Natural Farming State Facilitator – Odisha

NCNF is a platform to build knowledge and capacities in multiple dimensions among all stakeholders to accelerate the practice and policy related to agroecology-based farming in its multiple variants in India. The effort is to facilitate the empowerment of a significant number of small and marginal farmers covering a substantial area of land with a special emphasis on socially marginalised groups and regenerating environmentally vulnerable areas, farmers’ collectives and women farmers in leadership roles. The Coalition’s mandate is to enable a paradigm shift in agriculture science, practice and policy. This is a response to the multiple crises the country is going through – farmers’ distress, climate change emergency, malnutrition, consumer health, land degradation and loss of biodiversity.

A State Facilitator is the key point of contact from NCNF who coordinates with multiple stakeholders in the state ranging from government, CSO, research and academic bodies, extension bodies, farmers’ collectives, media etc. He/She is responsible to build an operational network of these various stakeholders to create a favourable ecosystem in the state for natural farming and help scale it through collaborations and partnerships. A state facilitator is responsible for expanding the network of the state coalition and for tapping into the emerging opportunities in diverse avenues to create a systems level transition towards natural farming including policy, practice and science.

In case of any clarifications write to secretariat@nfcoalition.in 

Deadline for application : June 10^th 2022

NF Coalition is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages women to apply. It retains the right to withdraw the advertisement at any point in time without any further notice or explanation. 

Key Responsibilities

• Networking with all stakeholders of natural farming, expanding the membership base of NCNF in the state while increasing the visibility and reach of partner initiatives
• Building a strong and operational coalition of various actors of natural farming in the state and enabling cross-learning, collaboration and partnerships among the diverse members and partners of the Coalition both at state and national level to facilitate their transition and scaling towards natural farming
• Relationship building with partner and member organisations and institutions through field visits, sharing and communication of partner initiatives for increased visibility, documentation and promotion of champion farmers and best practices, support for collaboration and partnerships
• Interacting and liaising with government to network and build relationships in the ministries and department to influence policies and budget changes in favour of natural farming
• Documentation through audio, video and written mediums of best practices, champion farmer case studies, ground data, resources and knowledge material, organisation mapping, policy changes and budget allocations, etc
• Facilitate working groups, organise events, manage programmes and activities in accordance with the need and plan of the state coalition to meet its objectives and agendas
• Increase reach of NCNF and wider natural farming ecosystem
• Promote exchange amongst the practising farmers for cross-learning, exchange and partnerships.

Qualifications

1. Minimum 4-5 years of experience in the development sector working in agriculture, natural resources management, rural development, sustainable food production, nutrition or allied streams
2. Strong communication, interpersonal and stakeholder management skills to build relationships with the various stakeholders of the coalition and assess needs of partners
3. Networking skills to build a strong and wide state network of CSOs, Coalitions, Government, Research and Academic bodies, etc. An existing personal network of organisations and institutions is an added advantage which can help with a strong base for working
4. Understanding of workings of the government departments and ability to liaise and interact with officials
5. Strong documentation and writing skills is a must
6. A sound understanding of natural/agroecological farming, farm practices, inputs preparation, nutrition, community based organisations, farmer rights is desirable
7. Ability to interact with people at all levels of an organisation from grassroots, farmers, SHGs, to CRPs, experts, leadership and government
8. Project and programme management skills, MS Office, Organisational Skills and attention to detail with a demonstrated ability to work independently and effectively
9. An understanding and experience of working in movements and coalitions is desirable
10. Fluency in Odiya, English and Hindi