Background
The Government of the Republic of Ghana has applied for funds from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to implement the Ghana Agricultural Sector investment Programme (GASIP). The Programme provides a framework for a long-term financing engagement for private sector-led, pro-poor agricultural value chain development in Ghana. The objective of the programme is to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction in rural Ghana, ensuring that agribusinesses including smallholders increase their profitability and resilience to climate change. The programme is national in scope and governed by a demand  and market-driven approach that will provide a basis for scaling up investments in pro-poor agricultural value chain development led by the private sector. The strategic focus of GASIP will be on smallholder farmers, to make them more competitive by increasing their capacity to respond to market demand in terms of quality, price, time and volume thus contributing to METASIP objectives. At least 62,860 clients or direct beneficiaries will be targeted towards the end of project year 3 (PY3) and 86,400 clients by PY6, of which at least 50% will be women, 20% youth (15-24 years) and 30% young adults (25-34 years).

Job Description

Components of Programme
The Programme has three components;

Component 1: Value Chain Development - is central to ensuring strong business linkages among actors in the entire value chains of commodities to ensure they meet market or consumer and industry demands. It has three sub-components: Agribusiness linkage development; rural financial services and climate change resilience which needs to be mainstreamed in promoting value chains to reduce risks and enhance profitability and sustainable production systems.

Component 2: Rural Value Chain Infrastructure - aimed at providing the enabling infrastructure to catalyze value chain development. It has two sub-components: Productive Infrastructure and Facilities-aimed at encouraging investments in commercial infrastructure and facilities for the selected value chains and Enabling Public Infrastructure - aimed to finance enabling public infrastructure for the growth and viability of selected value chains.

Component 3: Knowledge Management, Policy Support and Coordination aimed at harnessing successful lessons for replication and providing an enabling environment for optimization of programme opportunities and benefits. The two sub-components are Knowledge Management, Harmonization and Policy Support- aims at creating an enabling environment for smallholders to participate in profitable and climate change resilient agricultural value chains and Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Programme.

The Programme which is planned for six years is expected to commence in January 2015 under the responsibility of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA). It builds on the achievements of some on-going and soon-to-complete projects such as Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) and Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP). GASIP will have a National Programme Coordination Unit in Accra and three Zonal Programme Offices (ZPO) in Kumasi, Tamale and Dodowa. The ZPCO shall be composed of (i) Zonal Programme Coordinator, (ii) a M&E Officer, (lii) a Zonal Financial Controller and (iv) a Zonal Infrastructure Engineer.

To enhance implementation readiness and smooth startup of the GASIP, MOFA intends to recruit qualified persons to fill the following Positions at the Zonal level.

The Zonal M&E Officer has responsibility to ensuring the M& E functions are fully integrated within programme activities

Duties and Responsibilities shall include:

•   Review and manage the programme M&E to ensure a proper flow of information to and from the operational level to PMU and especially the provision of timely and adequate information for decision taking by Programme Management;
•   Ensure that appropriate M&E procedures are prepared, established and implemented so as to provide sufficient basis for review of programming progress and for recommendation for changes in the emphasis which may be found to be necessary;
•   Review on regular basis the status of Programme implementation with a view of adopting corrective measures and bringing to the attention of the ZPC any problems/issues arising thereof which may impede the implementation of the Programme;
•   Prepare the Zonal level AWPB with the support and inputs from other technical specialists and programme implementing partners.
•   Harmonize the Programme M&E with MOFA M&E framework considering the requirement of the Head office as well as the decentralized units
•   Prepare quarterly Monitoring Reports on all aspects of Programme implementation and progress including services in the areas of training, strengthening of producer organisations, marketing, financial services, technology promotion and policy consultation;
•   Undertake field surveys and give technical backstopping to Programme implementers;
•   Coordinate and consolidate periodical reports from the Facilitating Agencies on the implementation of their activities as well as Implementation Partners/ Technical and Service Providers;
•   Responsible for the timely preparation of the Annual Report which will contain evaluation of Programme progress in relation to the Programme objective
•   Responsible for Programme Annual Review Workshop and other such relevant activities aimed at assessing Programme progress; and
•   Carry out any other activities that are assigned by the Zonal Programme Coordinator.

Remuneration: Competitive salary
Job Duration: Two   years   renewable   yearly   on   the   basis   of  satisfactory performance

Line Management:    Reports to the Zonal Programme Officer

Terms of Payment: Payments will be made in equal end-of-month payments of agreed amount subject to completion of core reporting responsibilities as laid out in the Assignment Work plan.

Qualification Required & Experience

•   At least M.Sc. in Social Science or Agricultural Economics or related discipline;
•   At least 5 years working experience in donor-funded Programme related M&E
•   Experience in design of M&E system for donor-funded Programme is essential
•   Must be familiar with IFAD's Framework for a Results and Impact Management
•   System (RIMS)
•   Computer Literate especially in software of Microsoft Office, especially MS Excel, MS Access and MS Project;
•   Ability to develop, install and manage databases
•   Excellent writing and presentation skills; and
•   Willingness to work extra hours.

Skills

•   Good level of proficiency in Microsoft Applications including MS Project;
•   Demonstrated ability to train and build capacity of others
•   Experienced in electronic data processing and analysis and data base development;
•   Strong analytical and market oriented skills

Location: Kumasi and Dodowa

How To Apply For The Job

Qualified and interested applicants should send application letters with copies of curriculum vitae, certificates and other relevant documentation to:

The Chief Director
Ministry of Food and Agriculture
PO Box M 37, Accra, Ghana

For further information please contact:

THE NATIONAL PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
GHANA AGRICULTURAL SECTOR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME (GASIP)
MINISTRY OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE (MOFA)
PO BOX MB.37, ACCRA

Email: rayariga@yahoo.co.uk

Closing Date: 05 March, 2015

Applicants are to include direct contacts (reliable telephone, fax numbers and email address) in their applications in order to facilitate early and easy contact

Only short listed applicants will be contacted.