Organization: Clinton Development Initiative
Location: Malawi
Eligible Citizenship: Malawi
Application Code: M04-Int
Job Function: Monitoring and Evaluation / Quality Improvement, Research, Teaching / Curriculum Development
Issue Area: Agriculture, Food Security / Nutrition
About
The Clinton Development Initiative (CDI) helps rural Malawian farmers generate higher, more predictable income through agronomic extension services, farmer organization development, and market linkages. We help enable isolated communities to obtain input loans, high-quality farm inputs, and the best prices for their produce. CDI field officers teach climate smart agriculture and promote soya as a nutritious cash crop replacement for tobacco. CDI engages with more than 35,000 smallholder farmers, working in partnership with five CDI-operated commercial farms. These commercial farms facilitate purchasing efficiencies, which lower input prices to farmers; demonstrate conservation agriculture techniques; increase the supply of high quality seed; and generate revenues to support our smallholder programs.
In addition to agricultural services, CDI works with more than 2,500 farmers through Trees of Hope, a carbon finance agroforestry project. In order to address deforestation and mitigate the effects of climate change, CDI assists farmers in establishing tree-based land use systems and connecting farmers with carbon financing through the sale of Plan Vivo certified carbon certificates.
Because good health is a key component of farmer productivity, in 2013 CDI signed an MOU with the Government of Malawi to build three health clinics on its farms, which will provide Essential Health Package (EHP) services to employees, program farmers, and surrounding communities. The first clinic will open in early 2016, as the other two will be under construction. CDI will also run community programs focusing on nutrition, maternal, and child health.
For the past two years, CDI has worked with a team of dedicated GHC Fellows who have helped to establish the Community Nutrition Program with support of the CDI team. There are significant milestones achieved in the past two years. One such big step is the engagement, inclusion and participation of the community members towards program development, management and expansion. Using existing community structures for sustainable growth, CDI continues to enjoy a community team comprising of government technical extension officers and community leadership, working together to mobilize communities to action. CDI would like to build on this to further develop the program to serve the target population.
Position Overview
The Community Nutrition Support Fellow will be based in Lilongwe.
Assist in the growth and expansion of an innovative community nutrition program in a sustainable manner that builds, integrates, supports, and foresees short- and long-term means of preventing and managing malnutrition; lead in the development, implementation and monitoring of interventions in support of existing Community Nutrition support structure and strategy.
Support the existing and create new strategies to improve awareness of the relationship between agriculture, nutrition, and health, geared toward creating a good working relationship and sharing of information between community members, health care workers, and agriculture workers on long-term causes of malnutrition; signs of malnutrition or micronutrient deficiency; the impact of malnutrition on physical and emotional health, and preventing, identifying and caring for the most vulnerable members of the community: infants and children, pregnant and lactating women, PLWHA, and TB patients, etc. (For example: devising community models that promote good nutrition in reproductive and maternal women.)
Provide locally appropriate education and oversight by facilitating, teaching, and demonstrating nutrition intervention techniques at the clinic, community, and household levels and by acting as the community resource person in distribution and use of health and nutrition messages. Provide community support needed for adoption of new practices.
Empower communities to improve the nutritional status of their people by providing mentorship and support to individuals, groups, and households, as well as to CDI farm staff and field officers, leveraging current capacity and human and natural resources to assimilate knowledge and sustain interventions that combat short-and long-term causes of malnutrition in the rural populations of Malawi.
Responsibilities
Primary
- Incorporate research based practices to champion innovative prevention and treatment practices while supporting Malawi’s national guidelines on nutrition
- Liaise with community extension workers, local leaders, and network of community educators to provide ongoing logistical support and planning for community-based nutrition education sessions and outreach
- Adapt educational materials and training methods for community-based education, based on standardized messaging endorsed by the Government of Malawi
- Work closely with the CDI clinic team to facilitate knowledge sharing of agronomic best practices for homestead garden promotion in target communities and clinical care of malnutrition and build linkages between agro-practices and food diversification as a means of preventing malnutrition
- Explore program expansion to assess, analyze, and recommend an innovative and sustainable means of enhancing access among households to dietary protein sources
- Assess and facilitate possible scale-up of Community Nutrition Program in other CDI program sites
- Prepare regular progress and activity reports for the Clinic Department and maintain ongoing communication and project reporting with the CDI management team in New York.
Secondary
- Investigate new, innovative ways to equip farmers and communities with the skills they need to maximize utilization of agro-products (e.g. canning techniques, drying, and other means of preservation) for household food security and over time, to generate income. Explore use of crops produced at commercial farms (e.g., large quantities of groundnuts and soya) as a lower-cost source of therapeutic food for communities involved in the production of such products.
Required Skills and Experience
- Creativity, energy, and initiative: able to succeed in a relatively new program with limited institutional support, while seeking to leverage new or unforeseen opportunities.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills required for successful interactions with agriculture field officers, commercial farm staff, community leaders, and health workers, as well as with the wider nutrition and agriculture community in Malawi, including government officials, NGO staff, and international/multilateral organization staff
- Strong report writing, presentation, and document design skills, with ability to generate written, oral, and pictorial materials for audiences with differing levels of education and literacy
- Ability to rapidly assimilate information (including technical data relating to agriculture, health, and nutrition and the linkages between them)
- Highly flexible and capable of maximizing available local and often limited resources to accomplish goals
- Ability to adapt quickly to, and work effectively and appropriately within, new cultures and lifestyles; desire to work with underserved rural communities, and to build and maintain relationships with community members
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Background in nutrition, agriculture, and/or public health a plus
- Knowledge of specific health and nutritional issues and challenges in Malawi and/or other lesser-developed countries
- Statistical analysis capabilities for use in M&E program design and baseline data collection
- Strong qualitative research and analysis skills to identify best practices in agriculture and nutrition
- Analytical skills to enable synthesis of smaller and larger practical components of ideas and experiences to influence policy advocacy
- Comfortable with quantitative and qualitative analysis using Excel or similar tools
- Graphic design skills preparing education and awareness materials for low-literacy clients
Fellowship Logistics
During the fellowship year, all fellows are provided with:
- A living stipend of $650/month
- Housing and utilities
- Health insurance
- A professional development grant of $600
- An award of $1500 upon successful completion of the fellowship year
- Travel costs covered to and from placement site, training and retreats
*Note: The living stipend and the completion award may be paid out in USD or local currency, as determined by the placement organization.
Living and Working in Malawi: Fellows are provided with housing and utilities during the fellowship year. Housing arrangements vary based on the placement organization and location within the country. Accommodations will be in a safe, relatively affluent section of Lilongwe, an urban center (near CDI offices), and within walking or biking distance of supermarkets, restaurants, and other amenities.
Though living in the capital, fellows may travel frequently to the field. When in the field, fellows will stay at local lodges that have been used by CDI staff for many years and/or reside in farm staff housing (with 24-hour security). At such times, fellows may have limited access to electricity, internet, and/or hot water.
CDI will provide transport to and from community/farms to the offices, for social activities, or other GHC programming, via a fleet of well-maintained vehicles and professional drivers.
