 VSO needs your skills…An agricultural statistician at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Sierra Leone What's the context and purpose of the role? Sierra Leone is one place from the bottom of the global Human Development Index. A little over 40% of the population is younger than 15 years, with young people among the poorest and most marginalised. Livelihoods are a critical issue in Sierra Leone with unemployment around 50%. You'll be working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) where your skills and experience will provide much needed support to colleagues in the area of the statistics and data analysis. MAFFS formulates government policies that regulate the agriculture sector. This placement is therefore key in allowing VSO and its local partners to leverage the MAFFS policy process in favour of poor men and women in the agriculture sector. By enabling MAFFS to set up systems for the collection, collation and processing of agricultural data, you'll improve their policy planning and market assessments. You'll work with MAFFS to better understand the opportunities for exports and imports within the agriculture sector. By building your colleagues' technical skills, you'll ensure that the Ministry is better resourced to provide to analyse agricultural data needed to develop their policies and programmes. What does the role involve?
You'll be educated to degree level in agriculture, rural engineering or a related field. You'll need at least 5 years' work experience where you'll have developed strong technical expertise in working with data collection and analysis. You'll have experience of working with policy development and have knowledge of GIS and developing computer programmes. In addition you'll be comfortable working with participatory approaches and have excellent communication skills. Patience, self-assurance, flexibility and a good sense of humour are important qualities in all VSO volunteers. You'll need to get used to living and working in a new culture with limited resources and facilities, adaptability is an essential requirement. And the rest… You'll be living and working in Freetown the capital of Sierra Leone. There is a large expatriate community in Freetown and you'll find most foods available. Fruits (bananas, seasonal mangoes, oranges, pineapple, watermelon, grapefruit) and vegetables (pepper, potatoes, eggplants, cabbages, cassava, carrots, avocado etc) are available at the local markets. A lot of traders also carry goods for sale (bread, fresh and dried fish, vegetables etc) around commercial and residential areas. We'll ask you to commit to 12-24 months to make a sustainable contribution to our development goals. In return, we'll give you comprehensive financial, personal and professional support. We'll provide you with extensive training before your placement, and our financial package includes a local living allowance, return flights, accommodation, insurance and more. When you return to your home country, we'll help you to resettle and many of our returned volunteers stay involved with us long after their placement ends. Applications Please send your CV to Hannah Gilman at hannah.gilman@vso.org.uk quoting 'earthworks'For more information about VSO please visit www.vso.org.uk or call 020 8780 7500 |
