Sustainable NTFP Specialist

Job Title:           Sustainable NTFP Specialist
Project:             USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project
Reports to:        Deputy Chief of Party cum Enterprise Development Director
Location:           Hanoi
Date:                 November 2021

DAI Organization and Values

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Overview of the Position:

The Vietnam Sustainable Forest Management Activity (SFMA) is working with the Government of Vietnam (GVN) to reduce carbon emissions associated with deforestation, the degradation of natural forests, and poor plantation management. SFMA is implementing a “Green Prosperity” approach that strengthens local communities’ ability to protect their natural resource base and reduce emissions while building a strong foundation for sustainable livelihoods and equitable economic growth.

SFMA is working in seven provinces and focus on five activities:

• Strengthening community forest management;
• Promoting conservation-friendly enterprises;
• Improving law enforcement to tackle environmental crimes;
• Enhancing the management of production forests; and
• Mobilizing domestic resources.

This position will contribute to meeting SFMA Objective 2 to “Increase conservation-friendly enterprises in forest-dependent communities” and, Objective 4 to “Improve production forest management practices”. The Specialist will concentrate on defining and development of viable non-timber forest products (NTFP) value chains while ensuring that the supply is from legal and sustainable sources, strengthening the value chain participants up to selling NTFP products to local and domestic markets, aiming overall to diversify and increase smallholder income through the sustainably management of target NTFPs.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Serve as SFMA Project’s resident expert on NTFP value chain development and guidance on SFMA support and implementation;
• Identify and propose prioritization of viable NTFP value chains with high potential for sustainable development to guide SFMA support in participating provinces considering criteria of financial viability, competitiveness, potential for scaling up/ economies of scale, benefit sharing impact, potential to strengthen the timber value chain, green-house reduction potential, level of participation interest by producers, operational efficiencies and other;
• Coordinate with GVN institutions and participating producers to foster the development of sustainable management plans for NTFPs to be promoted by SFMA, aiming to ensure the long-term ecological viability of NTFPs being harvested, that management systems are designed and implemented according to each class of NTFP;
• Develop practical field manual incorporating specific performance indicators and verifiers and to monitor each target NTFP class being promoted covering best sustainable management practices including but not limited to a) Basic scientific / practical knowledge by NTFP ; b) Minimum diameter or age to start and finish sustainable harvesting; and c) Harvesting techniques: best harvesting practices;
• Coordinate assistance and capture lessons learned from previous and existing projects and initiatives in NTFPs;
• Analyze NTFPs unmet consumer demand and understand key end-market needs as well as identify NTFPs gaps in local producers’ ability to respond to market demand;
• Provide technical assistance on business development planning, organizing, implementing, monitoring, evaluation and reporting to potential conservation friendly enterprises who are partners of the SFMA;
• Analyze linkages between NTFPs, PFES, timber value chains and behavior change in forest users from communities and producers;
• Develop user friendly tools and training materials on NTFPs;
• Provide training on NTFPs to Project staff and participants;
• Provide technical supervision of short-term technical assistance individuals and/or consulting firms hired by SFMA;
• Contribute to addressing the identified gaps in gender equity and social inclusion and social behavior change communications, leading to achieving the SFMA’s goals;
• Produce reports as required by SFMA;
• Others related.

Qualifications:

• Masters or engineering degree in natural resource management, business administration, marketing or related field and preferably with emphasis on NTFPs value chain development, small producer levels;
• At least 5 years of experience in related to NTFP activities related to natural forests and afforestation activities;
• Proficient in report writing, MS suite;
• Proficiency in English, both spoken and written level 4 out of 5. Native fluency in Vietnamese.

How to apply and requested documents

Interested candidates are requested to submit:

• A CV in English
• A cover letter in English indicating why they are suitable for this position
• Scanned copy of related degrees

to our recruitment email at [email protected]. Please quote the position title in the subject line: “Candidate’s full name _ Sustainable NTFP Specialist”

Deadline for application: 5.00pm (Hanoi time), November 08, 2021

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