DRC: Project Manager for the DESIRA Project in the Field of Agroforestry

Mar 19, 2021 | Enabel
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Enabel is the Belgian Development Agency. It carries out Belgian governmental cooperation. The Agency also implements actions for other national and international organizations. With its Belgian and international partners, Enabel provides solutions to tackle urgent global challenges: climate change, urbanization, human mobility, peace and security, social and economic inequalities, and global citizenship. With 1,500 employees, Enabel manages some 150 projects in around 20 countries, in Belgium, Africa and the Middle East.

Context


The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the most important partner country for Belgian government cooperation. Enabel has three hundred employees there, including around thirty expatriates. Belgium is the third bilateral donor to the Congo.

Belgian cooperation has been active in the Congo since 1960. After an interruption between 1990 and 2001, Enabel refocused its actions in the fields of rural development, opening up of agricultural areas, vocational training, health, water and Energy. Enabel has twenty offices in ten provinces which ensure proximity to the local population, which particularly characterizes our cooperation program.

Enabel plans to start a new project on the theme of the protection and restoration of the biodiversity of equatorial forests in the DRC in the province of Sankuru. Located in the center of the DRC, the province of Sankuru is a mining, forestry and agricultural province. It is home to a large forest area (partially covering the Salonga National Park) subjected to stresses that compromise its biodiversity and the ecosystem services provided. Deforestation has indeed increased significantly in recent years. 

The general objective of the project is to contribute to the maintenance of forest cover and to the protection and restoration of the biodiversity of Congo's equatorial forests, sources of income, food and ecosystem services for local and global populations. To do this, the project plans to contribute to the identification and dissemination of sustainable forest management and exploitation models in collaboration with community actors, local authorities, research partners (national and international). and private partners. The area is home to old rubber plantations, a potential source of income for local communities, and the project also plans to help revive a sustainable and inclusive rubber industry. 

The DESIRA project therefore focuses on 3 results: 

  • The establishment of conditions for relaunching a sustainable and inclusive rubber industry by relying on the village associations of the territories, the actors of training and the private actors active in the province.
  • The identification and appropriation by village associations of carbon neutral or positive agro-forestry models making it possible to diversify the diet while generating a surplus for self-consumption.
  • The co-construction, in a participatory approach with village associations in conjunction with local authorities, of natural resource management plans that help reduce the dynamics of deforestation.

Description of the function


As Project Manager reporting directly to the Provincial Coordinator of Kasai Oriental, you will ensure the general coordination of the project and bring a global strategic vision to the project team (5 people) and partners (provincial government, universities and research centers , community actors, etc.). 

You will set up an adequate organization in terms of roles and responsibilities taking into account the specific context of the intervention (landlocked area, new intervention area for Enabel, diversity of institutional and community partnerships, etc.). You will be responsible for the operationalization of the intervention strategy by relying on the diagnostic elements and studies carried out by the partners (including the research partners) according to an inclusive approach. You also ensure consistency and synergies with other Enabel interventions in the DRC. 

Expected responsibilities: 

  • You are responsible for the proper execution of the project (content, planning, budget, quality);
  • You coordinate the implementation of activities in order to achieve the project objectives;
  • You support the identified people to lead the change process;
  • You contribute to building the capacities of partner organizations;
  • You coordinate the learning process on how an intervention contributes to the development of a sector;
  • You lead the team placed under your hierarchical responsibility;
  • You ensure that relevant results information is available for monitoring and evaluation to enable performance monitoring, decision making, learning and reporting.

Your profile


Required training level

  • Master in Agronomy / Rural Development, Forestry, Environment, Social Sciences or equivalent. 

Required experiences 

  • Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in the management of development projects on the African continent;
  • Minimum 2 years of relevant experience in forest area and minimum 5 years of relevant experience in natural resource management;
  • Minimum relevant work experience outside his country of origin ;
  • Minimum experience as a team leader ;
  • Experience in the DRC and more particularly in Sankuru province is considered an asset ;
  • Experience in several projects is an asset.

Skills and knowledge required

  • In-depth knowledge of project management methodologies;
  • Great capacity for leadership, listening and dialogue;
  • Capacity for planning, organization and management; 
  • In-depth knowledge in the preservation of forest ecosystems in Central Africa;
  • Knowledge of the rubber industry is an asset ;
  • Knowledge of family farming, agroecology and agroforestry is an asset ;
  • Monitoring and evaluation skills;
  • You speak and write fluently in French given the working language in the DRC. Fluency in English is desirable. 

You agree to respect the vision, mission and values ​​of Enabel  (https://www.enabel.be/fr/content/vision-mission-valeurs-de-enabel).

We offer you

  • An exciting position in an international environment.
  • A 48-month contract based in Mukumari with weekly trips to the villages in the territories of Lodja and Lomela and one-off in Mbuji-Mayi as well as on average every 8 weeks in Kinshasa. 
  • You are employed within Enabel in the "Intervention Manager" function. The salary package for this function corresponds to our scale (class 6) and includes the gross monthly salary, as well as advantages linked to your expatriate status within Enabel such as a separation allowance, assignment, hardship, cover for housing costs (capped), a removal and installation allowance, cover for the school fees for accompanying children (capped), an insurance package for the whole family including repatriation insurance, return plane tickets once a year for the whole family, etc. 
  • In the event of expatriation without family members (dependents), up to 6 additional return plane tickets per year to the country of origin or any other destination (capped according to Enabel's regulations) .

The different amounts vary according to the relevant experience recognized for the function, the family composition and the tax situation.

This publication may give rise to the constitution of a recruitment reserve for a period of 3 years for any similar function.

Enabel is committed to equal opportunities and diversity within its staff. Candidates are chosen solely on the basis of their skills.

Interested? 

Apply no later than 03/25/2021 here online and attach your updated CV and cover letter.

Only applications submitted via this portal will be taken into consideration.