Agriculture Extension and Food Safety Officer

% of time

Activity

90%

Program Implementation

· Promote the production and consumption of nutrient-rich foods, especially targeting pregnant and lactating women, young children, and vulnerable households

· Collaborate with nutrition staff to link agriculture interventions with MIYCN practices and the 22 Integrated Nutrition, WASH, and ECD Practices.

· Promote best practices in food safety across the value chain, including safe production, harvesting, processing, storage, and preparation at household and community levels.

· Collaborate with relevant institutions to raise awareness and compliance with national food safety regulations and standards.

· Establish and maintain strategic relationships, linkages, and collaborations with local partners, government entities, and other stakeholders to enhance the delivery of community food systems initiatives.

· Provide ongoing technical backstopping to households and community groups to establish and sustain kitchen gardens and small-scale food production systems.

· Support the mobilization and capacity-building of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to engage in nutrition-sensitive income-generating activities.

· Conduct training of farmers, parents, and children on basic food safety principles

· Contribute to the multisectoral planning and implementation of DPEM/CD committees to ensure integrated service delivery.

• Collect and document success stories, lessons learned, and best practices in agriculture-nutrition linkages for sharing with stakeholders.

10%

Financial Management

• Participate in the budgeting of UN joint nutrition activities to ensure the available resources are efficiently utilized
• Spending according to the plan and budget such that the monthly cash flow is not significantly over- or underspent
• Providing variance explanations and taking action on time to ensure that budgets are being used as planned

KNOWLEDGE/QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE

Required Professional Experience

1. At least 3 years of experience working in the integrated community nutrition sector

2. Must be familiar with integrated community nutrition and SBCC models, e.g., PDH, CBNP, mother support groups, father support groups, nurturing care, Local Value Chain Development (LVCD), VSLAs, Microfinance, Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA), Citizen Voice and Action (CVA)

3. Ability to construct, interpret, and critique budgets and track expenditure; strong financial/budgeting skills.

4. Report writing skills

5. Strong group facilitation and training skills

1. Good monitoring skills

Required Education,

training, license,

registration, and

certification

1. Bachelor’s degree in Human Nutrition and dietetics, Community nutrition, Public Health Nutrition, or any other closely related field (If the degree is issued by a foreign institution, an equivalence certificate from the Rwanda Higher Education Council (HEC) will be required)

2. Must have a valid driving license class A.

Preferred Knowledge

and Qualifications

1. Strong technical understanding of nutrition-sensitive agriculture, food safety, agroecology, and sustainable farming practices.
2. Knowledge of Rwanda’s agricultural extension system and community development frameworks.
3. Experience in training and mentoring farmer groups, cooperatives, or community-based organizations.
4. Familiarity with national policies and strategies related to agriculture, food, and nutrition security (e.g., Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture [PSTA], DPEM).
5. Strong facilitation, communication, and interpersonal skills, especially in engaging community members and local leaders.
6. Ability to work independently in rural settings with minimal supervision.
7. Good analytical and reporting skills, with proficiency in Microsoft Office and digital data collection tools (e.g., KoboToolbox, ODK).

Travel and/or

Work Environment

Requirement

Domestic Travel: 70% Regular internal travel to project community sites is required. The position requires working closely with local partners and decentralized local government structures and health facilities in the district.