Agriculture Officer

Kopila Valley Sewa Samaj (KVSS)

“A world where every child is educated, safe and loved”

Kopila Valley Sewa Samaj is a non-profitable NGO registered in Surkhet, Nepal to provide support for children and families in our community. Our programs include a residential children’s home, women’s empowerment center, sustainability, school, health and wellness, and family development. We provide our students a free education, educational materials, health treatment and medicine, counseling, and a place to live. With our innovative future program, we strive to provide our children with career guidance, and scholarships for further studies. We do this with our funding partner BlinkNow Foundation and in close ties with the local government and communities.

Sustainability is one of our foundational values. We aim to embed a culture of sustainability in the way we work, live, and teach. With our sustainability program, we strive to provide experiential learning opportunities to children, promote organic farming practices, nature conservation, and waste management.

Position Summary – Agriculture Officer

The Agriculture officer will be responsible for promotion of regenerative and resilient agriculture based on the values of permaculture. Under the supervision of Sustainability Coordinator, Agriculture Officer will provide support to sustainability team in planning and implementation of regenerative agriculture practices, backstopping support to gardening teacher in gardening sessions to the students, build capacity of agriculture team, and lead the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of farmer’s group, and promote community outreach through training and sustainable business promotion activities. It also includes coordination with relevant stakeholders at different levels.

Work Location: Birendranagar-1, Surkhet, Nepal

Reporting to: Sustainability Coordinator

Number: 1 Position

Contract: Full time, long term position (annual renewal)

Benefits: Competitive Salary benefit with Festival allowance, SSF, On-site meals

Nationality: Nepali citizens only

Must Have:

1.Education: Minimum Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture or any relevant discipline

2.Experience: At Least 3 years of proven experience in promotion of regenerative & organic farming, and agro-ecological livelihood practices for small-holder farmers

3.Language: A good communicator, and fluent in English and Nepali

4.Skills and Abilities:

• Hands on experience in regenerative farming; input support, pest management.
• Excellent training facilitation skill especially in capacity building of team members
• Coordination with stakeholders, line agencies and partner organizations.
• Planning, report writing and  financial management.
• Sound knowledge on MS office packages.
• Experience on data collection, processing and reporting.

The Main Responsibilities:

1. Strengthen the gardening curriculum and gardening classes at Kopila Valley School
2. Capacity building of sustainability team and onsite support for regenerative agriculture development
3. Strengthen the regenerative agriculture in the community

Detailed Responsibilities

Strengthen the gardening curriculum and gardening classes at Kopila Valley School

• Support gardening teacher in upgrading gardening curriculum and support in gardening class for improved gardening works
• Track the status of the animal farm at school, oversee and upgrade the work efficiency and address the challenges on time.
• Support Sustainability team in Education for Sustainability (EFS) activities including club activities.

Training and capacity building of team members and onsite support for regenerative agriculture development.

• Provide constant support in planning and implementation of permaculture based farming activities.

• Prepare the annual procurement plan & monthly procurement plan accordingly. Coordinate for sourcing the required materials specially the quality seeds & seedlings and other inputs on time.

• Strengthen the staff’s capacity through training, onsite coaching, mentoring etc.

• Keep track of production details and prepare the cost benefit analysis report.

• Submit monthly plans and required reports on pre-agreed timeline

• Research about the innovative techniques on regenerative agriculture and implement in the field.

• Implement the IPM technique and other innovative regenerative techniques to address disease and pest management.

Strengthen the regenerative agriculture in the community

• Build capacities of  associated farmers groups through training, onsite coaching and follow ups focusing on organic farming, sustainability, and regenerative agriculture practices

• Review the impact and effectiveness of the activities and provide support in strengthening or reorienting the activities to meet the program objectives.

• Develop seasonal calendar and share across different departments of the organization

• Prepare training plan, manual and do necessary arrangement for conducting training to community people.

• Strengthen PGS farmers group in dealing with disease and pest management and ensure PGS certification

• Keep track of annual demand of Kopila Valley and annual estimated and actual production of each PGS farmer’s group member.

Additional expectations:

• Build positive working relationships and environment in the organization by bringing solutions to the discussion table.
• Demonstrate professionalism in all interactions and execution of duties including ensuring confidentiality as per the organization’s protocols.
• Report to the manager on a weekly basis, and as needed in case of urgent activities.
• Build and maintain a strong relationship with the team members and leadership team of KVSS to ensure the continued success of our joint projects.
• Strengthen the coordination with stakeholders, line agencies and partner organizations
• Support sustainability coordinator in promoting sustainability initiatives.

The above list of responsibilities is not comprehensive, and the agriculture Officer may be required to take additional responsibilities as determined by his/her manager.

Key Characteristics

• You believe that we can change the world, in the blink of an eye
• You believe in making decisions that put children first
• You are self-motivated, organized, and approachable
• You enjoy creating systems, keeping records, and increasing efficiency
• You are always looking for new ways for our team to work smarter instead of harder
• You are detail-oriented and conscientious. You make sure nothing slips through the cracks
• You have a strong work ethic and a willingness to pick up new skills. You are comfortable multi-tasking
• You are positive, patient, and a clear communicator who is comfortable working with both Kopila Valley staff in Nepal and the BlinkNow staff in Nepal
• You are an empathetic person, with a knack for putting out fires before they start and soothing conflicts brewing beneath the surface
• You require little supervision and are flexible. You understand that you will be wearing many hats in this role, many of which are not explicitly included in this job description.

Application Procedure

If you think this opportunity will amplify your career growth, we encourage you to apply by clicking “Apply for this Job” and submit all required documents before 27 November 2022. If your application is a good fit, we will follow up with you directly for the screening process. No telephone inquiries will be entertained.

If you have any queries/information, please send us at apply@kopilavalley.org , (please do not send us your application and CV in this email).