Rural Development (Landsbygdsutveckling) Advisor

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) currently implements four large programmes within health, education, disability and rural development. The Rural Development programme is key in this process, as it centres on community mobilisation, builds the capacity of institutions within Afghan civil society, and promotes multifaceted development. The programme currently contains projects within water and sanitation, livelihoods development, the National Solidarity Programme, and rehabilitation of rural infrastructure. It also encompasses support to the afghan agriculture sector through capacity building of SCA's national partner Coordination of Afghan Relief (CoAR) and its agriculture programme. CoAR carries out a series of development interventions in 19 provinces of Afghanistan, in the sphere of agriculture, livelihoods, livestock, environment, relief, education and rural engineering. SCA has had close cooperation with CoAR since 2005, when CoAR took over SCA's agriculture. The capacity building package is geared to training of CoAR staff and enhancing technical and managerial capacities of the organisation. 40% TA, Livelihoods/SCA The TA will be part of the Technical Unit of SCA's Rural Development programme, based in Kabul, within which s/he will provide technical advice on SCA's livelihood schemes, build and strengthen capacity, and support in networking and advocacy work. Substantial field work will be required. 60% TA, Agriculture/CoAR (secondment) The TA will support CoAR management staff in issues related to coordination, planning, reporting, monitoring and follow-up, within the programmatic field of rural development in general and agricultural development in particular. Main Responsibilities (applicable within both SCA and CoAR) Technical support and advice - To provide technical advice - To contribute in preparing proposals, action plans, budgets and reports - To participate in reviewing and monitoring progress of programme implementation Capacity Building - To analyse and identify needs for training and capacity building - To coach and train staff in order to promote knowledge, capacity and technical skills - To participate in arranging workshops, seminars and training sessions for increased capacity Networking and Advocacy - To actively contribute to strengthening the partnership between SCA and CoAR, both on overall organisation level as well as within specific programmatic areas Entry Requirements Qualifications: Masters Degree, or equivalent, in agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, rural development Experience: Having embarked on a career in the field of development and international assistance, the incumbent is to have minimum five years of professional experience of agriculture programmes, schemes for developing rural enterprises and value-chain systems, capacity & institution building, and project/programme coordination. Following are considered assets: Experience of working with gender issues in conservative societies Others: - Skills in capacity building and training - Excellent interpersonal and communication skills - Conversant with project planning, budgeting and report writing - Proficiency in English, knowledge of Dari and/or Pashtu a merit - IT and computer literate