Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ghana

Crop and Animal Production

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility criteria:   Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Location:   Salaga, Bimbilla, Kpandai

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 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 Co-op development advisor Volunteer 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, the BOD and management of the credit Unions on a regular basis. The Co-op development advisor is expected to host meetings and training sessions with the Partner, the BOD, and the branch managers of the credit unions to interact and collaborate in project implementation.

Your role is to support the groups in the credit unions to learn new and improved methods of farming to help them increase their productivity. You will also be required to identify training need of the farmers, particularly women and train the co-op development facilitators on methodologies and tools that will enable them to support the co-ops members and downstream the training at the community levels.

There are 4 credit union co-ops spread in 5 districts with over 12 branches working with the VOICE for Women and Girls project. The focus is to help especially women in these districts and branches to gain the needed information and skills that will enhance their agricultural activities and improve production.

Objectives

The VOICE for women and girls project aims to support the women to overcome the issues of production to be able to have access to incomes that will empower them to play an active role at household, cooperative and community level. It must be said that there is lack of inadequate use of simple technologies which makes farmers to still rely on physical strength to farm and looking at the time women spend at home serving the families they are not able to attend to their farm and their economic circumstance continue to worsen. VOICE project will benefit from expertise in crop and animal production to improve and create innovations that will increase the productivity of women’s labor. VOICE will work with the relevant stakeholders to gain their support to encourage women to actively participate in economic growth that works for everyone.

Deliverables

Co-op support

• Develop scheme of activities with guidance from the capacity building plans, co-op managers and leaders of the groups to support them improve their farm yields. 
• Provide training on best farm practices to the co-op development facilitators, co-op managers and the institutions that support co-operatives to enhance farmer income and economic circumstance
• Provide training, tools, coaching that will develop the capacity of the co-op managers, cooperative development facilitators to continue to provide improved agricultural support to the co-ops after the project
• Submit applications for financial support through the Strategic Innovation Fund to support acquisition of necessary material, equipment, and inputs to support the work on the demonstration farms
• Work with the co-op managers to develop data base and create linkages with cooperative supporting institutions such as tractor owners and operators, agrochemical, small farm technologies
• Monitor the cascading of the training and track the adoption of best farming practices in individual farms
• Consolidate challenges and liaise with the technical persons amongst the stakeholder group, local partner and project staff how to address the challenges
• Share knowledge with the partner to help to improve the technical understanding of co-op operations to provide innovative services

Project Management

• Document all program related information and share with the country Program officer
• 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 program officer and discuss what you require to complete those tasks
• Complete monthly reports and time sheets and submit to the CPO
• Collect and compile relevant data required by the project and assist with the field data collection whenever its required

Training and development of training materials

• 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 or equivalent experience in agriculture crop or animal husbandry or production 

Experience:

• Knowledge and skill or previous experience in farm value chain activity set up and management.  
• Knowledge in demonstration plot preparation and management  
• Experience and knowledge of co-operatives. Proven experience in co-operative development in a developing country context will be an asset.  
• Excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills  
• Excellent capacity to analyze, develop recommendations and capture lessons learned 
• Ability to travel to and live in remote locations where services are minimal.  
• Ability to work autonomously, be flexible and analytical 
• Knowledge in community participation methodologies.  
• Experience facilitating group learning/training sessions or focus groups.  
• Demonstrated ability and interest in communicating and interacting effectively with people of a different culture.
• Must be able to work alone as well as with the credit union 
•  Ability to transform complex concepts and information into plain language reports 
•  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.