Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ethiopia

Marketing Development Advisor

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility criteria:   Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada 

Location:   Addis Ababa, Minjarshenkora and Abya Woreda

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

Duration:   1-3 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

Implemented by the Co-operative Development Foundation (CDF) of Canada, the VOICE project in Ethiopia is working closely with government counterparts and different non-governmental organizations. Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA) is the major Development Country Partner (DCP) of the project.  The organization envisions being a leading home-grown NGO contributing to sustainable development in Ethiopia. Whilst it exists to contribute to poverty reduction, resilience building and the creation of productive ecosystems. In all its efforts, EWNRA gives great values to equity, equality, honesty, integrity, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, and sustainability. Moreover, EWNRA is devoted to doing better for humanity and the environment, and its motto is sustainable development.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

The VOICE for Women and Girls project is thoroughly working to strengthen the capacity of the DCP and targeted co-operatives through various methods including providing training on the identified gaps; and developing/updating important strategic documents to enable the DCP and co-operatives to deal effectively with new changes, opportunities, threats, recent circumstances, and upcoming uncertainties.

A recent review of the Co-op Selection Assessment revealed that most of the targeted co-ops have skill gaps that require capacity building in Marketing Management.  This skill gap is planned to be addressed by providing extensive training for co-op leaders, co-op workers and co-op members at different levels.

The recommended approach to reaching out to the targets is providing TOT training for a few selected members from co-ops, DCP staff (EWNRA), and country VOICE team. Before the TOT training, the volunteer should read the assessment report, collect, and prepare training material and set a training schedule. The volunteer is expected to provide technical backstopping to the cascading trainings to be facilitated by the TOT participants.

Objectives

This volunteer role is expected to be provide in-country support in Minjarshenkora and Abya districts for a period of 6 months or longer. If you are passionate about helping Co-operatives in co-operative marketing management and training key co-operative leaders, this could be the role for you. The selected volunteer will take the leading role of preparing training material on co-operative marketing management and providing TOT training with close support of the CDF-Canada in Ethiopia VOICE project and the DCP.

Deliverables

As a coop technical support advisor for cooperative credit union, your mandate will include collating, analyzing, screening, and prioritizing various challenges of the credit unions, and modeling strategies and discuss with BOD and management their respective roles.

• Review the project document, gender analysis, co-op capacity assessment & development plan, partner capacity assessment and development plan as well as co-operative level policies on marketing.
• Lead the assessment of co-operatives to establish the level of need regarding marketing and prepare a report.
• Prepare training manual based on the identified gap and country co-op context, including a PowerPoint presentation and training evaluation.
• Lead TOT training for selected co-op leaders, members, and stakeholders on time at each district.
• Support the country partner to have market development training material, prepare training for its field and main office staff.
• Collect feedback from TOT trainees to identify possible challenges in the training and provide relevant technical support.
• Provide technical support and follow-up for the beneficiary training to be organized at co-operative level.
• Communicate with the VOICE country office in advance as needed.
• Prepare training report/ training output and collect case stories.
• Assess the current marketing value chain for the co-operatives and develop marketing value chain linkages for co-operatives on different crops.
• Carry out additional roles assigned by the Country Program Officer.

Your qualifications

Education:

• Degree in marketing management, agribusiness management, agricultural economics, business administration, co-operative business, business communication, economics, or any other related qualifications.

Experience:

• Progressive work experience in co-operative development, co-operative business management, co-operative capacity-building management, Business plan preparation (training, coaching, and mentoring).
• Good Knowledge of international co-operative principles and co-operative proclamation of the country pro. No. 985/2021 and the country co-operative organization directives.
• Strong oral and written communication skills in the English language.
• Should be a proactive self-starter with the ability to work independently; need a strong ability to set priorities, solve problems, and be resourceful under pressure.
• Strong interest to communicate with various stakeholders and partners virtually.
• Must have experience working with co-operatives, farmer-based organizations, or small and medium term enterprise groups.

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.