ThaiNGO

As an international cooperation enterprise with worldwide operations, the German government-owned Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH operates on behalf of German ministries, the governments of other countries and international clients to provide tailor-made, cost-efficient and effective services for sustainable development. With over 60 years of experience implementing projects in Thailand, GIZ provides policy and technical advice on various topics and sectors relating to Thailand’s reform process, including: climate policy, sustainable economic development, and sustainable agriculture.

Field Staff (Lower Northern Area)

We are looking for a Field Staff (Lower Northern Area) to support the project “Thai Rice: Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming”, to be implemented by GIZ with four executing entities. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved a 38-million euro grant contribution towards the project. The co-financing is provided by Thai public sector partners, and executing entities, including the Thai Rice Department, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Planning (ONEP), and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and international private sector partners. Further information: https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/fp214.

Thai Rice GCF:  Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming

Rice is Thailand’s most important food crop, accounting for roughly half of agricultural land and employing 18 million smallholder farmers. Rice farmers are among the poorest occupational groups in Thailand. They are extremely vulnerable to climate change: rice farming is a water-intensive and temperature-sensitive activity conducted in a climate that is becoming increasingly characterised by longer dry spells and higher temperatures. At the same time, rice farming is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Smallholder farmers have limited capacity to adapt, given their small farm sizes and low incomes, and their limited access to technical assistance, markets and credit.

The “Thai Rice: Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming” project aims to promote low-emission and climate-resilient rice farming. It aims to benefit more than 250,000 smallholder farmers – strengthening their yields, livelihoods, food security, and ability to cope with climate risks. It also has potential to mitigate 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The project follows a bottoms-up logic: empower vulnerable smallholder farmers to make improved decisions in the face of climate change and scale access to climate-smart farming technologies. Policy-makers will be supported with technical assistance, monitoring tools, and organizational support to achieve a more ‘joined up’ institutional and policy environment for climate-smart rice. Governments across the region will benefit through knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer learning.
 

Job highlights:

• Job with purpose: Work for a paradigm shift in Thai rice farming to achieve ambitious climate targets
• Pioneering topics: Enable efficiency and compliance for ambitious impact
• Dynamic team: Join an international and dedicated team

The Field Staff for the Lower North Office will carry out the following tasks.

Responsibilities

Technical support:

• Support Senior Field Staff for the project’s field implementation (farmer recruitments, climate smart practices trainings to project farmers, data collection, farmer group engagement).
• Set-up, facilitate, and execute training activities in the area, in joint coordination with related project partners (both private and public) and local stakeholders,
• Monitor field activities, provide reports and documents on the progress of local activities, identify bottlenecks and recommend alternative solution options to achieve the project activity plan
• Provide technical advice to farmers regarding climate smart technologies (such as Land Levelling, Alternate Wetting and Drying, soil improvement methods, sustainable crop rotation, etc.)
• Facilitate linkages between farmers and off-takers.
• Actively contribute input of possible improvements of the planned activities

Project coordination and management support:

• Establish good relationship with local partners in the areas e.g. off-takers, farmer groups, local government, etc.
• Coordinate with / support local governmental (ie, RD, DoAE, BAAC, etc.) and private partners based on need and request
• Communicate and promote the project’s interests as well as exchange ideas and information for the benefit of the project
• Collect relevant information from the field on the innovative rice cultivation, soil improvement methods and other supporting data as a baseline (i.e.: farmer database, miller database, etc.) and/or impact progress monitoring
• Support field administrative and financial tasks in coordination with Office and Finance Manager in Bangkok
• Support procurement for office equipment, office supplies and other required assets
• Ensure that Environmental and Social Safeguards Checklist is incorporated and verified

Communication and knowledge management:

• Support a field manager in developing on-ground training strategies to improve project implementation
• Identify and develop knowledge products for internal and external audiences
• Liaise with partners to develop relevant communication materials and outreach activities
• Assist with research activities and studies which benefit the project
• Support coordination with other GIZ projects in Thailand and in the region

Qualifications:

• Thai nationality only
• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field, e.g., agriculture, agronomy, climate change, environmental management, social sciences
• At least 3 years of experience in agricultural extension. An experience in sustainable / climate smart rice extension and value chain is preferred.
• Experience in designing farmer training, working with farmer group, and agricultural value chain.
• Experience in farmer training, data collection, demo farm, field activities,
• Experience coordinating with farmers, lead farmers, local authorities
• Experience working with stakeholders in the public, private, and non-governmental sectors
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent command of MS Office package (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and Microsoft Teams

Personal attributes and competencies:

• Self-motivated, flexible and resourceful
• Good organizational and conceptualization skill
• Hands-on mentality and detail-oriented work ethics
• Ability to work independently and in a team
• Ability to work under time pressure and meet deadlines with strong attention to consistency, details, and quality
• Interest and desire to work in a cross-cultural context, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable agriculture value chains
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to work with several partners and actors

Duty station and timeframe:

The position will be based in Lower North Office and implement the work in Nakornsawan, Pitchit, Kampangpetch, Pitsanulok and will report to the Project Director in GIZ Thailand. This will be a fixed-term contract, starting as soon as possible and running until at least 31 December 2025, with possibility of extension.

Please carefully read this announcement and submit a CV AND a cover letter in English to aroonratt.soontonbura@giz.de.

The deadline for applications is 31 December 2024. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

GIZ Thailand is an equal opportunity employer and actively encourages gender diversity within the company and operations.

GIZ Office Thailand

193/63 Lake Rajada Office Complex, New Ratchadapisek Road, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110

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