Agribusiness Advisor in Iringa at Rikolto
Rikolto
Rikolto in East Africa (formerly known as VECO) is part of the Rikolto network, an international NGO with more than 40 years of experience in partnering with farmer organisations and food chain actors across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Rikolto aims to contribute to the development of a dynamic, sustainable and inclusive agricultural sector with family farmers providing quality produce for own consumption and for diverse markets (national, regional and international markets). In its programme in Tanzania, Rikolto currently is implementing a food system programme in three regions of Northern Tanzania targeting three crops namely Rice, Horticulture and Pulses.
Rikolto in Tanzania has secured funding from the European Union for the implementation of its four years project named as ‘Building Inclusive and Competitive Horticulture Businesses in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands’. The project aims at improving directly livelihoods of 30,000 smallholder farmers and 500 off-takers, with ultimate goal of improving the performance of Tanzania’s horticulture sector, the inclusion of smallholder farmers in it, and its contribution to job creation and nutrition security in five regions of the southern highlands (Iringa, Njombe, Mbeya, Songwe and Katavi) through targeted interventions. The project will address mainly four systemic constraints in the horticulture sector which include: Poor access to sustainable business development services; poor margins for value chain actors due to high transaction costs; Weak sector governance and coordination mechanisms; and high level of malnutrition in the selected regions.
Job purpose
To enhance the inclusion of smallholder farmers in durable and fair-trading relationships with private companies in national, regional and export markets for horticulture and enhance structural changes to improve competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
Reports to: Food Smart Cities Cluster Coordinator
Geographic scope: Country Regional Level
Rikolto Grade: BG-9-DPM: Programme Officer
Contract Duration: 3 years renewable
Duty Station: Iringa
Responsibilities
- Plan, implement, monitor and adjust innovation/change pathways in inclusive business models in the horticulture chains
- Plan, coordinate, implement and monitor actions leading to set structural changes for inclusion of smallholder farmers at national level
- Develop, strengthen and support business linkages between Farmer Business Organisations (FBOs) and private companies
- Strengthen the entrepreneurial attitude, skills and capacities of Farmer Business Organisations
- Provide strategic and technical guidance to FBOs ensuring their inclusion in the chains
- Design, test, and validate change/innovations in the linked business models
- Monitor and document the change/innovations processes in the business models, the changes in behavior at the level of the involved FBOs and companies, and the results of these in terms of improved small-holder livelihoods, and draw lessons
- Document and translate the outcomes of the pilots as evidence for achieving structural changes and upscaling at national level
- Coordinate/implement the actions of/with the various partners in the achievement of the structural change agendas
- Build up a close relationship with private companies interested in sustainable sourcing from smallholder farmers
- Network with other organizations that have a stake in the structural change agendas
- Analyse and document the changing national context in relation to the business environment, the value chain, the market
- Provide information, analysis, lessons learned to allow programme management to readjust its programmes
- Collaborate and work closely with M&E specialist to collect and synthesize all programme data and report accordingly
- Develop plans, budgets and monitors expenditure of both Rikolto and partners in area of jurisdiction
Expected Outputs
- Innovative pilots that contribute to the desired planned structural changes and business models
- Strong business linkages between FBOs and private companies
- Strong entrepreneurial attitude, skills and capacities of FBOs
- High quality analysis of trends and opportunities in relation to the business environment
- Strong network and coordination with partners and key stakeholders
- Significant and sustainable benefits for farmers working in the pilots
- Effective learning processes which lead to improvements in programme design
- Effective multi-stakeholder platforms which strengthen smallholder farmer voice
- Meticulous documentation and translation of the outcomes of the pilots
Education and Experience
- Master’s Degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Economics, Business or Cooperative development.
- At least 5 years in Horticulture or high value crops value chain development, working with a variety of stakeholders.
Knowledge and Skills
- Strategic thinker who is able to see problems from different angles
- Results orientated
- Communicates clearly in a variety of settings and styles and has good networking skills
- In-depth understanding of value chains development approaches including gender empowerment approaches.
- Knowledge and good understanding of food safety standards, certifications and quality management systems
- In-depth understanding and development of sustainable non-financial (BDS development) and financial services including market information systems
- Vast experience working with FBOs and facilitation of collective action (including marketing where necessary)
- Proven track record of developing FBO or SME business models and business plans
- Good understanding of sustainability environment issues and is ability to interpret the information to stakeholders
- Understands national, regional and global market dynamics of high value crops and grains
- Good computer operation Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- Good proficiency in English (speaking and writing)
- Licensed and able to drive a manual car
Competitive salary and benefits package are available for those candidates who show the desire, commitment and skills to change the way in which our food is produced, traded, sold and consumed.
How to Apply
!! Please submit your application by 6th March 2020, to eastafrica@rikolto.org. Clearly indicate that you are applying for the Agribusiness Advisor position in Iringa.
The post Agribusiness Advisor in Iringa at Rikolto appeared first on Ajira - Nafasi za kazi Tanzania 2019.
source http://ajira-nafasizakazitz.com/12102/
