Introduction and Context

The African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is a specialized technical office of the Department Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (DARBE) of the African Union Commission (AUC). The vision of AU-IBAR is: “An Africa in which animal resources contribute significantly to integration, prosperity and peace”. Its Mission is: to provide leadership and integrated support services for the development of animal resources in Africa.

AU-IBAR’s mandate is to support and coordinate the sustainable development and utilization of animal resources (livestock, fisheries and wildlife) to enhance nutrition and food security and contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of the people in the Member States of the AU.  AU-IBAR is the main vehicle for the AU to develop appropriate and independent expertise to support and coordinate the sustainable development and utilization of animal resources to enhance food and nutrition security and contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of the people in the AU Member States.

AU-IBAR is implementing an emergency 3-year action, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, titled “Evidence Driven Short Term Solutions to Build Resilience and Address the Adverse Effects of Crises on African Feed and Fodder Systems”, with a short title ‘Resilient African Feed and Fodder System (RAFFS) Project’. The purpose of the RAFFS action is “to understand the impact of the Triple Global Crises (3C’s: Climate-Change, Covid-19, and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Crisis) on feed and fodder systems, and to build systematic capacities for data analytics for evidenced based decision making; policy, regulatory and institutional reform; and promotion of viable business and partnership models and solutions to address the vulnerabilities of Africa’s feed and fodder systems.

The Project Goal is “To respond to the worsening food and nutrition security occasioned by recent crises that have negatively impacted on African feed and fodder systems and production of animal sourced foods.”

Project Purpose: To harness evidence driven solutions for short term interventions to enhance access to affordable and quality feed and fodder critical to ensuring sustainable production of animal sourced foods

Objective

AU-IBAR seeks the services of a Consultant for the position of Program Assistant - Communications and Visibility will support the delivery of communication and visibility on the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems through coordination, advocacy, planning and implementation of the Project Knowledge Management, Communications, Visibility and Advocacy Strategy.

Tasks, Responsibilities & Deliverables

The position of the Program Assistant - Communications and Visibility will provide support to the Resilient Feed and Fodder Systems Project and work closely with the Senior Knowledge Management Officer AU-IBAR to undertake the following responsibilities:

Specific Responsibilities

• Implement the Knowledge Management, Communications, Visibility and Advocacy Strategy and Plan for the RAFFS Project.
• Design, roll out and manage a continental advocacy campaign to create high visibility and generate momentum for the Urgent Actions to Address Feed Shortages and Avert Future Feed Related Disasters
• Lead the process of identification, articulation and dissemination of narrative and key messages that are aligned to the delivery of the RAFFS Project objectives, and desired outcomes and impact.
• Communication to support behaviour change based on emerging narrative to enhance response and change in practice related to emerging narrative and best practice for better results in the feed and fodder sector.
• Contribute to content on feed and fodder on the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems Project Microsite, and Online Community platform.
• Develop and maintain Media relationships with relevant media organizations, journalists and science communicators at continental, regional and national levels.
• Facilitate the usage of communication platforms and tools and conducting training activities for various internal and external stakeholders.
• Work closely with Senior Knowledge Management Officer to capture, document and package information and knowledge, in the form of lessons learned and best practices, success stories, and data visualisation.
• Develop communication materials, newsletters, and key messages and manage their dissemination widely among target groups through a wide array of online platforms, social media channels, multimedia productions, knowledge fairs and exhibitions, radio, television and media networks.
• Provide support to stakeholders in advancing good communication practices to enhance the visibility of feed and fodder resources development activities across the continent.
• Promote the visibility of the RAFFS Project, the project donors and implementing partners on various communication outputs and platforms, working closely with the graphics designer.
• Submit a monthly progress report on the implementation of this contract

Duty Stations

The Expert will be stationed in the AU-IBAR offices in Nairobi, Kenya with travel on specific assignments agreed with the AU-IBAR Management

Duration

The duration of this assignment is 6 months.

Remuneration

The remuneration for this Consultancy shall be an all-inclusive monthly fee equivalent to P1 Step 5 on the AUC Salary Scale i.e. US$ 4,477.60 – US$ 5,724.35. The expert will be responsible for his/her medical and travel insurance cover for the duration of the consultancy. Expenses for travel on official missions will be covered separately by AU-IBAR in accordance with the applicable African Union Commission rules and regulations.

Supervision and Reporting

The successful candidate will be under the direct supervision of the Senior Knowledge Management Officer and the Project Coordinator and overall supervision by the Director of AU-IBAR.

Requirements

Academic and Professional qualifications

• A minimum of a university degree in either Communications, Science or Development Communications, or Journalism.
• A relevant Master’s Degree will be considered as an added advantage.

Relevant Experience

• Minimum of five (5) years’ experience working in developmental projects, with in the public and private sector;  
• Experience working in development agencies beyond national level, at regional and or continental levels;
• Demonstrated experience in conducting and managing a large-scale advocacy campaign, and generating advocacy messages tailored to elevate narrative and persuade target audiences for policy and institutional change;
• Demonstrated capacity in developing, designing and implementing evidence-based comprehensive social and behaviour change communication programmes, preferably in the agriculture or livestock sector.
• Evidence of engagement and relationships with media associations, or science media supporting agricultural or animal resources or environment and relevant cross-cutting issues. Specific experience in feed and fodder programmes will be an added advantage;
• Demonstrated experience in knowledge synthesis; content management and communication packages for target audiences;
• Demonstrated experience in use of communication and knowledge management tools, and production of reports, newsletters, and multimedia products; and
• Proven sector-level engagement and understanding of feed and fodder, resilience, animal resources development would be an advantage.

Other Skills

• Good networking skills and ability to maintain positive and constructive dialogue and relationships with key institutions operating in different regions;
• Self-starter with the ability to strategically plan own work and follow-up on implementation;
• Sector related project development, management and implementation of communication strategies at national, regional and continental levels;
• Very strong writing, analytical and communication skills are necessary;
• Ability to complete assignments and tasks on time; and
• Demonstrated ability to provide strong leadership and foster team environment is required
• Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese, and Spanish) and fluency in another AU language is an added advantage

Competencies

• Strategic Perspective
• Developing Others
• Change Management
• Managing Risk
• Building Relationships
• Learning Orientation
• Communicating with impact

Functional Competencies

• Conceptual Thinking
• Job Knowledge and information sharing
• Drive for Results
• Fosters Innovation

Gender Mainstreaming

The AU Commission is an equal opportunity employer and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Evaluation Criteria

The applications will be evaluated based on the relevant technical qualifications, experience and competence of the candidates.

Applicants who meet the technical requirements (minimum score 70) may be invited for an interview (virtual or in person as is appropriate).