Call for a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
(MEL) Officer

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Agrisud International

For nearly 30 years, Agrisud International, a non-profit association under French law, has been supporting the most vulnerable populations to rise from a state of precariousness to economic and social autonomy. Agrisud International promotes economic growth through the creation of very small family businesses, especially in the agricultural sector. These businesses are viable and sustainable, because they are economic and agro-ecological, because they are well anchored in the local market, and because the entrepreneur was able to be accompanied throughout a professionalization process. Agrisud pursues its objective in developing countries.

IDEAS project in Vietnam

The Hoang Lien National Park (HLNP) is made up of five communes populated mainly by Hmong, Day and Dao ethnic minorities living from agriculture, forestry and traditional handicrafts. To date, farming families face many challenges in agriculture and poverty rates remain high.

The main causes of poverty are: the lack of agricultural land due to the increase in demography and the classification of the territory as a protected natural park (since 2002) leading to the prohibition of opening new fields of cultivation; vulnerability of crops and livestock to climate extreme events; low diversification of income-generating activities and heavy reliance on cardamom cultivation.

In this context, the project IDEAS (Income Development for Ethnic Minorities Based on Agriculture Sustainability) support families from ethnic minorities living in the park and its periphery, with the objectives of improving and diversifying agricultural activities for food security and sustainable income generation, and on the other, poverty reduction to reduce the pressure on natural resources and help preserve the local biodiversity of the HLNP.

General objective: To support the technical and economic development of agricultural systems in PNHL territory by contributing to the preservation of natural resources.

Specific objective: To promote sustainable agricultural systems for families of ethnic minority groups living in and on the periphery of the PNHL through the improvement and diversification of agro-ecological production, the development of fair value-chains supported by the cooperative and the implementation of awareness-raising actions for sustainable and inclusive development.

Expected outcomes:

• Continue the technical strengthening and professionalization of farms and their groups.
• Develop an offer of agricultural services for farms through the Hoang Lien Cooperative and the master farmers’ network.
• Implement awareness raising actions for environmental protection, gender and social inclusion.

Roles and responsibilities of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer

The primary role of the MEL officer is to ensure the effective functioning of the project’s internal monitoring and evaluation system, as well as the reporting of results to promote a continuous learning process (implementation, lessons learned, improvement proposal) which provides advice for improved performance throughout the project implementation.

The MEL officer is working under the direct hierarchy of the project coordination team and Agrisud’s Direction of Operation at headquarters.

The MEL officer will have the following responsibilities:

Project Monitoring and Evaluation: fully responsible to configure and implement M&E systems.

• Support the implementation of project baseline, midterm and end-line surveys to ensure high standards.
• Take charge of the Project database, data collection, data analysis and presentation of data analysis to the Project team on a regular basis.
• Take charge of the development of data collection tools and methodology.
• Build and implement other M&E tools such as questionnaire, survey, interview, tests, etc. for project staff to evaluate activity effectiveness.
• Quality checking and cleaning of data and information collected by the Technical team, validate, synthesize, and update data into the project’s internal monitoring system.
• Collaborate with Technical team to effectively implement a monitoring system of activities implemented at village level.
• Collaborate with Technical team to present the results of the analyses to the beneficiary families, after revision and approval of the Project Management Board.
• Support effective project performance monitoring and evaluation.
• Support the management of the project’s information system, in particular data or information related to project performance results.
• Liaise with the Project Coordinator, other staff and key partners to gather information related to project activities.
• Coordinate other monitoring activities as required.
• Support the conduct of Project’s capitalization documents and evaluation as required.

Reporting, learning and capacity building

• Collaborate with Technical team to provide evidence-based M&E report with lessons learned, findings and improvement propositions.
• Support the project’s review and reflection activities, including operational arrangements as required.
• Develop and deliver internal reports (monitoring, small research, project stories) as required.
• Take charge of the development and review of MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning) Framework with the Project Coordinator and Knowledge Management Officer at Agrisud Headquarters.
• Train project staff on M&E data collection tools and methodology for data collection.
• Train project staff to access and use M&E systems according to their needs.

PROFILE

Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master degree in relevant field.
• Certified knowledge in agronomy.

Experience and skills

• Minimum of 3 year-experience in the rural development working sector, with non-profit organizations is a plus.
• Experiences on Baseline, Mideline, Endline, studies, Research or evaluation.
• Demonstrated understanding and experience in conducting research, ability to collect quantitative and qualitative data and to perform complex analysis. Experience in developing or implementing M&E systems.
• Demonstrated understanding and experience of the performance management cycle of planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluating.
• Demonstrated understanding of monitoring and evaluation approaches and tools, especially the KOBO application.
• Demonstrated planning and coordination skills including the ability to effectively manage deadlines and timing.
• Demonstrated ability to work with diverse group of professionals. Good interpersonal skills.
• Excellent command of English, written and spoken is mandatory. Fluency in ethnic language such as Hmong is advantaged.
• Ability to travel frequently to remote villages in varying weather conditions by motorbike.
• Excellent understanding of the needs of farmer communities and experience working in rural areas with multi-ethnic groups.
• Multi-task and prioritize effectively, attention to apply guidance from the coordination team.
• Self-directed, reliable, accountable, professional, effective coordination and delegation, good in communication.

Contractual conditions

• Local contract for a Vietnamese nationality
• Fixed contract of 1 year, with possibility of renewal
• Net monthly salary according to experience and salary grid of Agrisud
• Position based in the project office in Sa Pa, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam.

Work base:

• Office : Hoang Lien National Park, No. 89 - Group 11b - Nguyen Chi Thanh Road – Phan Si Pang Ward - Sa Pa Town - Lao Cai Province
• Field work: in Hoang Lien National Park area, under the arrangement of IDEAS Project.

Application Information

Interested candidates must submit a full application sending a cover letter and up-to-date CV, in English, including contact details of minimum two professional referees (current and last line managers and HR department) by email to IDEAS project coordinator, Mr. Cong Huy Le, at [email protected] (086 208 3068).

Please also include details of your salary expectations and a copy of your latest diploma. Applications must be complete and marked "Recruitment of the MEL Officer - IDEAS Project - Vietnam" as the subject of the e-mail. Only full applications will be reviewed.

Closing date for applications: March 20th, 2021. Only shortlisted candidates for interviews will be contacted.

Timetable for interviews and selection: The interviews will be organised from the 22nd of March 2021 (options of interview will be discussed with shortlisted candidates). Final selected candidates will be informed shortly after.

Start of the contract: April 1st 2021.

Organization: Agrisud
Location: Sapa
Application deadline: 2021-03-20
Send application to: [email protected]