Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa: Executive Director

The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) is a not-for-profit Sub-regional Research and Development Organisation (SRO) that  strives to reduce the food insecurity and poverty in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region as pronounced in SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), the Dar es Salaam declaration on food security, and the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) developed by the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AU-NEPAD). CCARDESA is a new SRO headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana.

CCARDESA operates within the framework of CAADP Pillar IV which has the objective of enhancing the livelihoods of African farmers and pastoralists and is spearheaded by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Hence FARA is supporting the institutional development of CCARDESA as well as strengthening its linkages with other umbrella bodies contributing to CAADP Pillar IV. The strategic objective of CCARDESA is to increase smallholder productivity and competitiveness through the implementation of Pillar 4 of CAADP for the SADC region based on the Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP).

The CCARDESA Board seeks to appoint an Executive Director (ED), based in Gaborone, Botswana.

This is a fulltime position.

S/he will be directly responsible for putting the organisation on a firm footing as a reputable regional organisation supporting agricultural research and development (R&D) for the benefit of farmers, and in particular, smallholder farmers in the SADC region. S/he will be responsible for implementation of CCARDESA’s Medium Term Operational Plan and for executing the decisions of the Board in managing the day-to-day running of the organisation.

S/he will report to the CCARDESA Board.

Responsibilities:

• Represent CCARDESA as its chief administrative officer and legal representative as delegated by the CCARDESA Board;
• Provide support to the CARDESA Board as the chief technical spokesperson of CARDESA on regional issues of agriculture in SADC;
• Provide leadership and managing the human, financial and physical resources of CCADESA;   
• Implement the decision of CCARDESA Board of Directors and the General Assembly;
• Draft CARDESA’s annual work-plans, budgets, annual technical and financial reports for presentation and approval by the CARDESA Board;
• Articulate new proposals and initiatives for funding by SADC Member States, private sector, agricultural NGOs, farmer organisations, development partners and other relevant stakeholders;
• Ensure the effective and efficient operation of CCARDESA Secretariat Strategic Planning and Business Planning;
• Establish appropriate mechanisms for the monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment of CCARDESA programme activities; 
• Appoint regionally recruited staff required for the operation of the CCARDESA Secretariat in consultation with the Board;
• Recruit, select and appoint local staff required for the operations of the CCARDESA Secretariat;
• Recommend to the Board any revisions to CCARDESA operational manuals;
• Manage and strengthen CCARDESA relations with all stakeholders within and outside the SADC region, including SADC member states, national agricultural R&D institutions and universities, CGIAR centres, the private sector, NGOs and farmer organisations, sister sub-regional organisations (ASARECA, CORAF and NASRO), UN agencies and development partners;
• Ensure the existence of smooth operations of protocol and host government liaison systems of the CCARDESA Secretariat;
• Perform any other duties as directed by the Board Chair.

Requirements:

• MSc degree but preferably PhD in agricultural sciences or a related field;
• Minimum of 15 years experience in senior management positions preferably both in profit and not-for-profit organisations;
• Fundraising and communication skills;
• Agriculturist with rich international or regional experience;
• Experience working with bi-lateral, multi-lateral development agencies and the private sector;
• Articulate and able to inspire positive action towards achievement of key goals;
• International stature as a leading figure in the design and implementation of agricultural research and development (R&D);
• Experience with the management of complex organisations; 
• Experience in strategic planning, programme development, project management, and coordination of complex programmes;
• Experience in managing the processes at the technical and political interfaces between national, regional and international development organisations and donors; 
• Fluency in English is mandatory and a functional grasp of French and Portuguese will be an advantage;
• Be a national of a SADC member state.

Women are encouraged to apply.

Salary: A competitive salary will be offered.

To apply, submit a CV and motivation letter to ccardesa_apply@fara-africa.org or post to Chairman, CCARDESA Executive Director Search Committee, c/o CCARDESA, Private Bag 0095, Gaborone.

Please quote the source of this advertisement in your application - NGO Pulse Portal.

Enquiries: CCARDESA Secretariat, Dr. Patrick Tawonezvi, E-mail: ptawonezvi@sadc.int.

For more information and Terms of reference, refer to www.fara-africa.org.

Receipt of applications sent by email shall be acknowledged promptly by an auto-reply, and if not applicants are advised to send a hard copy by courier.

For more about the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa, refer to www.sadc.int.

For other vacancies in the NGO sector, refer to www.ngopulse.org/vacancies.

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Support the work of SANGONeT and four other NGOs at the forefront of development and community involvement in South Africa, including the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), Starfish Greathearts Foundation and SCORE. Please make a donation to the 2011 SANGONeT "No Pain No Gain" fundraising campaign before 30 November 2011, and encourage others to do the same. Refer to www.ngopulse.org/npng.