Regional Coordinator World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

PROJECT OVERVIEW

These Terms of Reference refer to the position of a Regional Coordinator, responsible for ensuring the timely and qualitative achievement of the project outcome, outputs and implementation of activities in the project areas in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as at regional KAZA level as part of the following project, funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through its Global Program facility:

Title: Food security and habitat conservation in the Kavango Zambesi transboundary conservation area network (KAZA TFCA)

Impact Goal: Within the concept of One Health, the program contributes to an increased resilience of communities and ecosystems, as well as improved connectivity of wildlife habitats, through enhanced food security, diversification of income and habitat conservation in the Kavango Zambesi region in Southern Africa

Countries: Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe

German Executing Agency: WWF Germany

(Local) executing agencies: NNF Namibia, IRDNC Namibia, WWF Zambia (ZCO), Green Living Movement (GLM) / WWF Zimbabwe (WWF Zim-CO), ORAP, VFWT

Duration: 3 years and 2 months from 1st November 2021 to December 31, 2024

Programme volume: Budget of 6,2 Mio. € incl. matching funds

2. PROJECT CONTEXT

KAZA TFCA is the largest terrestrial trans-boundary conservation area in the world, covering an area of 520,000 km2. About 20% of the land falls under state protection and roughly 29% is used for agriculture. According, to a remote sensing LU change analysis for 2020 established by WWF Germany, there is approximately 3% of crop land (farms) in KAZA, this is the baseline.

Despite the huge tourism potential, KAZA TFCA suffers from the intertwined issues of poverty (most live below the poverty line), the increasing impacts of climate change (prolonged, frequent droughts), natural habitat conversion and land degradation due to unsustainable farming practices. The resilience of ecosystems is negatively impacted as are the livelihoods and food security of rural communities. Eighty percent of the people are heavily dependent upon natural resources and live largely from subsistence agriculture.

The threats to ecosystems and livelihoods of local communities are driven by a lack of sustainable and diversified livelihood systems and income streams including shifting cultivation (impoverished, eroded soils, low harvest), unsustainable, low-quality cattle herding, lack of local market access and supportive political climate. By building the capacity of governments, CSO´s and rural communities in regard to climate smart agroecological methods (intercropping, minimal soil disturbance, diversification of crops) and support its implementation in ecologically sensitive areas of KAZA, the soil fertility can be maintained, harvest can improve fourfold, drought resistant crops provide food security even in years of low rainfall. All this reduces the need for new fields through deforestation. Additionally, the awareness building and support for sustainable cattle herding following the One Health approach will assist soil fertility, reduce habitat encroachment, and produce healthier, more valuable cattle. By supporting pilots of private sector – community partnerships (PPP) -, the access to markets and supply chains for agroecological (organic) products (beef and vegetable) will be created and potential models for diversified income streams established, increasing resilience in communities.

At the regional level, there is currently no standardized, KAZA accepted approach to sustainable agriculture, each country promotes some pilots, but no cross-border learning is happening, and the approaches differ. However, the WDA´s are cross border landscapes pushing for agroecology to reduce habitat loss through subsistence and shifting cultivation. The CSO engagement and dialogue at the political agricultural policy level varies greatly amongst the KAZA countries. So far, only Zambia has managed to influence agricultural policy to include more budget for sustainable agriculture in the state budgets (previous Bengo project). In Zimbabwe ‘’Pfumvudza” was launched —a national initiative that promotes conservation farming techniques on smallholder farms and applying the correct agronomic practices for higher returns. There is still need to help support this initiative to ensure there is clear national policy guidance and strategy for successful adaptation of agro-ecology at grassroots. Therefore creating the need to raise awareness and promote training on it as a complement of and not substitute for conventional farming. The approach should also embrace the need for sustainable, certifiable and economically viable commodity value chains. In Zimbabwe, there is also a multi-stakeholder platform, that brings together the various actors and engages in dialogue with the government on issues related to sustainable agriculture both livestock and arable production.

To enable a more supportive political framework for sustainable agriculture, the project will strengthen national CSO platforms and their advocacy work with the agricultural ministries to provide more financial support for sust. and small holder agriculture, building on the success from Zambia.

There are also numerous activities planned in the project to build regional exchange on agroecology amongst CSO´s, communities and government, aimed at creating a more supportive regional, political climate for agroecology expansion and marketing.

The project areas are: a) in Zambia: villages within the six Village Action Groups (VAGs) in three Game Management Areas: Mufunta (5,104Km2), Mulobezi (3,430Km2) and Sichifulo (3,600Km2) located to the western and southern parts of the Kafue National Park (KNP), b) in Namibia: conservancies and villages in the Zambezi region and c) in Zimbabwe, the proposed project sites are in Matebeleland North Province. The province is predominantly rural and is divided into seven districts, of which the project will target two: Binga, and Hwange.

The project has the following overarching project outcome and the implementers are directly responsible for its achievement:

Overall Outcome:

At least 2.525 smallholder households in five project areas in the Kavango Zambesi transboundary conservation area in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia benefit from enhanced food security and livelihoods while reducing degradation of natural habitats and land conversion

At the regional level and in the three countries, political and institutional support for sustainable agriculture including livestock keeping is enhanced by the active political participation of civil society actors.

To achieve this fife project outputs must be fulfilled:

Output 1. Agroecological methods, supply chain 

By 2024, at least 2.300 smallholder households in the project areas in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia are capable to implement agro-ecological cultivation methods and local market access is created in all three countries.

Output 2: Cattle Herding

By 2024, 225 livestock holders in the project areas are aware of and starting to adopt the One Health approach on cattle herding, reducing rangeland degradation and wildlife-livestock interface. Pilots of local conservation compliant beef supply chains are supported.

Output 3: CSO platform and policy advocacy

By 2024, the active political participation of civil society actors and government partners in the three countries to support agroecology implementation nationally is strengthened and cooperation to lobby for enhanced institutional as well as policy support for sustainable agriculture is improved.

Output 4: Regional exchange, joint learning 

By 2024, improved experience and best practice exchange between program partners and KAZA countries enables the scaling up and transfer of sustainable agriculture across KAZA as a viable rural development concept.

Output 5: M&E System / Grievance Mechanism

By 2024, KAZA governments, CSOs and communities as well as other development partners in KAZA (NGO´s, Aid agencies) can assess the impact of sustainable agriculture on the socio- economic condition of communities and ecosystems and can make adaptive mgmt. decisions for sustainable rural development based on a state-of-the-art KAZA wide monitoring system.

By 2022, local grievances mechanisms in project areas are established and functioning.

Target groups:

Namibia: At the micro level, the direct target group are smallholder households, constituting 600 households involved in cropping and 25 livestock holders from target Conservancies. Average number of people per HH is 4,7. At the meso level: 84 are the direct target group including the regional council, NGO´s, farmer clubs and associations, extension service and private sector actors in the Zambezi region. At national (macro) level: 5 are direct target group and 70 are the indirect target group from the relevant ministries.

Zambia: The direct target group at micro level are 1.100 smallholder households, constituting 1.000 households involved in cropping and 100 livestock holders from target communities. Average number of people per household in Zambia is 5. At meso level: direct target group is 195 including NGO´s, community representative bodies, and government. At the national (macro level) there are 40 in the direct target group, mainly ministries and parliamentarians.

Zimbabwe: The direct target group are 800 smallholder households, constituting 700 households involved in cropping and 100 livestock holders from target communities. Average number of people per HH is 6. At the meso level the target group is 47 including NGO´s, government and private sector. At the national level the target groups include a total of 30 senior officials from Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement; Department of Veterinary Services; Rural District Councils; Media Houses, Tertiary Institutions and Parliamentarians.

At the regional, macro level, there are per country at least 5 direct target group actors, i.e. 15 in total.

3. TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

This is a full-time position based at the WWF KAZA hub under the supervision of the WWF KAZA coordinator.

3.1 General Tasks and Responsibilities

The Regional coordinator is responsible for the coordination, management and implementation of the Bengo – Food security and habitat conservation in the Kavango Zambesi transboundary conservation area network (KAZA TFCA) – The ARISE Programme. The Regional Coordinator assumes full responsibility to support and guide all program staff in the three countries and all implementing partners in each country to achieve the projects outcome and outputs, ensuring the program resources are used in an effective, efficient, accountable and consultative manner, according to WWF and BMZ donor regulations and within the projects duration from November 1st 2021 to 31st December 2024.

It is also the Regionals Coordinator’s responsibility to develop and maintain strong relations with all relevant stakeholders at the regional level and support stakeholder liaison at national and local level in support of the projects implementation.

It is also the regional coordinators responsibility to maintain good relations with the primary project partner, WWF Germany and the co-funder, WWF NL as well as all KAZA country offices and WWF KAZA Lead

3.2 Specific tasks and Responsibilities:

• Planning and adaptive management
  • Support the development of workplans and budgets in each country/regional with all implementing partners at regular intervals (but at least yearly and as contractually defined), and develop consolidated project workplans and budgets with the relevant staff,
  • Communicate and discuss any deviation from project workplan and budget with WWF Germany and support country teams in revisions of budgets and workplans
  • Prepare, organize and implement all PMU meetings, the quarterly ones and the yearly physical one. Report on implementation and future plans,
  • Assist in problem solving at all levels and with all partners
  • Assist and implement adaptive management when needed and develop change requests with all partners and submit them to the donor. Ensure changes are integrated into workplans and budgets
  • Directly responsible for all regional activity planning, budgets and revisions and implementation,
• Coordination of implementation
  • Build a strong sense of teamwork and cooperation amongst all project implementors and partners as well as the ARISE Project team (M&E officer, Admin)
  • Ensure that the working groups are active and are coordinating activities and support learning
  • Support the implementation of activities in all three countries and with all implementing partners
  • Directly responsible for the implementation of the regional activities and outputs including the M&E activities, together with the M&E coordinator and the ESSF activities (with the ESSF coordinator if existent)
  • Monitor the implementation of the work plans and if needed the Procurement plans (Gantt chart) with the project partners including financial management, admin and procurement staff
  • Support and/or hire directly project staff honoring the projects resources and all guidelines and regulations applicable
  • Develop grant agreements and other sub-contracts as necessary and in coordination with admin
• Stakeholder relations
  • Build strong relations at the regional level with all relevant stakeholders from the various CSO´s, NGO´s, government, community and other. Support such relationship building at the national level with the vision to implement the projects outcome
  • Implement stakeholder meetings as needed and create stakeholder groups / ad hoc teams as necessary to fulfill projects deliverables
  • Implement the Steering committee of the project and lead the calls / meetings
  • Regularly liaise with the WWF KAZA coordinator, WWF-Germany team and country teams
• Reporting
  • Ensure and support all reporting is done according to the contractual arrangements and templates in a timely and high-quality fashion. Ensure deadlines are adhered to.
  • Ensure all other reporting that may come up is done in an efficient and effective manner
  • Support implementing partners reporting and develop the consolidated reports and submit to the relevant authorities/partners/donors
  • Ensure reporting back to the partners
• Monitoring
  • Ensure the develop Monitoring plans with all implementing partners and support their implementation
  • Support all M&E activities in the project
  • Support the implementation of the agreed ESSF activities, development of mitigation plans and their M&E and ensure good integration and communications on ESSF with WWF KAZA hub, WWF International as well as WWF Germany. Ensure that the conditions of WWF International are fulfilled.
• Communication
  • Develop the communication plan of the project in straight liaison with the WWF KAZA communication officer
  • Coordinate with the WWF KAZA communications officer
  • Develop the manual for agroecology in KAZA

5. QUALIFICATION PROFILE

• Educational background: A minimum of a Master’s degree in geography, environmental sciences, natural resource management or related subject with good knowledge of best practices in climate change adaptation/mitigation.
• At least 5 years of professional experience in managing complex projects.
• Experience in working with NGOs, civil society organizations and local communities.
• Ideally work experience in the KAZA region. Specific work experience in the project regions in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe is an added advantage.
• Two or more of the following would also be an advantage:
• Experience with WWF and/or BMZ/BENGO specific finance and procurement regulations
• Ability to effectively coordinate and motivate project staff and maintain effective working relations both as a team member and team leader.
• Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor own work plan and those under his/her supervision.
• Proven interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-interest, multi-ethnic environment.
• Good oral and written communications skills
• Fluency in English.

6. CONTRACT PERIOD AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE

The contract period will start as soon as possible and will last until the end of the project. The proposed work will be carried out under contract. The contract will be drawn up after the final candidate has been selected.

The staff will be subject to WWF management procedures at all times.