Vacancy for Crop Delivery Officer at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

 Employment Nigeria 17-Jan-2018 ABUJA , Agriculture  


POSITION : Crop Delivery Officer

Requirements

  • A Master's degree in Business Administration, Economics, Agriculture, International Development or related discipline with at least Four (4) years’ work experience in activities related to agricultural commodities and rural development
  • Proven knowledge of agricultural value chain players (especially cassava, maize, millet, sorghum, rice) and support service institutions in Nigeria
  • Good understanding and interest in how markets and value chains work
  • Strong project management expertise, exposure to implementing technical assistance projects, and ability to bring together sector stakeholders
  • High degree of motivation, initiative, independence, reliability, adaptability, and professional maturity
  • Strong commitment to gender sensitive, pro-poor development work and an ability to work in a multi-disciplinary and multi-national team
  • Strong interpersonal/people management skills and excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Excellent problem solving, analytical skills, networking and relationship-building skills
  • Good working experience with DFID, BMGF and USAID funded programs
  • Experience in working in Northern Nigeria and fluency in Hausa language are added advantage

Responsibilities:

Technical Oversight:

  • Develop intervention strategies and implementation procedures in a participatory manner with key stakeholders
  • Formulate strategies to develop service markets in commodity chains/rural markets and seek opportunities to work as per sector strategy
  • Lead the effort to conduct desk research of existing information and produce a detailed market and stakeholder analysis that broadly defines the impact, demand and feasibility for a range of possible interventions
  • Define in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and potential partner organisations the scope of implementation activities and where applicable negotiates a formal agreement
  • Formulate strategic and technical direction for the delivery of biofortified seed in Northern Nigeria and other participating West African countries
  • Establish, maintain and strengthen relationships for mainstreaming of biofortified crops in ongoing programmes with collaborating partners, which includes development partners/INGO’s, government officials and the private sector
  • Provide programmatic and technical expertise to partner organisations including commercial companies in the development of viable biofort agribusiness clusters
  • Take part in facilitating and managing the work of partners, facilitators and service providers ensuring value for money for the tasks given
  • Undertake regular field visits to ensure proper implementation of activities in line with programme objectives and goals
  • Represent the programme in events, meetings as assigned, displaying courtesy, tact, consideration and discretion in all interactions with partners, other members of the programme, and with the public

Seed Systems:

  • Liaise with seed companies licensed to produce and sell biofortified seeds. Collaborate with the Regional Seed System Specialist in the bulking of parent seeds/lines of leads entered for National Variety Trials
  • Set up trials to monitor and ensure certified seed purity and viability
  • Work with partners and technically support the laying out of demonstration plots and conduct field days to promote biofortified maize in Nigeria
  • Build capacities of both private and public-sector partners in the seed system (including small/medium scale seed companies, CBOs and NGOs) through development of training modules for seed production, seed multiplication, seed business management and marketing
  • Provide technical expertise for HarvestPlus Nigeria and other West African projects in promoting community based seed entrepreneurship in their respective countries
  • Plan, organise and implement seed production and commercialization plans, including in-bred lines maintenance, production of breeders, pre-basic and basic seeds of parental lines for increased commercial seed production
  • Facilitate the commercial production of biofortified seed by licensed seed companies
  • Inspect fields under production by seed companies to ensure adherence to certification standards
  • Engage with private sector and community based seed producers in developing a sustainable market for seed and monitor the production of high quality seeds for production

Market creation/linkages, delivery and promotion:

  • Build capacities of partner companies and organisations on contract farming/out-grower management and aggregation/off-take of biofortified crops
  • Provide technical content and support the development of training materials on Good Agronomic Practices including pest management, extension training delivery, post-harvest handling and processing, to support value chain actors
  • Establish and manage model villages to become evidence based villages for biofortification
  • Define and analyse systems that are of major importance in developing the markets for biofortified seeds, crops and foods
  • Identify the value chain and core transactions, key rules & supporting functions, and assess key constraints
  • Monitor biofortified crops and food value chains to identify market failures and pressure points, and ways to make the chain more functional and efficient
  • Facilitate the establishment and strengthening of seed sales outlets to ensure increased farmer access to biofortified seeds
  • Create and strengthen market linkages for biofortified crops and foods; bridge the gap between demand and supply; promote the availability, accessibility and affordability of biofortified crops and foods

Value Chain monitoring and Data Collection:

  • Work with the MELA Specialist to regularly review scope and targets for operational planning in alignment with the program Theory of Change (ToC), monitoring framework, results pathway and indicators
  • Participate in results measurements including baseline studies, periodic evaluative studies and impact assessments
  • Continually monitor and evaluate intervention activities - inputs and outputs, taking actions to correct course as necessary, and produce activity reports that supports decision making
  • Perform other duties assigned by the Country Manager.
  • Carry out regular assessment of biofortified crops and foods value chain including market development opportunities, market prices, demand and supply interactions
  • Work with the MELA Specialist to design and implement a robust data collection plan covering all value chain activities and actors including monitoring of market price, product quality, demand and supply linkages and differentials

Remuneration :  Competitive salary with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.



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