Project Manager

South Sudan has a population of about 12 million^[1] majority of whom are young and rural with 72 percent below the age of 30 and 83 percent living in rural areas. Conflicts disrupted the country’s development and restricted the population’s ability to engage in socioeconomic activities as access to valuable resources and basic services have been impacted. Furthermore, the aggregate effects of years of conflict displaced approximately 4.3 million people from their homes and resulted to acute food insecurity. This is compounded by the the crisis that began in April 2023 in Sudan which has had consequences on South Sudan with more returnees and refugees coming to the country. 

Beyond the high vulnerability to conflict (inter-communal violence) that has resulted in the dire humanitarian crisis, South Sudan is also affected by a wide range of concurrent climate-induced shocks and disasters like floods, drought, and locust infestations. Floods have worsened over the past years and have been affecting between 750,000 and more than one million people, forcing half of them to leave their homeland to higher grounds^[2]. The country’s fragility has resulted in the lack of infrastructures; roads, ITC, electricity, water and Irrigation infrastructure. 

The global economic backlash from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted to more than 50 percent of businesses closing and a reduction of 28-65 percent in the work force. About 68 percent of those affected are women. Small business owners in South Sudan bore the brunt of COVID-19 as livelihoods shrunk especially in the informal sector where women constitute majority of the workforce. Furthermore, 40-94 percent of businesses (depending on the sector) experienced a decrease in production/sales that impacted on trade and economic recovery.

The main problem in South Sudan’s business environment is the weak institution and state structures that has resulted to unstable institutions and a weak private sector. MSEs as has been revealed in other African countries like Kenya are a key engine for job creation and are therefore essential for South Sudan’s growth and development. Over 99 percent of firms in South Sudan fall under the MSME category and 70 percent of MSMEs are classified in the microenterprise category (firms whose size ranges between one to four employees)^[3]. One of the major obstacles for MSME growth in the country is access to finance. South Sudan currently has 26 commercial banks operating, all lending less than 50 percent of their deposits as loans. Only about 10 percent of the total loans provided by the South Sudan banking sector go to MSEs and lack of collateral is cited as one of the main reasons that banks do not extend credit to the MSEs. 

According to Findex 2021, only 5 percent of South Sudanese adults (age 15+) have a financial account – a decline from the 9% registered in 2017. Access to credit and finance is very low with only 2.63% of the population able to borrow money from a financial institution or using a mobile money account. Savings is very minimal with only 1.5% of people being able to have some form of saving in a financial institution. Financing, savings and mobile money services are still in their infancy with the latter having been introduced only in 2019 and are therefore still in developing stage, although there is potential for growth.

South Sudan has a remarkable potential for sustainable growth through agriculture. The agricultural sector plays a major role in South Sudan’s economy, accounting for 36 percent of its non-oil gross domestic production with 80 percent of households depending on cultivation as their primary source of livelihood (FAO, 2015). Of the country’s 64.7 million hectares of land, around 75 percent is suitable for agriculture and 50 percent for cultivation. Only 4 percent of the land is currently cultivated by smallholder subsistence farmers (FAO, 2015).

Although the country has a huge agricultural potential, it continues to be food insecure, import-dependent, and low in productivity. South Sudan’s agricultural sector has mostly been subsistence-based and over 95 percent of the agricultural production is rainfed. Fisheries and aquaculture resources are abundant and underutilized with fisheries production potential estimated at between 100,000 to 300,000 metric tons per year. The country is also rich in livestock, with 85 percent of South Sudanese households estimated to own one or more animals. South Sudan has a livestock population of 12 million cattle, 14 million goats, and 13 million sheep.

At least 85 percent of the country’s population live in rural areas and derive their livelihoods from agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors. Close to 80 percent of farm labor in the country is provided by women who combine this activity with their other domestic chores.  The agriculture sector employs 78 percent of the population, with 70 percent of the cooperatives in South Sudan currently engaged in the sector (cropping activities, fishery, non-timber forestry products, dairy, and agro-processing). However, there is a huge need for value addition for primary products from the agriculture sector to avoid wastage, meet the in-country demand and reduce the number of imports coming into the country. 

IFAD in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and UNDP has developed the Rural Enterprises for Agriculture Development (READ) project, a seven-year project (2023-2029) designed to respond to critical growth and development challenges confronted by smallholders in six states in South Sudan. The project will focus on supporting the development of Rural Producers’ Organizations (RPOs), Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLAs), Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) and micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

There are three interlinked and complementary components of the READ project, which will be implemented through a conflict-sensitive lens, whilst ensuring inclusion and empowerment of youth and women. The three components include: (i) Rural Producers’ Organizations’ Development; (ii) Inclusive Rural Financial Services; (iii) Policy and Regulatory Framework Development. The READ project will foster the development of the selected RPOs by promoting good governance and accountability systems vis-à-vis their constituencies; enhancing their sustainable business models and economic initiatives; and strengthening their capacity to provide services to farmers including facilitating access to financial services, technology, inputs, and markets. The project targets to improve food security, income, and resilience among approximately 27,511 households, or 162,315 people, with a focus on women, youth, and people of vulnerable groups, (mainly returnees and persons with disabilities). It will work through RPOs and RFIs, across six counties in six states, including – Northern Bahr el Ghazal (Aweil), Upper Nile (Renk), Western Equatoria (Nzara, Yambio, Maridi), Central Equatoria (Terekeka), and Eastern Equatoria (Magwi). 

As the Implementing Organization of the READ Project, UNDP is seeking to engage a Project Manager for the READ Project to be based in Juba, South Sudan to lead the implementation of the READ Project. S/he will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management for the successful execution and implementation of the project. Under the direct supervision of the Chief Programme Advisor with matrix reporting to the Team Leader, STARR unit, the Project Manager will work in close collaboration with Technical Officers, the STARR unit, UNDP country office programme units, MAFS-PCU, and national and state level partners.
 

The Project Manager (PM) will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management for the successful execution and implementation of the project. This includes the daily responsibility to manage the technical officers and state level coordinators, coordinate, and supervise the implementation of the project and the delivery of results in accordance with the project document and agreed work plans. 

The roles and responsibilities of the Project Manager will include among others the following:

• Lead the coordination of project activities in close collaboration with technical officers, Implementing Partners (IPs), and state focal points;
• Lead the preparation of annual workplans, establish priorities, timelines, targets and standards for monitoring results;
• Coordinate various components of the project by providing overall guidance and innovative solutions, seeking to improve project implementation;
• Work in close collaboration with other teams in the office, as well as, other UN agencies, Government officials, multilateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society to ensure successful project implementation;
• Enhance capacity of staff by providing technical guidance.

Ensure timely and effective project delivery and reporting:

• Provide advice and  strategic direction during project implementation; 
• In consultation with the StaRR Team Leader and the Chief Programme Advisor, manage and monitor the utilization of resources, to achieve results in line with project outputs; 
• Prepare timely progress reports including monthly and project implementation review report (PIR) containing best practices, lessons learned, success stories, beneficiaries’ stories and field observations; and case  studies; as appropriate for clearance and submission to CO management, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; 
• Support and assist in implementation of project audit.

Provide technical and policy advise: 

• Provide technical advice on the advancement of the projects target groups (RPOs, Cooperatives, VSLAs and SMEs), value-addition development in selected rural areas supported by the project;
• Analyze the socio-economic and political situation, trends, and impacts on rural cooperatives  sector development, value addition , climate change, resilience building, and agricultural management and environmental protection.

Foster partnership building and resource mobilization:

• Contribute to the development of the CO Partnership and Resource Mobilization (PRM) strategy, including planning tools to implement the strategy;
• Provide substantial support and leadership in programme and project formulation to support the development and implementation of private sector development, value chain, and agriculture management initiatives, including identification of strategic programme areas of cooperation; 
• Ensures identification and promotion of joint programming and planning opportunities;
• Identify and develop new programme and project opportunities and documents (project documents, concept notes, project proposal’s);
• Identify and maintain strong and credible working relations with Governments and  other partners in the project implementation areas;
• Perform any other responsibilities as delegated by his/her supervisor.
   

Institutional Arrangement

The Project Manager will be based mainly in the project office in Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, coordinating with technical officers and State Focal Persons working with the local authorities, partners and the communities. S/he will be reporting to the UNDP Chief Programme Advisor with matrix reporting to the Team Leader, Stabilization, Recovery, and Resilience (STARR) Unit.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Management: Project Management 

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

Business Management : Partnership Management       

• Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies

Business Direction & Strategy  System Thinking            

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system

Business Management: Monitoring       

• Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results

Planet  Nature, Climate and Energy     

• Climate Change Adaptation: agriculture/food security

Planet  Nature, Climate and Energy     

• Climate Change Adaptation: early warning