USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

Environmental Advisor

CNFA

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.

Program Description USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

The purpose of the Modernizing Agriculture Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.

Position Description

Reporting to the MEL Director, the Environmental Advisor will ensure environmental compliance with USAID (in particular 22 CFR 216) and GoR environmental regulations, and adherence with the relevant IEE. S/he will also oversee the process of assisting grantees and ModAg beneficiaries with environmentally-friendly and climate-smart practices. Generally, s/he will be responsible for ensuring compliance on all environmental-related project activities. The Environmental Advisor is based in Kigali.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main duties of the Environmental Advisor include, but are not limited to:

• Update on a regular basis and implement the Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) in accordance with USAID rules and regulations, and CNFA guidelines;
• Lead the monitoring and evaluation team in assessing the environmental impact of project activities;
• Provide regular updates to Chief of Party (COP), DCOP, and Component Leads on the environmental implications of project activities;
• Responsible for ensuring environmental compliance and leading administration of compliance measures for all grant and Catalytic Service Provider activities
• Ensure project’s activities are in compliance with the relevant PERSUAP, IEE, EMMP and USAID and GOR environmental regulations;
• Contribute technical guidance to the design and implementation of activities related to agricultural production, climate smart agriculture techniques, improved access to agro-inputs, etc.
• Ensure activities are developed and implemented in alignment with the USAID Climate Strategy (2022-2030)
• Develop a Climate risks adaptation/management plan as part of the EMMP showing how the climate change risks to the activity will be addressed
• Coordinate with relevant technical leads to ensure smooth implementation of environmental compliance activities and administration of Environmental Review Checklists (ERCs), as needed.
• Produce, train staff on, and administer environmental review forms and mitigation plans for project-use, and as required by USAID or GOR regulations;
• Conduct environmental training and ensure relevant records, reports, and audits are effectively implemented and accounted for;
• Responsible for contributing to training modules related to safe use of pesticides and other agrochemicals;
• Facilitate capacity building support for private sector actors on climate-smart agriculture in collaboration with the Nutrition and Market Development team
• Ensure that private and public sector partners understand and build their capacity to market/promote the safe use of pesticides and other agrochemicals;
• Coordinate with the Social Inclusion Advisor to ensure all interventions support the Activity’s inclusion goals;
• Contribute as appropriate to periodic report preparation, and participate and assist in the project’s workshops and seminars as needed;
• Undertake other assignments or tasks at the request of the Chief of Party.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Environmental Science, Natural Resources Management, Agronomy, or relevant field is required.
• Minimum of 5 years working in natural resource management, resilience, environment, environmental compliance, or a combination of the above on donor-funded projects.
• Demonstrated ability to advise on the environmental implications of development activities.
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Proven knowledge of USAID regulations regarding environmental monitoring and mitigation is strongly preferred, including proficiency in 22 CFR 216
• Experience advising on environmental compliance for private sector driven programming (market systems) preferred
• Experience with climate risk management strongly preferred
• Experience ensuring environmental compliance on grants program strongly preferred
• Advanced oral and written communication skills in English required; Kinyarwanda and French considered an asset.
• Ability to comply with deadlines, work independently and as part of a team.