Veterinarians Without Borders has an open Agronomist Advisor volunteer position with our partner, Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy Limited, in Kenya
Download Volunteer Placement Description PDFVolunteer Placement Details
Position Title: Agronomist Advisor
Country: Kenya
Location: Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri County
Partner Organization: Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy Limited
Duration: 3 months (flexible)
Start Date: As soon as possible
Pre-departure Training: VWB/VSF will provide training orientation.
Eligibility: Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada only
Language: English (essential)
Academic Requirements: Degree and/or relevant experience in agronomy, dairy feeds processing or a related field
Fundraising: VWB/VSF encourages each volunteer to raise funds towards the organization’s operations.
Volunteer Support Package
VWB offers you an incredible experience to take part in an international volunteer experience where you will expand your personal and professional skills while contributing to global development. VWB commits to supporting you throughout your volunteer journey and will cover the majority of the costs involved in being an overseas volunteer, including:
- Return airfare to placement country
- Pre-departure training
- In-country orientation upon arrival in country of placement
- Return airfare to placement country
- Visa/permit costs
- The cost of required for vaccinations and anti-malarial medication
- Overseas emergency travel health insurance
- A monthly living allowance (MLA) that will be paid into the volunteer’s bank account in Canada. The MLA is designed to be sufficient to cover simple housing, basic food requirements, and other typical monthly living expenses.
- Debrief after the placement
Placement Goals and Objectives
As the Agronomist Advisor based in Nyeri, Kenya you will support Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy Limited to lead trainings and build staff capacity on feed/fodder production and preservation and other best practices linked to increased milk production and quality.
As part of your role you will:
- Assist in developing a curriculum, training module and resource materials on fodder production relevant to the local context and area
- Support in the design and implementation of demonstration plots for innovative fodder crops and agronomic practices
- Share best practices and provide technical support in fodder crop production and preservation
- Build capacity of staff members by training them on areas such as improved approaches to production, harvesting, processing and storage techniques of both
new and existing fodder crops (legume, non-legume and fodder trees) in line with the local context - Promote gender equality by encouraging information sharing within the household level.
- Ensure an environmental and sustainability climate action lens is applied throughout the placement by promoting proper management of animal waste (manure management).
- Promote good governance practices by encouraging staff to measure their performance in delivery of trainings to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
- Participate in pre-assignment training
- Submit reports as required by the partner organization and by VWB
Required Experience and Skills
- Degree and/or relevant experience in agronomy, dairy feeds processing or a related field
- Minimum two (2) years relevant professional experience in your field of expertise
- A commitment to gender equality, One Health principles, and international volunteering
- Flexibility, adaptability, excellent interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity
- Experience with group facilitation and trainings, including content development considered an asset
- Experience living and working internationally considered an asset
Working Conditions
- Handling large animals
- Should be comfortable being driven on gravel/murram roads.
- Lifting and carrying light weight items related to animal health practice
Our Commitment
Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontière is an equal opportunity employer and values the diversity of our team.
We are committed to inclusive and equitable employment practices and strive to create a workplace that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion. VWB/VSF Canada welcomes applications from all qualified candidates, including members of racialized groups, Indigenous peoples, women, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity.
Please let us know if you require an accommodation and we will work with you to ensure an equitable hiring process. Thank you for your interest in VWB/VSF Canada.
Safeguarding Policy
Veterinarians Without Borders works for, and with, communities in need to foster the health of animals, people and the environments that sustain us. In order to create equitable, sustainable development around the globe, the work of our staff, volunteers, and partners must align with our organizational values. Through our programs, VWB promotes respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we have a zero tolerance policy for any harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any kind. Successful volunteer applicants will be required to follow our Volunteer Code of Conduct and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Volunteers will also be required to submit a criminal record check.
VWB is a signatory to the Cooperation Canada Leaders’ Pledge on Preventing and Addressing Sexual Misconduct. The pledge represents the shared commitment as Canada’s global development and humanitarian leaders to ensure the full implementation of practices and policies that will protect and respond to our own staff, volunteers and the communities we serve. We are committed to creating safe and respectful workplaces and programs that promote gender equality and are free from gender-based violence, including by addressing and responding to all abuse of power, holding people to account, and protecting the vulnerable. Read the full pledge.
About the Project: VETS
Volunteers Engaged in Gender Responsive Technical Solutions (VETS), funded through the Volunteer Cooperation Program at Global Affairs Canada, will engage 190 volunteers to work with local partner organizations in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Volunteers will help create integrated animal health systems to increase the livelihoods and household nutrition of small-scale farmers. The VETS program utilizes the skills of volunteers to build local partner capacity to support community members, primarily women, to reduce poverty. Through improved production of livestock and crops, volunteers help improve family income and nutrition.
The VETS program is built around the One Health concept, which recognizes that the health of people, animals, and the natural environment are interconnected. This project promotes the production of more and better food and increased incomes from livestock, all the while promoting land rehabilitation and conservation for sustainable development.
About Veterinarians Without Borders
In the global south, more than 90 percent of food animals are raised by subsistence farmers. However, small-scale livestock producers, the majority of whom are women, have very limited access to quality and affordable animal health services.
Aside from the risks associated with the loss of valuable livestock that provides important protein and/or income for low-income households, zoonotic diseases that can be passed from animals to humans offer a very real threat to human health on a wider scale.
Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires sans frontières (VWB/VSF) works for and with communities in need to foster the health of animals, people, and the environments that sustain us. VWB/VSF works nationally and internationally to train animal health workers, increase food security, and improve animal and public health.
VWB/VSF provides overseas volunteer placements for veterinarians and other animal and public health professionals.
