Agriculture and Rural Development Specialist

As a result of many years of war, the land and people of Vietnam are affected by landmines and other Explosive Ordnance (EO). According to the results of the project named “Vietnam National Explosive Remnants of War Contamination Surveying and Mapping” from 2010-2014, EO contamination remain in all 63/63 provinces/cities across the country. According to the Government of Vietnam, the total area of contamination is 6.13 million ha, accounting for 18.82% of the country’s area, and provinces located in the central part of Vietnam are among those most affected. The 15 most contaminated provinces according to the Landmine Impact Survey are also among the provinces that have a high ratio of poor and near-poor households, especially the provinces in the Central region.

In recent years, the Vietnamese Government has paid special attention to perfecting management and coordination system, funding and providing guidelines for the effective implementation of mine action operations. Substantial amounts of funds are spent each year on ERW clearance in order to release and recover land for cultivation, ensure safe livelihood activities, as well as provision of emergency treatment to ERW victims and support to their reintegration into communities and educating these communities about the risk to further reduce accidents and prevent casualties.

Building on the lessons from the Korea-Vietnam Mine Action Project (KVMAP)[1], the Korea-Vietnam Peace Village Project (KVPVP) was developed and founded on the close collaboration between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This project started in 2022 with the aim to enable inclusive, safe and resilient local development by reducing the impact of Explosive Ordnance (EO) on local communities and supporting them to stably improve livelihoods, housing and health, is structured around two main outcomes and four related outputs. This phase targets three provinces in the most affected area of central Viet Nam, namely Thua Thien – Hue, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh.

The first project outcome on ‘human security’, and its two associated outputs, relate to mine action and its pillars[2], whereas the second outcome on sustainable rural development with a focus on livelihoods, resilient housing and  health care and its two outputs provide solutions for EO victims and their local communities affected by EO. It offers various options how cleared land can be effectively utilized for sustainable livelihoods and resilient economic and social infrastructure in the context of increasing impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. The suggested intervention will provide best practices which can help improve the mine action sector in Vietnam overall, as well as provide a couple of models how mine action activities can be linked closely with other development solutions.

In this context, the KVPVP is looking for an Agriculture and Rural Development Specialist who will provide technical guidance and assistance in the areas of agriculture and rural development to 03 provinces including Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, their KVPVP projects and other responsible partners. This will be done in conjunction with UNDP’s other technical advisors/specialists who support 03 Provincial People’s Committees (PPCs) and other responsible partners.

The day to day work of the  Agriculture and Rural Development Specialist to the 03 provinces and their KVPVP projects will be overall guided by the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and day-to-day supervised by the Head of Climate Change, Environment and Energy Unit to ensure effective implementation of the projects, in consultation with the relevant provincial responsible partners such as the Department of Planning and Investment (DPI), Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), Department of Construction (DOC), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA), A Luoi District People Committee and the Provincial Military Command (PMC) in 03 provinces of Thua Thien – Hue (in A Luoi district), Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, with the manager of the project component 2 and other relevant technical staffs from UNDP. This work will be done in close collaboration with KOICA. The core activities identified below are drawn from the project document of the KVPVP project.

The  Agriculture and Rural Development Specialist’s performance assessment will be managed by the Climate Change, Environment and Energy Unit Head – Assistant Resident Representative (ARR), with inputs from the Deputy Resident Representative (DRR) and Resident Representative (RR).

Provide technical support for effective implementation of the KVPVP projects in A Luoi district/Thua Thien – Hue, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces:

• Identify and develop the clear and concise work plans including activities, deliverables, outputs with deadlines and responsible persons/organizations after consultation with UNDP and provincial partners and which are relevant to the workplans under Outcome 2 of the KVPVP: Enhancing sustainable agriculture and rural development through increased resilience of livelihoods for farmers and infrastructure of target communities;
• Draft relevant documents (concept notes, bidding packages, TORs for hiring consultants and firms for related project activities, technical work packages, training, workshops, etc.); 
• Proactively contribute technical inputs to the implementation of project activities;
• Provide technical strategies and advices on all project intervention areas (climate agriculture, climate resilient housing and climate resilient commune health station construction);
• Provide technical inputs to project communication materials, briefs, standees, speeches, social media campaigns, etc.;
• Attend required meetings with KOICA, UNDP, relevant provincial partners and others if appropriate to develop and update the yearly workplan;
• Support Provincial Project Management Units (PPMUs) in A Luoi district/Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces in safeguard (settlement, social, gender, ethnic minorities, environment) and prepare safeguard reports;
• Support UNDP and PPMUs to deal with project implementation issues, safeguard policies and issues arising during implementation;
• Manage project risks, including timely implementation of mitigation measures, updating risk log and integrated work plan (IWP).

Take lead in quality assurance, M&E of project implementation, monitoring and evaluation:

• Establish the Quality Assurance mechanism for KVPVP project in 03 provinces; 
• Support UNDP and three provinces to design, plan and manage effectively monitoring and evaluation activities;
• Undertake baseline data studies and periodic monitoring of KVPVP in 03 provinces based on the approved project document and the Annual Work Plan (AWP). Monitor the project activities from gender and social inclusion perspective and provide timely feedback to all staff and partner organisations.
• Review and provide comments on TORs, Request for Proposal/bidding packages,  peer review/comments, approve of technical reports and products;
• Manage, provide technical inputs to and participate in the mid-term and final evaluation of the KVPVP project;
• Work with UNDP and PPMUs to prepare quarterly, annual and final project reports, also include the result, effectiveness and impact evaluation of the project, drawing lesson leant of the project implementation.

Contribute to the agriculture and rural development area of the Government of Viet Nam and UNDP:

• Contribution to the development of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s policies/regulations in term of the integrated rural development in the context of climate change;
• Contribute technical inputs to UNDP’s agriculture and rural development portfolio:
  • Briefly describe the required activities and other information;
  • Take lead and contribute to researches, policy papers, briefings, advocacy messages, and keynote speeches for policy dialogues and high-level events;
  • If applicable, include any relevant literature/data/information/policy framework that may be required for each activity.
• Facilitate, participate and contribute to knowledge management, knowledge networks, including communities of practice and knowledge management networks;
• Promote and experiment innovative approaches in collaboration with global and national think tanks and with other team members and colleagues within UNDP. 

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

• Effectiveness: Performance and data analysis and sharing lessons

• Gender: Women’s Economic Empowerment, including labour issues

• Nature, Climate and Energy: Climate Change Adaptation: agriculture/food security

• Advocacy strategy and implementation: Ability to create and implement advocacy strategies which lead to impactful change

• Relationship Management: Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding