methodologies
• A robust working knowledge of livelihoods technical approaches and a formal training in that a must.
• Work experience within co-op could be used to compensate for formal education in the fields listed above.
• Excellent facilitation, interpersonal skills and experience working with low level literacy population.
• Ability to travel to and possibly live in remote locations where services (internet) are minimal 
• Zealous about investing in women livelihoods and motivated by the prospects of innovation and entrepreneurship in African context
• Possess the ability to mentor, guide and assist ventures at the start-up phase
• Knowledge in community participation methodologies. 
• Ability to transform complex concepts and information into plain simple language reports

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 living 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.