In-Country Coordinator – Ghana
Job Description
Position Title:
In-Country Coordinator – Ghana
Contract Name:
Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM)
Contract No:
7200AA20F00010
Place of Performance:
Ghana
Maximum Level of Effort (LOE):
30 days
Project Description: The Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) activity provides on-demand support services and technical assistance for USAID Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices, and is managed by the Center for Environment, Energy, and Infrastructure (EEI) in the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI). INRM supports integrated analysis and programming across development sectors. By using a multi-sectoral lens, INRM seeks to strengthen the impacts of USAID’s core environmental programming by recognizing synergies, adopting best practices, and building broader constituencies for integrated programming. The activity is designed to help USAID operating units achieve higher impact environment programming and to support the uptake of principles and approaches outlined in the Agency’s Environmental and Natural Resource Management Framework .
USAID has commissioned a team under the INRM Task Order to design and implement the baseline for an impact evaluation (IE) and performance evaluation (PE) of the Resilient Ecosystem and Sustainable Transformation of Rural Economies (RESTORE) Activity in 2023/2024. The purpose of the RESTORE Activity is to demonstrate a scalable and regionally replicable model for community-led governance, natural resource management, and biodiversity conservation that aligns with regional and government priorities in cocoa production landscapes in the Guinean forests of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. It aims to establish the technical capacity, policy implementation approaches, and economic incentives to bring cocoa producing families, governments, and private sector actors together in a joint endeavor to secure improved livelihoods from cocoa farming, alongside increased tree cover and a scalable contribution to national and corporate emission reductions targets.
RESTORE’s specific objectives are:
Objective 1: Increase tree cover on and off farm in the cocoa production landscapes.
Objective 2: Enable effective and inclusive participatory governance for conserving forest and restoring degraded land in the landscapes.
Objective 3: Build capacity and market incentives for farmers to apply climate-smart production practices and increase benefits from cocoa farming for women and young people.
Objective 4 Facilitate economic diversification in cocoa farming communities, creating enabling conditions for economic and social empowerment of women and young people.
The RESTORE Activity will be established and supported in three selected target areas in the Guinean forest with one landscape in Ghana (Sui River Landscape) and two landscapes in Côte d’Ivoire (Eastern Landscape around the Bossmattie Forest Reserve, and Taï National Park Landscape).
INRM/DAI is responsible for the RESTORE Evaluation baseline data collection and reporting. The baseline data collection will consist of a social data collection component (to be carried out by a social survey subcontractor) and an ecological data collection component (to be carried out by an ecological survey subcontractor). The social survey will include household surveys, spousal surveys, community leader surveys, Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions in around 150 sampled villages across the landscape in Ghana. These survey instruments will aim to collect data on agriculture and land, agroforestry and climate-smart agricultural practices adoption, conservation attitude and practice, food insecurity, nutrition and health, women’s empowerment, governance, collective action, resilience, and socio-economic well-being. The ecological survey will consist of forest transect talks and LiDAR scanning for forest quality/forest carbon estimation, acoustic recorders and camera traps for capturing animal biodiversity, soil quality testing, as well as insect traps and water quality testing.
Role’s Purpose:
DAI is recruiting for an In-Country Coordinator (ICC) to serve as the evaluation team’s representative in Ghana and provide supervision to the data collection subcontractors in Ghana throughout data collection planning, training, and fieldwork (data collection in Côte d’Ivoire will be overseen by a separate ICC).The In-Country Coordinator will work closely with the data collection subcontractors to ensure the quality of data collection throughout the evaluation. This position has an estimated LOE of 30 days.
Objectives and Duties:
Review survey instrument and data collection protocols for suitability for local contexts.
Provide quality assurance and oversight for the data collection firm including attending trainings, conducting spot checks in the field, reporting deviations in data collection protocol to DAI in weekly updates, and facilitating communication between the firm and DAI.
Provides guidance on technical and quality assurance matters to social and ecological data collection partners during preparation, training, and data collection.
Works closely with the data collection subcontractors to plan and manage the data collection; Ensure the smooth logistical coordination between the social and ecological data collection partners; Ensuring that the organizational structure of the data collection subcontractors will be sufficient to manage and implement data collection according to protocol.
Ensures the data collection subcontractors has recruited and hired qualified personnel for managing and conducting the data collection.
Participates in the training, ensures that the field work schedule and team composition are optimally developed to ensure high quality data.
Monitors data collection in the field to ensure quality of survey implementation. randomly visits interview sites, participates in the meetings with data collection teams to review the issues and to collectively troubleshoot, and provides feedback to the contractor on a regular basis.
Assists with the in-country ethical review and approval process as needed.
Qualifications:
An undergraduate degree in a social science discipline, preferably in a field related to rural livelihoods, agriculture, ecology, forest conservation, cocoa-agroforestry. A higher degree is preferred.
Experience managing large-scale social survey field work in West Africa, preferably involving measurement of cocoa-agroforestry or reforestation programs on cocoa landscapes.
Experience with Measure and Evaluation projects; Understanding of Impact Evaluation designs, sample selection protocols, and statistical analysis of quantitative data
Experience hiring, training, and overseeing field supervisors and enumerators.
Experience coordinating field logistics, schedules, and equipment.
Experience with managing ecological data collection fieldwork
Fluency in English
This is a local position. Only candidates with Ghanaian residency will be considered.
