Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator

The Peace Corps is seeking a Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator in Oregon, IL, to support Jamaican rural communities in achieving sustainable livelihoods. Responsibilities include promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, enhancing agricultural productivity, and strengthening organizations. Candidates should have a degree or relevant experience in agriculture or business management. The role involves community collaboration, training, and addressing challenges posed by climate change to smallholder farmers.
Location: Oregon

Jamaica is rich in biodiversity and has multiple opportunities for Volunteers to collaborate with farmers on locally prioritized projects.

The Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator seeks to support Jamaicans in rural communities to achieve sustainable livelihoods and resilience to environmental shocks and stresses. This goal will be achieved through the following objectives:
• Increase Agricultural Diversity, Productivity, and/or Sustainability
• Increase Agriculture-based Income
• Strengthen Agricultural OrganizationsPotential activities include working alongside community partners to promote climate-smart agricultural practices, post-harvest management, basic agribusiness skills, and support organizational capacity development processes. Volunteers will work with organizations and project partners to plan and co-facilitate trainings and promote knowledge exchange on business skills needed to implement sustainable agricultural projects and income generation activities.

As the impacts of climate change become ever more evident, the social, economic, and environmental context within which smallholder farmers seek to maintain and improve their livelihood and support their families will continue to change. This will add significantly to the challenges of smallholder farming, particularly for the most disadvantaged communities. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, you will be trained to use a participatory approach and tools to identify locally determined priorities and conditions, including those related to the impacts of climate change.

As an Agriculture Volunteer, you will be trained to use this local knowledge in engaging smallholder farmers in a climate-smart approach that:
• promotes the adoption of improved, appropriate, and adaptive agricultural practices and technologies that sustainably increase productivity;
• builds and strengthens household resilience by integrating and diversifying existing and new agriculture-related income-generating opportunities;
• reduces greenhouse gas emissions attributable to ineffective and carbon-intensive farming practices and encourages adoption of agricultural practices and activities that sequester carbon.Required skills

Qualified candidates will have an expressed interest in working in agriculture and one or more of the following criteria:
• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any field; OR
• 5 years professional work experienceDesired skills

Competitive candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:
• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any business discipline
• 5 years professional experience in business management
• BA/BS in environmental/agricultural science, business or related field discipline
• Experience in commercial or small business, vegetable gardening, soil and water management, cultivation/production, sustainable agriculture, organizational capacity building.
• Academic and work experience in environmental and agricultural science, agri-business, agro-forestry, and/or environmental studies, organizational development, small business development
• Experience with organizational development and/or small business development, including project design and management
• Experience with public speaking and presentations, including facilitation of small and large groups of adults
• Strong interpersonal skillsRequired language skills

There are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position; however, Volunteers will be required to learn Patwa for successful safety, security, and integration. By the end of Pre-Service Training, Trainees will be expected to have an Intermediate Low Patwa proficiency (assessed through the Language Proficiency Interview) in order to successfully complete training.

Jamaica is a bilingual country. English (Standard Jamaican English) is the official language; however, there is also a Creole known as the Jamaican Patwa which is the language spoken throughout Jamaica, especially in rural areas. While a few Jamaicans, especially those living in urban areas, move easily between Jamaican Patwa and English, the majority speak neither of these in their pure forms.

The language and cultural training presented throughout the 27-month training continuum will help prepare Volunteers to speak and understand Jamaican Patwa and culture. This is crucial to facilitate smooth and successful integration into their community.
Living conditions

All Volunteers live in a host family setting for the duration of their service. The majority of community assignments are in rural areas, predominantly in the interior and mountainous regions of the island. The standard of living varies widely within individual communities. The most common living situations are a room in a home with a Jamaican family with access to a shared kitchen, although some Volunteers may have an independent unit near a family home.

Most Volunteers have a private bathroom, although a shared one is possible. Cellular phone coverage is available in most rural communities, but there may not be internet within the…