Program Management Officer – MACI Location: Lilongwe, Malawi
Job Reference: PMO/PD/MW/01/2025
AGRA and its Work to Transform Agriculture
AGRA is an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems. We do this by empowering the continent’s 33 million smallholder farming households to transform their agriculture from a struggle to survive to profitable businesses. The continent’s farmers regularly face challenges, and we aspire to provide uniquely African solutions that respond to their agricultural and environmental challenges, leading to increased harvests for reduced hunger and more income.
Working in alignment with the development priorities of our focus countries, we enable farmers to access improved and high-yielding seeds, gain knowledge on sustainable farming, and linkages to profitable markets.
In our work, we aspire to build the alliances, partnerships, and networks required to drive an inclusive agricultural transformation. We work with our partners to create an equitable youth-friendly environment that harnesses the youth dividend on the continent to drive growth and facilitate open employment opportunities for young women and men. We achieve our key objectives through a focus on the following four areas of intervention:
1. Policy and state capability – We support governments in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transforma
2. Seed systems – We trigger higher productivity by increasing the availability and access to improved seeds by farmers allowing them to increase their harvests for food security and better incom
3. Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irriga
4. Inclusive markets and trade – We work to increase the linkages between farmers, and other market actors for a positive, sustained cycle of commercialization and reinvestmen
Why Join Us?
People are the heartbeat of our organization and remain the true drivers of our delivery, impact, and success. We have cultivated a workplace that fuels Depth in Collaboration, Excellence in Execution, Constructive Engagements, and a spirit of being Increasingly Entrepreneurial; all underpinned by our cherished I-RISE Values (Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship and Equity)
We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the African continent combined with an inclusive, diverse, and talented workforce from over 25 nationalities. Our commitment to a call to action goes beyond ourselves as we arise to catalyze African Food Systems transformation and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
We are looking for people who are passionate about being part of a mission-driven team that is making a real difference on the continent; love to work on cutting edge Ag technologies; and able to grow their skills, expertise, and experience career growth, while enjoying very competitive compensation and benefits.
Are you ready to embark on this exciting transformative journey with us?
The Position
Program Management Officer – MACI Job Reference: PMO/PD/MW/01/2025
The Program Management Officer will be responsible in driving implementation of the Malawi Agricultural Cluster Initiative (MACI), a program funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.S/He will ensure efficient and high-quality delivery of the Malawi Agricultural Cluster Initiative project to engage with various public and private sector stakeholders, and development partners. With a focus on achieving impactful outcomes, the Program Management Officer will play a vital role in advancing AGRA’s mission and that of its funding partners transform the agricultural systems in Malawi.
The Program Management Officer will facilitate the cluster’s development and operation bringing together key stakeholders from the District Level up to the National level for effective coordination. They will render technical assistance for capacity strengthening and promote innovations in facilitating agricultural transformation in the region by promoting cluster participation, brokering relationships, facilitating advocacy, facilitating ongoing collaborations, learning, and monitoring and evaluation
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- Manage MACI project, including its staff and implementing partners to ensure timely delivery of results.
- Select consultants to conduct a rapid landscape mapping for each priority value chain of market anchor companies and major stakeholders highlighting opportunities for expansion, innovation, increased purchases from smallholder farmers and job creation for youth.
- Lead in the recruitment of anchor firms and bring them into the cluster – having understood their interests or role in the VCD, and ensure they are committed to invest in the development of the value chains and cluster.
- Identify and assess collaboration opportunities with potential anchor firms that can source from smallholder farmers and support them with facilitating access to quality inputs, extension services, processing facilities, and access to domestic and international markets.
- Clearly identify priority value chain opportunities and challenges that could be addressed either through industry collaboration, through collaboration with the government, through improved linkages with other private actors such as banks and digital solution providers, through collaboration with research organizations, or through collaboration with non-state actors, including both local and international organizations.
- Development of the Cluster Development Framework and Commodity Compacts that address the challenges and leverage the opportunities in the priority value chains
- Successful supervision of implementing partners through developing and implementing market-driven action plans for agro-processing, including technical assistance, capacity building, technology transfer, quality improvement, product development, certification, branding, and marketing.
- Identify and prioritize infrastructure investments and bottlenecks, such as agricultural aggregation and marketing approaches.
- With support of the Country Director, engage the government as required to support the strengthening of sector coordination in a way that it works for the job-creating and smallholder-farmer supporting private sector.
- Take lead in gathering evidence, lessons and learnings from different players/actors and disseminating these to wider stakeholders, develop feedback loop and tracking adjustments in approaches, policies, ways of working etc.
- Any other duties assigned.
Key Qualifications and Experience required:
- Essential
o A master’s degree in agriculture, agribusiness, agriculture economics, economics, international trade and marketing, food science, food technology, or related fields.
o A first-degree holder may also be considered depending on their level of expertise and experience.
- Desirable
o A minimum of 10 years of experience working with the private sector or organisations that supports agro-processing, value chain development, market systems development, and project management in the Southern Africa Region, preferably in Malawi
o Understanding of policy and institutional enabling environment crucial for success of MACI including industry regulations, standards, and compliance requirements.
o Proven skills and experience in market systems work, in conducting market and value chain analysis, in implementing market-driven action plans, and in providing technical assistance and capacity development to agro-processing stakeholders.
o Functional Competencies
o Relationship management and communications
o Stewardship of resources
o Planning & Organizing
o Stakeholders Management
Behavioral Competencies
o Ability to drive collaboration through inclusive and agile teaming, breaking siloes, sharing information celebrating joint successes.
o Ability to execute excellently by delivering high-quality work at speed, committing to decisions and plans, and increasing accountability to deliver impact at scale.
o Ability to be sincerely constructive in interactions with others by demonstrating trust, sincerity, and care, in recognition of our joint purpose.
o Ability be increasingly entrepreneurial by breaking hierarchies, embracing learning and innovation to unlock the potential of diversity and ideas.
If you believe you are the right candidate for this position, kindly submit your application with a detailed CV.
(including your e-mail and telephone contacts) to recruit@agra.org. the subject line of the application e-mail.
Please quote the job reference number in Applications must be received on or before 26th January, 2025. Due to the large volumes of applications, we usually receive, we will only be able to contact those candidates who are shortlisted.
For more information on the AGRA, visit ww w.agra.org.