Field Project Assistant

The Field Project Assistant will support the effective implementation of project activities at the district level under the US Macro Grant project in Sri Lanka. The role involves technical support, field coordination, and collaboration with stakeholders to ensure timely delivery of project outputs aimed at strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity of vulnerable farming communities.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and facilitate the implementation of project interventions targeting smallholder paddy and vegetable farmers, ensuring timely and effective delivery of project outputs in accordance with FAO procedures, donor requirements, and government guidelines.
• Support the identification, registration, verification and mobilization of eligible beneficiaries in accordance with the approved Macro Grant criteria.
• Coordinate the distribution and utilization of agricultural inputs, including fertilizer, certified seeds, short-duration paddy seed varieties, hermetic storage bags, moisture meters, plastic crates, solar-powered irrigation pumps, and other project-supported inputs, ensuring transparency, accountability, and proper documentation.
• Support field-level implementation of the IDEA digital voucher modality, including beneficiary identity/data verification, communication with registered agro-dealers, monitoring of redemption, resolution of beneficiary/vendor issues, and accurate reporting of voucher transactions and exceptions.
• Provide technical support and field-level guidance to farmers on climate-resilient and sustainable agricultural practices, including improved crop management, soil fertility management, efficient water-use technologies, integrated pest management, climate-smart agriculture, and anticipatory action measures.
• Facilitate activities related to the production of certified paddy seed by supporting seed producers to adopt recommended practices and ensure the availability of quality seed stocks for future cultivation seasons.
• Coordinate initiatives promoting Other Field Crop (OFC) cultivation and climate-resilient livelihood diversification, including supporting the adoption of solar-powered irrigation technologies and other innovative agricultural practices aimed at enhancing resilience to drought and water scarcity.
• Support the implementation of women-focused livelihood interventions, including backyard poultry activities and other income-generating opportunities designed to improve household food security, nutrition, and resilience.
• Organize and facilitate farmer awareness programmes, training sessions, demonstrations, farmer field schools, exposure visits, and community meetings aimed at strengthening knowledge and adoption of improved agricultural technologies and anticipatory action practices.
• Ensure package-specific technical support is delivered and documented.
• Liaise and coordinate regularly with District Secretariats, Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Development, Provincial and Local Authorities, Farmer Organizations, community leaders, and other stakeholders to ensure effective implementation and stakeholder engagement.
• Monitor field activities, conduct regular site visits, assess progress against project targets, identify implementation challenges, and recommend appropriate corrective actions.
• Maintain accurate beneficiary databases, field records, training reports, distribution records, monitoring data, and other project documentation required for reporting, monitoring, evaluation, and audit purposes.
• Collect, compile, analyze, and report field-level information related to agricultural production, input utilization, livelihood outcomes, climate risks, and beneficiary progress to support evidence-based decision-making and project reporting.
• Support baseline, seasonal and endline data collection and verification, including data required to assess production, income, food-security, post-harvest loss, livelihood-diversification and anticipatory-action results.
• Contribute to the preparation of periodic technical and progress reports, success stories, case studies, lessons learned, and other project-related documentation.
• Perform any other duties related to project implementation as assigned by the Lead Technical Officer, Project Management Specialist, and FAO management.

Requirements

• University degree in Agriculture, Public or Business Administration, Social Sciences or any another related discipline.
• At least 3 years of relevant experience in Programme/project/field coordination.
• Working knowledge of English and Sinhala and/or Tamil.
• National of Sri Lanka.
• FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED).

Skills

• Programme Coordination
• Project Coordination
• Field Coordination
• Stakeholder Collaboration
• Technical Support
• Agriculture Knowledge
• Public Administration
• Business Administration
• Social Sciences
• Resilience Building
• Adaptive Capacity Strengthening

Languages

English, Sinhala, Tamil