Data Platform Management Expert - SNV Ghana

SNV Netherlands Development is a not-for-profit international development organization that has built a long-term local presence in 38 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin-America. SNV Ghana implements projects to improve individual lives and contributes to solving global challenges in the areas of Agriculture, Energy, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene. SNV’s implementation approach focuses on developing innovative solutions to alleviate poverty through sustainable and locally-led development.

Job Description

Terms of Reference for the Engagement of Data Platform and GIS-based NRM Experts

INTRODUCTION

SNV Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) has been in Ghana since 1992 with an extensive experience in the development of inclusive agricultural value chains. SNV has been implementing series of projects in the land use and cocoa value chain sectors towards finding a balance in resource use in forests and agricultural landscape interfaces and ensuring sustainable use of production of forest risk commodities with particular focus on cocoa value chain in the Western North region.

Shaded cocoa agroforestry systems project (SCAFS); and Operationalising National Requirement for Result based Payment from REDD+ (REDD+ Safeguards project) with funding support from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU); and Collaborative Learning for Climate Smart Cocoa (CLCSC) with funding support from Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Key components of these projects include identifying deforestation hotspots and associated drivers, monitoring land use dynamics within the project landscape including cocoa driven deforestation and land cover enhancement activities. In addition, longitudinal smallholder farmer data is being collected to track effects of interventions such as promotion of good agricultural practices, cocoa agroforestry systems, farm inputs schemes on both smallholder farms and land use dynamics in the project landscape.

In order to meet its monitoring requirements, SNV is seeking suitably qualified experts to be engaged under a framework agreement for its database and maps production, including meeting the periodic data collection and assessment needs of selected projects. 

OBJECTIVES

Establish a framework agreement with qualified experts to support the development and management of smallholder farmers’ database; and land use land cover data collection and processing in order to operationalize deforestation and land cover enhancement monitoring in cocoa and other forest risk commodity supply chains.

SUMMARY OF TASKS 

Provides technical assistance to the development of efficient data collection systems, implementation of data collection efforts including programming data collection instruments for tablet use, data analysis and dashboard development to strengthen data utilization for continuous project improvement. Specifically, these includes:

• Review all static data collection instruments/surveys for projects, develop XLSForms and deploy unto ODK-X platform, Plan and extend other ODK-X functionality (XTable, XSurvey, XServices)
• Support project managers in the implementation of surveys including training of enumerators; 
• Support field data enumerators in data collection using ODK platform including addressing bottlenecks that compromise data quality;
• Review other internal/external data sources or allied data activities for adoption unto ODK-X platform;
• Support project managers to collate electronic data, extract, translate, conduct analysis and reporting;

Deliverables

• All static data collection instruments/surveys for project reviewed; XLSForms developed and deployed unto ODK-X platform; plan and extended to other ODK-X functionalities.
• Review all static data collection instruments/surveys for projects, develop XLSForms and deploy unto ODK-X platform, Plan and extend other ODK-X functionality (XTable, XSurvey, XServices).
• Project team supported in the implementation of surveys including training of enumerators.
• Direct support to field data enumerators in data collection using ODK platform including addressing bottlenecks that compromise data quality provided.
• All project related internal/external data sources or allied data activities aligned unto ODK-X platform.
• Project team supported to collate electronic data, extract, translate, conduct analysis and reporting.

Duration

A framework agreement for both the GIS Expert and Data Platform Expert will cover a period of one year.

Required Skills or Experience

• Master’s degree preferred in one of the following or related fields: Monitoring and Evaluation, Information Technology; GIS, Electrical engineering, Computer science
• A minimum of 3-5 years’ experience in programming data collection instruments using ODK or other survey programming tool;
• Experience designing and implementing longitudinal primary data collection
• Experience training enumerators in data collection using mobile / ICT applications
• Experience in using new resources for communications and data visualization efforts, particularly Power BI