Environmental and Social Development Specialist at Palladium International

Activity Overview and Role

Palladium seeks an Environmental, Social and Governance Specialist to lead the sustainability framework for the Feed the Future East Africa Market Systems Activity which is a 5-year task order under USAID’s Regional Integration and Stronger Economics (RISE) IDIQ mechanism. The Activity is designed to promote increased agricultural production, trade, improved policies, finance and investment, and resilience to shocks and stresses in the East Africa region by addressing agricultural issues that can only be solved on a regional basis. The Activity will collaborate closely with USAID/Kenya and East Africa’s regional intergovernmental partners, including the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region. The Activity is organized under four objectives: 1) Strengthening cross-border agricultural market systems, 2) Accessing and scaling technologies, 3) Strengthening regional resilience, and 4) Strengthening the regional agriculture policy and regulatory environment. The geographic area of focus includes the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Zambia.

The Environmental and Social Development Specialist is responsible for implementing the crucial cross cutting functions of the Activity, ensuring that all activities of the project are socially and environmentally sustainable and comply with the USAID Policies and Palladium Sustainable Business Practices. 

S/he will provide programmatic and technical support to the project team (technical and MEL), regional organizations partners, private sector entities, and other stakeholders on effective integration of cross cutting (environment, women and youth) considerations beyond compliance, by adding identifying opportunities to add value to the market system changes that lead to long term impact and sustainability of the east African trade. S/he will report directly to the Deputy Project Manager.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

The Environmental and Social Development Specialist will:

• Support the Deputy Project Manager to ensure that principles of environmental sustainability, gender equality and youth engagement in agriculture trade are integrated into all aspects of project cycle management,
• Support technical teams in managing, developing, maintaining, supporting and/or coordinating strategic cross cutting activities related to environmental and social inclusion in the selected value chains within or outside the value chain action plans,
• Champion the definition of steps necessary to address compliance gaps, where they arise, from the EMMP, Market System Resilience Framework and the Palladium’s Sustainable Business Policy,
• Review and follow up of environmental checklist using impact assessment tools to screen activities to ensure the funded activities result in no adverse environmental impact, to develop mitigation measures, as necessary, and to specify monitoring and their reporting,
• Ensure all project staff, grantees and partners understand applicable requirements for environmental and social inclusion, and has necessary commitment and capacity to ensure compliance, implementation and mitigation measures throughout project lifetime,
• Support the MEL Manager to track, analyze and report against Gender and Youth disaggregated data appropriately within each project objective as well as conducting the value chain environmental reviews in both quarterly and annual reports,
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree or higher in the relevant subject area(s), preferably in Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Ecological Systems, or Gender studies with a minor in environmental management is required; Master’s degree preferred
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in integrating environment, gender and social inclusion standards in project design, implementation and M&E required,
• Experience in the field of agriculture, and knowledge of environmental and social inclusion standards of USAID and best practices in their application in livestock, cereals, horticulture and legumes trade programming preferred
• Sound knowledge of USAID Environmental and GESI policies and Processes,
• Ability to work well with a range of stakeholders, including project beneficiaries, private sector, government officials, NGO’s / civil society, as well as donors/clients and their staff,
• Ability to communicate ideas clearly and confidently, articulate issues and recommend solutions,
• Ability to influence, motivate, and collaborate with others. A good team player who can work as a member of a multi-disciplinary, motivate and lead group efforts and network effectively across boundaries,
• Experience in the agriculture market development and agriculture trade in the east Africa region strongly preferred,
• Strong preference for East African citizens.