Program Assistants

A. Background 

Established by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat, Grow Asia brings together companies, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders to develop inclusive and sustainable value chains and initiatives. At Grow Asia’s core are three goals – to increase the productivity, profitability and environmental sustainability of smallholder agriculture across the region by helping them access knowledge, technology, finance and markets. Grow Asia’s regional secretariat is based in Singapore.

Grow Asia launched and supports six locally driven Country Partnerships (CPs), in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam, which engage 520 partners and collectively support 46 locally-led Working Groups (WGs) that reach 1.8 million smallholders. We expand our impact by engaging with country-specific and international partners to deliver various local and regional programs that benefit smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia. From 2020, Grow Asia has a greater focus on empowering women smallholder farmers across our network.

Launched in March 2021, Grow Asia and Corteva Agriscience™ have created a joint initiative to progress economic empowerment of women farmers and agripreneurs in Southeast Asia. The joint initiative – called THRIVE (Train Her to Promote Resilient, Inclusive Value Chains and Economic Empowerment) - is a multi-faceted program developed in close consultation with Grow Asia and Corteva’s community partners and tailored to the specific challenges women farmers face.

THRIVE has two goals: to increase women farmers’ farm management, digital and business skills; and directly support women farmers and agripreneurs through networking events and mentorship opportunities. In this partnership, Grow Asia and Corteva will co-design and deliver trainings, business development and networking events for women farmers, farm-level influencers and agripreneurs. The partnership will also include a mentorship program that links subject matter experts among Corteva staff directly with women agripreneurs. Each activity will be designed and led by Corteva’s and Grow Asia’s in-country teams and partners to address the specific interests and needs of the women farmers in those communities.

In Vietnam, the THRIVE program will be piloted first in 08 provinces by Grow Asia’s CP team in Vietnam (the Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture in Vietnam - PSAV) and Corteva Vietnam.

B. Scope of Work

The Program Assistant(s) will be responsible for the following essential functions:

• Collaborate closely with the Grow Asia Singapore, PSAV, Corteva Vietnam field staff, and project contractors to deliver the following activities:
  • Coordinate logistics and attend trainings for women farmers on non-agronomic topics.  Trainings will be organized according to COVID-19 restrictions, and the project aims to train up to 150 farmers in total.
  • Coordinate logistics and attend up to two networking and skills-building events for women agripreneurs and women lead farmers/influencers.
  • Conduct interviews with women agripreneurs/influencers (in person or online) for publication on the GrowHer.org microsite
  • Coordinate 6-month mentorship arrangements between up to 4 pairs of women lead farmers/agripreneurs with Corteva subject matter expert staff
• Collect and report invoices from spending on the above activities
• Collaborate with PSAV to integrate gender study findings into design of training program; support design and deliver monitoring and evaluation plan for the trainings
• Support data collection during monitoring and evaluation process (pre-, post-event and training surveys and interviews)
• Collaborate and coordinate with short-term consultants who will create training curriculum and deliver to women farmers
• Attend all meetings of the project partners (Corteva, Grow Asia and PSAV)
• Support drafting and editing of project reports
• Support in-country program needs as requested by the Corteva Vietnam, PSAV or Grow Asia teams

C. Engagement Duration

The Program Assistant will be engaged full-time with Grow Asia  from September 2021 to March 2022.

Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred during the engagement will be reimbursed based on actual receipts submitted.

D. Work Arrangement

The assistant will report directly to the PSAV (virtually) and collaborate with regional teams of Corteva Vietnam. The assistant will work in Ho Chi Minh City or Can Tho City and travel locally (only when/if COVID-19 restrictions allow) to support any in-person trainings or events.

E. Qualifications

The Program Assistant will be identified based on the following qualifications:

·        Expertise working with and/or conducting research (census and/or in-depth interviews) on smallholder farmers in Vietnam

·        Experience managing and facilitating trainings and events (logistics, budget management, engaging stakeholders), experience managing events virtually a plus

·        Excellent interpersonal skills

·        Excellent communications skills, including fluent written and spoken Vietnamese and English

·        Skilled in Microsoft Office Suite products, online meeting platforms (especially Zoom)

·        Experience working on issues of gender equality or women’s economic empowerment, ideally in agri-value chains, engaging with private sector actors would be an asset

F. Application

To apply, please submit the following to PSAV at psav.office@psav-mard.org.vn and cc hieu@growasia.org no later than 31 July 2021.

•        An expression of interest indicating how the applicant meets the above qualifications

•        Resume or CV

•        Expected salary range

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