Individual Consultant

 United Nations Development Programme -UNDP

Individual Consultant – Block Coordinator _Organic Farming (1 Posts) – Uttar Kannada, Karnataka
Location :	Uttar Kannada, Karnataka, INDIA, INDIA
Application Deadline :	28-Jan-21 (Midnight New York, USA)
Time left :	15d 0h 47m
Type of Contract :	Individual Contract
Post Level :	National Consultant
Languages Required :	English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	01-Feb-2021
Duration of Initial Contract :	One Year
Background
Background: The DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission) is the flagship program of Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India relaunched in 2016 for promoting poverty reduction by building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women. The programme creates and enables community owned institutions of women to empower and make them economically self-reliant by improving their agency to access a range of livelihood and financial services and maximize their resources for creating sustainable livelihood opportunities.  The state governments are mandated to set up dedicated Mission Management Units at the state, district and village/community level for the effective implementation of the NRLM scheme.  The mission provides regular hand-holding support to SHG/federations for a period of 5-7 years.  At the end of a fully implementation cycle the SHGs/federations are well prepared to become resource institutions at the community level for providing evidence and support to other social initiatives.  Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS) The State Government is implementing DAY-NRLM scheme in phases through Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society in the name of “Sanjeevini”. The mission statement of KSRLPS is: “To reduce rural poverty by providing gainful wage and self-employment opportunities through community institutions resulting in sustainable improvement in their livelihoods”. Sanjeevini is a community driven and process-oriented programme. The processes include different activities such as awareness building, social mobilization, development of Community Resource persons (CRPs). Formation of CBOs, strengthening SHGs/ CBOs/federations/Livelihood Collectives, establishment of linkages and promotion of livelihoods. The conventional methods of monitoring focuses on physical, financial and logistic aspects of projects, but do not capture the processes of community perception, satisfaction with project services, inclusion and institutional dynamics. As the community processes do not conform to pre-set rules, deadlines, targets or blueprint approaches, a responsive and adaptive implementation is necessary. It is in this context that the State government of Karnataka has partnered with UNDP to implement the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) in Karnataka. NRETP proposes to implement higher order economic activities which are cross cutting in nature, for instance, the project design envisages that there will be an organic link between the model Cluster Level Federation (CLFs) and financial inclusion strategies, insurance and pension schemes, producer groups and organisations, product marketing and enterprise development. The financial inclusion strategy will also have a key role in financing of farm and non-farm enterprises. UNDP will be uniquely positioned to quickly transfer the technical know-how gained at the national and state level working across the country.  The state SMMU will be fully synchronized with the National level team working at the centre, important for better alignment of state priorities with those of the national programme while formulating the State specific poverty reduction action plans. Under the scheme, UNDP is looking for a Block Coordinator _Organic Farming, Consultants to undertake the activities as provided below. The incumbent will be based at KSRLPS and will perform duties under the direct supervision of SPM – Farm Livelihoods and the Mission Director.
Duties and Responsibilities
·        Candidate should be willing to travel across the districts of the State of Karnataka ·        Execution and monitoring of the sanctioned organic village cluster projects through regular field visit and review. ·        Cluster level planning and roll out of organic village cluster development activities ·        Rolling out certification in the clusters and facilitate technical support agencies in implementation ·        Continuously scout for opportunities by analyzing potential for developing value chain interventions for existing commodities being produced in the block ·        Maintain information regarding produce of the SHG members, markets (prices and trends), commodity-wise details. ·        Identifying local buyers, conducting buyer seller meets ·        Executing capacity building plans for the project staff and community members on farm livelihoods and value chain development ·        Identify and document best practices ·        Ensuring data collection and entry into MIS for monitoring and evaluation Any other responsibilities as assigned by the Mission Director
Competencies
·        Knowledge of organic certification standards – both third party and PGS certification systems ·        Knowledge of compliances for both export and domestic markets for organic produce. ·        Knowledge of organic farming methods, agro-ecological practices ·        Ability to work effectively with community resource persons, community and field staff to deliver results ·        Good data analysis and conceptualization skills ·        Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with Government departments, technical support agencies and capacity building agencies ·        Demonstrated openness to change and ability to manage complex situations Willing to travel extensively in the field and stay in a village for 15 days a month
Required Skills and Experience
Experience: ·        1-2 years in a livelihood development project responsible for promotion of organic production systems and allied activities-based livelihoods ·        Should have handled procurement / marketing / supply chain for organic agricultural produce ·        Experience of roll-out of PGS or third-party certification with at least 100farmers. ·        Experience in setting up systems and processes to roll-out organic farming ·        Demonstrable experience of project management, ensuring the delivery of high quality programmes as well as managing internal learning processes across virtual teams ·        Managed a team of at least 5 field staff Duration of The Work: The contract will be awarded for one year initially. Working days will be as per the State Government/KSRLPS policy. Official Travel In case of official journey within/outside the state, candidates will be entitled to reimbursement from KSRLPS. All official travel must be authorised and certified in advance by KSRLPS. Languages Required: Fluency in English and Kannada– spoken, read and write for all official communication is essential. SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS Consolidated annual consultancy fees (Remuneration) of INR 4,20,000/- payable in equal monthly instalments of INR 35,000/- upon submission of monthly progress report certified by the reporting officer. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT: ·        Contract will be administered by UNDP on behalf of the KSRLPS, Government of Karnataka. ·        The consultant should report to Mission Director and Senior Technical Expert Value chain & forward Linkage – Farm Livelihoods. ·        The consultant should also report to any Official designated by CEO ·        All the logistic support related official travel will be borne by the KSRLPS, Government of Karnataka. ·        Consultant will be entitled for 2 days leave per month (non encashable). The accumulated leaves will be forfeited on the termination/further extension of the contract period. Documentation Required Personal CV indicating all past experiences from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and atleast 3 professional references. Evaluation Method and criteria Preliminary shortlisting would be done based on the following criteria: ·        Educational Qualification 30 marks. ·        Relevant Experience 40 marks. ·        Interview for 30 marks Those who obtain a minimum 70% of total 70 marks (Educational Qualification & Relevant Experience) will be eligible to appear for the interview.  Interview for the shortlisted candidates would be either conducted face to face in Bangalore or by telephone/over skype. The contract shall be awarded on the merit basis. For more information and online application click here