Cameroon: Volunteerism opportunity with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) as Programme Policy Officer- Smallholder Access Market Support-SAMS Coordinator
6 min read
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.
In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long-established, ancient traditions of sharing and support within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism and play a role in development and peace together with co-workers, host agencies and local communities.
In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote volunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging in volunteer activity can effectively and positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, as well as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make the time they spend as UN Volunteers even more rewarding and productive.
General Information
Position/title: Programme Policy Officer- Smallholder Access Market Support-SAMS Coordinator
Country of Assignment: Cameroon
Host Institute: World Food Programme
Volunteer Category: International Specialist
Number of Volunteer: 1
Duration: 12 months
Possibility of Extension: Yes
Expected Starting Date: Immediate
Duty Station: Maroua [CMR]
Assignment Place: Non-Family Duty station
Assignment Place Remark
– Female candidatures are strongly encourraged.
– Dependent on continuation of mandate, availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance; there is no
guarantee of assignment extension
Eligibility criteria
Minimum age: 25 years old. Nationals of the country of assignment are not eligible, except the assignments in Headquarters duty stations.
Description of task
Under the supervision of the Head of Field Office, the UNV will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing the implementation of livelihood, resilience and SAMS activities in the Far North. More specifically, the staff member will build and strengthen partnerships between WFP and local and international, public and private organizations and institutions working in market-focused agricultural development, post-harvest handling, good agricultural practices for the overall goal to improve access to markets for smallholder farmers/farmers’ organizations.
The UNV will perform the following tasks for the Country Office and Field Offices:
- Develop and lead the implementation of livelihood, resilience and SAMS strategy in coordination with CO units and partners.
- Review current livelihood and resilience activities with a food system strengthening lens in line with the development of tailored SAMS strategy for the Far North and North regions
- Lead the development of business linkages amongst targeted smallholders, farmers organizations, cooperatives, low-income farmers and other potential markets beyond WFP;
- Develop the capacity of supported households and smallholder farmers through targeted trainings and workshops to ensure they gain valuable skills in production, marketing and business development;
- Put in place farmer-friendly mechanisms and systems to reach smallholder farmers to encourage local food procurement from surplus producing farmers and support rural aggregation network for increased market access for smallholder farmers.
- Enhance the linkages between WFP and relevant line ministries to support smallholder farmers;
- Collaborate closely with FAO in the implementation of all activities supporting smallholder farmers and build synergies between the different projects;
- Prepare donor proposals, reports and visibility materials to highlight and advocate for the programme and to document good practices and lessons learned;
- Build capacity of WFP sub-office staff and partners to support the implementation of the resilience and SAMS activities;
- Support integration of nutrition sensitivity and enhanced gender and protection mainstreaming within the SAMS portfolio, through linkages with other units
- Contribute to the development of homegrown school feeding through linkages between SAMS, school meals, and other WFP programmes & activities.
- Identify and promote new tools, methods and solutions to mitigate post-harvest losses at household level while putting in place a PHL demonstration model at all Rural Centers and a barter system for the provision of the tools.
Qualifications/Requirements
Required degree level: Master degree or equivalent
Education – Additional Comments:
Advanced university degree or university degree with experience and training/courses in one or more of the following disciplines:
agricultural economics, social policy, rural development, agronomy, civil engineering, or related discipline(s).
Required experience: 60 Months
Experience remark:
- At least 5 years post graduate, progressively responsible, job related experience in rural development, agriculture, programme management, or fields related to the above disciplines.
- A demonstrated ability to prepare concise and well-written reports and documents is critical.
- Proficiency in utilizing computers MS Office, including word processing, spreadsheet, power point, and other office software packages and systems.
- Experience working with farmers groups and providing capacity enhancement and training.
- Intimate understanding of designing and conducting primary data gathering and research including monitoring, survey design and implementation, facilitating focus groups, research interviews, etc.;
- Demonstrates the ability to engage key stakeholders (e.g., WFP units, external partners) in policy dialogue to strengthen national government food and nutrition security, resilience strategies and programmes.
- Demonstrates the ability to incorporate technical information into programme design and implementation and appropriately communicate it internally and externally.
- Possesses strong analytical and writing, including the ability to produce high quality reports, presentations and knowledge products;
- Knowledge of WFP’s mandate, systems and tools in the area of food security and nutrition as well as extensive experience working on livelihood and resilience strengthening and food systems/value chain development
Language skills:
- French(Mandatory), Level – Fluent
- English(Mandatory), Level – Working Knowledge
Area of expertise: Agricultural economics, Civil engineering and construction supervision, Other civil society or community development experience
Driving license: No
Competencies values: Communication, Creativity, Empowering Others, Ethics and Values, Integrity, Judgement and Decision-making, Knowledge Sharing, Planning and Organizing, Professionalism, Working in Teams
Application procedure:
* Not yet registered in the UNV Talent Pool?
Please first register your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup. Important: After creating your account, complete all sections of your profile and submit it. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink. Lastly, select the special call to which you would like to apply.
* Already registered in the UNV Talent Pool?
Please first update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profile. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink to select the special call to which you would like to apply.
Application deadline: 25-04-2021
Living Conditions
The position will be located in the WFP Field Office for the Far North in Maroua with frequent travels to the Kousseri Antenna and
possibly the Country Office in Yaounde, The security situation in the city of Maroua is classified as a Security Level 4 (SL4) with
predominance of terrorism and criminality cases. Travel in the country as well as to and from the Far North region, requires UNDSS’
security clearance/authorization and are limited to official business travel.
As the capital city of the Far North region, Maroua is the seat of Regional Delegation of the Republic of Cameroon’s institutions and has
a large presence of National Security and Defence Forces (Police, Gendarmerie, army, etc.). The Regional Hospital, the CNPS
Hospital and the Military Hospital can be used as a first-line, basic treatment. Maroua do not have large supermarkets but there are
several small shops especially around the Domayo shopping center. Several Bank Branches are operating in Maroua (BICEC,
ECOBANK, SGC, Afriland First Bank.
Transportation within the Town of Maroua is mainly by moto bikes with high risk of accidents; it is thus recommended to call for private
taxi for safety reasons. The main crimes concern burglaries in houses, robberies perpetrated by small groups of bandits. These
criminal acts are mostly perpetrated overnight.
Cameroon is a unique country and with mixed of Development-Humanitarian unique operation. It provides for an interesting and
enriching environment, but also requires a mature level of cultural awareness, as well as more stamina and commitment than
elsewhere to make life comfortable and affordable. Therefore, flexibility and the ability and willingness to live, work and travel in harsh
and potentially hazardous conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort, are essential.
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
