Sanitary & Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Assistant at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an International non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries around the world. CRS programs assist person on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs, therefore, strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations is fundamental to programs in every country in which CRS operates. CRS re-established presence in Nigeria m 2000 and currently focuses on agriculture, HIV and health extractives and governance, and peace building programming.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Sanitary & Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Assistant

Job Ref Code: SPS80119
Location: Yobe
Band: 4
Reports To: Livestock Officer
Department: Programs/Water for Agriculture
Period: Three (3) years; July 15th 2019 to July 14th, 2022

Job Summary / Background

The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) will support the delivery of USAID-funded Water for Agriculture (WFA) project by promoting implementation governments’ Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures for protection of human, animal and plant life and health in targeted communities.
Key performance indicators (KPI) of this position will include increased knowledge on identification and prevention of water-borne diseases between human and livestock populations.

Job Responsibilities

Support target communities to carry out comprehensive risk assessments and develop local mitigation and response plans to reduce the risk and impact of water borne and animal diseases on livestock and humans.
Build capacity of targeted communities to actively mitigate against water borne diseases. The post holder will be required to track and report on prevalence of / outbreaks of water-borne diseases within targeted communities / LGAs.
Collate and analyze existing SPS measures and guidelines with the aim of producing client-friendly information products to increase awareness and implementation of community-level activities to protect humans and animals from diseases and pests.
Carry out education activities jointly with relevant government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to increase awareness of SPS measures among farmers and herders especially around communal water resources.
Build local government’s capacity and facilitate relevant MDAs to inspect and monitor animal movements, animal products and services such as abattoirs to mitigate disease transmission risks.
Jointly with other projects and working closely with relevant MDAs, improve and expand animal disease surveillance and outbreak detection / rapid response to reduce impact of animal diseases.
Support farmers and livestock owners to instigate and maintain good hygienic standards in public areas including animal markets and water points.

Interventions:

Construct water assets for agricultural use (crop irrigation and watering livestock);
Build capacity of local government agencies and community structures to manage water assets;
Increase agricultural production and productivity of famers and livestock herders

Background, Experience & Requirements

Bachelor’s degree / Higher National Diploma in Animal Production, Animal Husbandry, Livestock Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine or other relevant fields.
A minimum of 3 years of experience in delivering livestock services / programming particularly among pastoralist communities.
Public health knowledge / training will be an added advantage.
Demonstrated ability to work with livestock owners and partner and influence government MDAs.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English; knowledge of Hausa will be an added advantage.
Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of office applications.
Travel Required 60% to field locations in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Senior Agronomist, Financial Inclusion Officer, Livelihoods Officer, Livestock Officer
External: Government ministries departments and agencies, local and international NGOs, coordination platforms and working groups, community leaders

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results: