Jobs at Fairtrade Africa (FTA)

 Fairtrade and Cadbury have been working together in Ghana since 2009 under the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP). In 2012, CCP was continued by Mondel?z international after it was created from Kraft Foods but changed the name of the sustainability programme to Cocoa Life. The Cocoa Life programme focuses on 3 areas: Sustainable Cocoa Farming Businesses, Empowered Cocoa Communities and Conserved and Restored Forests. In 2016, the Cocoa Life – Fairtrade partnership was created, moving “beyond sourcing,” based on partnership principles. In 2020, the Climate Change and Organisational Strengthening Programme (CCOSP) was launched, with the aim to support the cocoa farmers in the Mondel?z Ghana Cocoa Life programme to become more resilient against changing climate and to ensure ongoing viability of the Cocoa Life unions.

 With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme was awarded additional funding by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) as part of the Vulnerable Supply Chain Facility, and hence has expanded to include two additional aims – to maintain the incomes of farmers through the pandemic, and create awareness on safe practices. This will be achieved through the launch of a flexible grant facility to provide start-up capital on climate-smart new business models, and help farmers maintain their cocoa harvest through the 20-21 season. The programme will also launch a communications strategy for each of the unions to ensure their members and key cocoa supply chain actors are enacting safe COVID practices.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

•  The Grants Manager will be responsible for co-designing and implementing the grant strategy for the COVID-19 Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility administered by Fairtrade as part of the Fairtrade – Mondelez Project. The Grants Manager will co-design the grant strategy with the Project’s technical advisers, farmer unions, Mondelez International and other key supply chains actors; develop the necessary grant management tools, processes and governance; work with union leaders to support the development of grant applications; support the submission, review and evaluation of grants by the Grants Panel; manage the award, approval and disbursement of grants; monitor grant use through conducting site visits and quarterly progress reporting and (if necessary) grants close out. The Grants Manager will be responsible for delivering all operations/administration, finance, implementation, monitoring and evaluation elements of the COVID-19 Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility in Ghana. This includes ensuring compliance with all relevant policies and procedures and principles under the partnership.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREA

Inception

•  Co-design and feed into the creation of the grant management strategy, including project managing the delivery of the strategy, conducting field visits as necessary, coordinating inputs from relevant stakeholders and ensuring best practice management for the grant facility
•  Assist the Project Manager in developing criteria for assessing the strengths of the cocoa nine unions to create a tailored grant management process for three different strength levels of unions as per the grants strategy
•  Under the advice of the Senior Grants advisor, lead on the design and delivery of all grant management tools and processes, including application design, due diligence and reporting requirements that meet the expectations of the Project’s clients and according to the Grant strategy.
•  Conduct training with potential grantees to ensure they are familiar with the processes and ready to submit applications
•  Work closely with the Fairtrade finance teams to ensure the correct financial processes are in place for the facility

Implementation

•  In liaison with the key project partners, producer organisations, project team and the Head of Region, lead in overall planning, budgeting and implementation of the grant facility
•  Conduct all necessary due diligence and vetting purposes of the grantees
•  Follow up on due diligence review for the subgrantees and agree on recommendations and timelines
•  Coordinate and provide initial assessment of all received grant applications, creating a shortlist of applications that meet the designed criteria for the grants facility
•  Coordinate the meeting of the Grants Steering Committee, including preparing necessary materials and reporting
•  Provide technical, administrative and logistical support to the project team for efficient and effective implementation.
•  Conduct site visits and support the unions and project team with the information and processes required for activity/project implementation
•  Prepare annual and quarterly work plans in line with the project and partnership objectives for approval
•  Develop, submit and update field activity implementation guidelines based on learnings from implementation and producer needs

Reporting, Communication, Monitoring and Evaluation

•  Conduct due diligence and reporting processes as per the grant strategy and tools, identifying areas of weakness and creating correction and training plans for the applicants to upskill
•  Lead in preparing quarterly reports on progress of grant use and submit to the Project Manager for approval and submission to key project partners
•  Ensure Sub-Grantees are aware of the progress on donor specific financial rules and regulations and any implications for project management by providing monthly updates and advice
•  Facilitate joint planning and review meetings with producer organisations and ensure timely gathering and distribution of all relevant information to producer organisations
•  Participate in key partners and project related meeting in-country and outside, where necessary including in-country Proof of Performance (POP) meetings
•  In liaison with MEL Officer, project team and key project partners, lead in effective monitoring of progress of project implementation, adopt appropriate tools and methodology to collect and analyse required data and apply agree templates to report outcome
•  Compile quarterly summary reports of activities in liaison with MEL Officer and project team using agreed/required Fairtrade Africa and project specific templates
•  Undertake risk mapping and report on same

Accounting Support

•  Support union leaders to prepare plans and budgets for the grant activities
•  Effectively track the facility’s expenses, accounting and reporting
•  Prepare monthly and quarterly budget and financial reports on grants component of the project implementation/performance for approval and submission

Administrative Support

•  Support provide logistical support to the organisation for events and workshops
•  Represent the FTA and the Project at meetings, events/forums, and conferences in the country in relation to the Project and its key topics

KEY DELIVERABLES

•  Lead and Coordinate Grant Steering Committee Formation and Application Development, including the preparation of all necessary materials and ensuring all stakeholders are available and up to date
•  Application Review Process-Manages the application review process by organizing all Grant Applications in a database and ensures all application files are saved electronically in individual folders, notifies grant applicants of awards and feedback from the steering committee, and prepares and executes grant agreements
•  Works with the unions and the project F&A Officer to ensure that all goods and services are procured following FDCO and Fairtrade’s procurement guidelines
•  Works with the FTA and FTF legal teams to develop an appropriate legal grant agreement template
•  Support and Oversee unions implementation of grant funded interventions, conduct Grant Management supervision visits to the field and support the MEL and communications team with obtaining key data, case studies and results
•  Coordinate reporting from the grantees on the progress of the grant, ensuring high quality reporting and managing risks accordingly
•  Prepare and submit final report of technical completion and ensures closure of the grant facility

Qualification Required & Experience

•  At least 5 years working experience in non-government not for profit organization at field and management level in the fields of Grant Management, Project Management, Agriculture, Climate Change, Administration and development work, in general
•  Substantial experience working on a relevant grant-making project in agricultural settings with smallholder farmers and farmer unions in Ghana in establishing processes, administering funds and reporting to stakeholders. It is desirable for the candidate to have experience in the cocoa sector.
•  High level of relationship and communication management skills to build relationships with producer organisations, key partners and stakeholders  Demonstrable experience in Monitoring and Evaluation and coordinating projects
•  Excellent level knowledge of Financial and accounting systems.
•  Strong analytical skills.
•  Ability to prioritize and plan work activities and use time efficiently.
•  Demonstrated skills in project planning, implementation and budgeting
•  Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, meet tight deadlines and handle multiple tasks
•  University Degree with focus on Agricultural studies or Economics, Rural Development Studies, Project Management or other relevant field

go to method of application »

Fairtrade and Cadbury have been working together in Ghana since 2009 under the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP). In 2012, CCP was continued by Mondel?z international after it was created from Kraft Foods but changed the name of the sustainability programme to Cocoa Life. The Cocoa Life programme focuses on 3 areas: Sustainable Cocoa Farming Businesses, Empowered Cocoa Communities and Conserved and Restored Forests. In 2016, the Cocoa Life – Fairtrade partnership was created, moving “beyond sourcing,” based on partnership principles. In 2020, the Climate Change and Organisational Strengthening Programme (CCOSP) was launched, with the aim to support the cocoa farmers in the Mondel?z Ghana Cocoa Life programme to become more resilient against changing climate and to ensure ongoing viability of the Cocoa Life unions.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme was awarded additional funding by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) as part of the Vulnerable Supply Chain Facility, and hence has expanded to include two additional aims – to maintain the incomes of farmers through the pandemic, and create awareness on safe practices. This will be achieved through the launch of a flexible grant facility to provide start-up capital on climate-smart new business models, and help farmers maintain their cocoa harvest through the 20-21 season. The programme will also launch a communications strategy for each of the unions to ensure their members and key cocoa supply chain actors are enacting safe COVID practices.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

• The overall objective of the Consultant assignment is to conduct a market analysis exercise. Market Analyst will be responsible for ensuring that cocoa farming unions have the best available knowledge and design strong climate-smart business models to diversify their incomes, including preparing strong grant applications. To do this, he/she will adapt existing market analysis/conduct fresh analysis to identify promising new business ventures suitable for the cocoa farming unions, including the best climate-smart crops for livelihoods diversification and food security, provide training on income diversification models and market analysis findings to union leaders with grant window; work with Union leaders to support the development of grant applications for both grant windows in the programme; follow up Grants and Income Diversification training as per unions’ need; conduct site visits and review quarterly progress reporting.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREA

Inception

•  Working closely with the programme technical advisers, the market analyst will support with necessary fieldwork and developing the necessary tools to conduct a market analysis to identify the most promising new business models for cocoa farming unions – including a specific focus on climate smart crops and food security.
•  The analysis should identify the target group and their priority needs, assess the most promising business ventures available for the cocoa unions, identify climate-smart crops for the relevant ecological zones and conduct a participatory assessment of the crops against the framework with project stakeholders.
•  Lead on the development and write-up of the analysis, conducting meetings with key project partners, producer organisations with the support of the project team.

Implementation

•  Train the unions on the models and market analysis findings, with follow-up training where needed
•  Conduct site visits and support the unions and project team with the information and processes required for developing grant applications and implementing the projects
•  Prepare annual and quarterly work plans in line with the project and partnership objectives for approval
•  Develop, submit and update field activity implementation guidelines based on learnings from implementation and producer needs, feeding into the project MEL framework as required
•  Conduct follow up research as required ensuring the market analysis is kept up to date and takes into account new information

Reporting, Communication, Monitoring and Evaluation

•  Lead in preparing market analysis and submit to the Project Manager for approval and submission to key project partners
•  Build relationships with technical experts from government, industry and NGOs, to ensure the market analysis situates solutions within the context of existing support
•  Facilitate joint planning and review meetings with producer organisations and ensure timely gathering and distribution of all relevant information to producer organisations
•  Participate in key partners and project related meeting in-country and outside, where necessary including in-country Proof of Performance (POP) meetings
•  In liaison with MEL Officer, project team and key project partners, lead in effective monitoring of progress of project implementation, adopt appropriate tools and methodology to collect and analyse required data and apply agree templates to report outcome
•  Compile quarterly summary reports of activities in liaison with MEL Officer and project team using agreed/required Fairtrade Africa and project specific templates
•  Undertake risk mapping and report on same

Accounting Support

•  Support union leaders to prepare plans, projections and budgets for the income diversification and protect cocoa activities.

Administrative Support

•  Represent the Project at meetings, events/forums, and conferences in the country in relation to the Project and its key topics

EXPECTED KEY DELIVERABLES

• In close collaboration with a Market and Livelihoods Expert develop and implement a detailed approach/methodology to conduct Market analysis for Climate Smart income diversification including specification of promising new business models for cocoa farmers;
•  Deliver Unions and stakeholder’s field-based consultation meetings for the market analysis
•  Train unions on findings of the market analysis to guide application process to access the FCDO grant facility for income diversification;
•  Develop, submit and update field activity implementation guidelines based on learnings from implementation and producer needs, feeding into the project MEL framework as required
•  Contribute to regular programme reporting through the gathering of data with the MEL team, collection of case studies and written reports as well as photographs from delivery as required
•  Final report presentation on assigned task
• Time frame for the assignment
•  The work specified in this term of reference is expected to be completed within a period of 6 months (between October and March 2020).

Qualification Required & Experience

•  University Degree with focus on Agricultural studies or Economics, Rural Development Studies, or other relevant field. Specific training on market systems or agricultural value chain analysis is desirable.
•  At least 5 years working experience in non-government not for profit organization at field and management level in the fields of Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics and development work, in general
•  Substantial experience conducting research and delivering technical advice on agricultural value chains and sector strategies in Ghana (a specific understanding of the cocoa sector is desirable)
•  High level of relationship and communication management skills to build relationships with producer organisations, key partners and stakeholders  Demonstrable experience in working with Monitoring and Evaluation teams
•  Good level knowledge of Financial and accounting systems in the context of building new business models
•  Strong analytical skills.
•  Ability to prioritize and plan work activities and use time efficiently.
•  Demonstrated skills in project planning, implementation and budgeting
•  Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, meet tight deadlines and handle multiple tasks

go to method of application »

 Fairtrade and Cadbury have been working together in Ghana since 2009 under the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP). In 2012, CCP was continued by Mondel?z international after it was created from Kraft Foods but changed the name of the sustainability programme to Cocoa Life. The Cocoa Life programme focuses on 3 areas: Sustainable Cocoa Farming Businesses, Empowered Cocoa Communities and Conserved and Restored Forests. In 2016, the Cocoa Life – Fairtrade partnership was created, moving “beyond sourcing,” based on partnership principles. In 2020, the Climate Change and Organisational Strengthening Programme (CCOSP) was launched, with the aim to support the cocoa farmers in the Mondel?z Ghana Cocoa Life programme to become more resilient against changing climate and to ensure ongoing viability of the Cocoa Life unions.

 With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme was awarded additional funding by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) as part of the Vulnerable Supply Chain Facility, and hence has expanded to include two additional aims – to maintain the incomes of farmers through the pandemic, and create awareness on safe practices. This will be achieved through the launch of a flexible grant facility to provide start-up capital on climate-smart new business models, and help farmers maintain their cocoa harvest through the 20-21 season. The programme will also launch a communications strategy for each of the unions to ensure their members and key cocoa supply chain actors are enacting safe COVID practices.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

•  The COVID Communications Coordinator will be responsible for developing a communications strategy for each union to ensure their members, and key cocoa supply chain actors they interact with (such as procurement officers, transporters, extension officers, agri-input providers etc.) are informed about COVID-19 safe practices. This will be informed by a gap analysis, looking at existing practices, other support being provided, materials and support from other sources available to union members.
•  The COVID Communications Coordinator will conduct the gap analysis and develop a strategy for the unions to identify the target audiences, understand their needs and where these are not being met, develop messages and materials appropriate to their needs and create, design and print the necessary materials – taking ownership of the communications budget for this purpose. The COVID Communications Coordinator will work with union management to set up communications systems to reach the target audience and will work with the climate coordinator to incorporate materials into CAAP trainings where feasible. Rolling out the training concurrently with development of a grant facility for unions will enable them to identify areas where greater support is needed to ensure a productive cocoa harvest or income diversification activities for union members.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREA

Planning and implementation

•  In liaison with the key project partners, producer organisations, project team and the Head of Region, lead the development of the gap analysis, communication strategy and materials.
•  Conduct research to identify the target audience, understand their needs, what support they are currently receiving and where gaps exist
•  Develop messages and materials appropriate to their needs and create, design and print the necessary materials.
•  Work with union management to set up communications systems to reach the target audience
•  Train the unions on the models and market analysis findings, with follow-up training where needed
•  Work with the climate coordinator to incorporate materials into CAAP trainings where feasible.
•  Conduct site visits and support the unions and project team with the information and processes required for developing grant applications and implementing the projects
•  Prepare annual and quarterly work plans in line with the project and partnership objectives for approval
•  Develop, submit and update field activity implementation guidelines based on learnings from implementation and producer needs

Reporting, Communication, Monitoring and Evaluation

•  Lead in preparing communications strategy and materials and submit to the Project Manager for approval and submission to key project partners
•  Build relationships with COVID-19 support providers from government, industry and NGOs, to ensure the gap analysis situates solutions within the context of existing support
•  Facilitate joint planning and review meetings with producer organisations and ensure timely gathering and distribution of all relevant information to producer organisations
•  Participate in key partners and project related meeting in-country and outside, where necessary including in-country Proof of Performance (POP) meetings
•  In liaison with MEL Officer, project team and key project partners, lead in effective monitoring of progress of project implementation, adopt appropriate tools and methodology to collect and analyse required data and apply agree templates to report outcome
•  Compile quarterly summary reports of activities in liaison with MEL Officer and project team using agreed/required Fairtrade Africa and project specific templates
•  Undertake risk mapping and report on same

KEY DELIVERABLES

Gap analysis on COVID-19 needs by the cocoa farmer unions. The gap analysis should:

•  Map current support provided by the unions to their members and key cocoa supply chain actors interacting with farmers
•  Identify best practice COVID-19 safe practices that the cocoa farming unions, cocoa farmers and other key cocoa supply chain actors should be carrying out
•  Identify where gaps exist between current support and best practice COVID-19 safe practices
•  Provide recommendations as to what each union needs to put in place to ensure safe COVID-19 practices for their members, with specific focus on communications and what The Project can carry out.

COVID-19 safe practices communications strategy to be carried out by each of the nine unions in The Project

Design and delivery of any identified communications materials needed to carry out the strategy.

Qualification Required & Experience

•  University Degree with focus on Communications, Media, Agricultural studies or Economics, Rural Development Studies, Health communications or other relevant field
•  At least 5 years working experience of developing communications strategies to reach rural communities, farmers and others in agricultural supply chains

Skills

•  Substantial experience developing communications strategies and materials for farmers
•  High level of relationship and communication management skills to build relationships with producer organisations, key partners and stakeholder
•  Good experience in Monitoring and Evaluation and coordinating projects
•  Good level knowledge of budget management, ownership, procurement processes and reporting
•  Strong analytical skills.
•  Ability to prioritize and plan work activities and use time efficiently.
•  Demonstrated skills in project planning, implementation and budgeting
•  Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, meet tight deadlines and handle multiple tasks