AGRA

Job Reference: (IDD/CASAR/07/2023)

About AGRA 

AGRA and its Work

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 transformation. 
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 incomes. 
3. Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irrigation. 
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 reinvestment.

AGRA’s 2030 Strategy

The continent has, in recent years, taken steps towards inclusive agricultural transformation resulting in notable improvements in food security, with clear progress across all AGRA’s focus countries. However, with over 20% of Africans still suffering from hunger, we need to accelerate our progress and mitigate against the growing external pressures of conflict and climate on our food systems.

AGRA 2022-2030 Strategic Framework (SF2030) demonstrates our long-term vision for how we intend to contribute to, and align with, global and continental priorities, applying a food systems lens towards the goals of zero hunger, improved nutrition, an end to poverty, and climate adaptation. We have split our Strategic Framework 2030 into two 5-year strategies so that we have a clear mid-way point to evaluate progress and re-route our strategic focus if necessary. Our 2023-2027 Strategic Plan sets out to catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa by influencing and leveraging partners to build a robust enabling environment where the private sector thrives, and smallholders are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food.

AGRA’s Vision

To contribute to a food system-inspired inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa, to reduce hunger, improve nutrition, and adapt to climate.

AGRA’s Mission

To catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa by influencing and leveraging partners to build a robust enabling environment where private sector thrives, and smallholder farmers are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food.

AGRA’s Strategy

• Empowering and building the resilience of small holder farmers
• Supporting the development of inclusive markets and finance to strengthen agricultural systems.
• Strengthening state capability to sustain agricultural transformation.

Implementing Our New Strategy Through People

AGRA is at the threshold of a new chapter where we begin implementing our new strategy of catalyzing inclusive, resilient and sustainable agricultural transformation. At AGRA we believe Agriculture is the single greatest opportunity to deliver inclusive economic growth, jobs, and health to the African continent.

People are the heart of our organisation and remain the true drivers of our delivery and our impact.

We are excited about a new fit-for-purpose organizational structure that is largely driven by an ambition to enhance collaboration across teams and drive sustainable growth. We have therefore purposed more focus on delivery of country programs within the new strategy giving even greater attention to optimizing existing talent in addition to upscaling technical and operational resources. 

We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the continent combined with an inclusive and diverse workforce from over 24 nationalities. Our values of (I-RISE; Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship and Equity) espouse our commitment to a call to action to go beyond ourselves as we arise and transform Africa’s Agriculture.

We are looking for people who are passionate about Africa, curious and collaborative to join our innovative, growing, and multidisciplinary team. Together, we can grow Africa’s food systems improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Want to join us?

The Opportunity

Specialist, Input Distribution & Agrodealer Development. Job Reference: (IDD/CASAR/07/2023)

Role Purpose

The Specialist, Input Distribution & Agrodealer Development will be responsible for the developing context-specific extension and capacity building needs of countries and farming systems, ensure appropriate delivery models are employed, strengthen the extension capacity of ministries in target countries and inject new technologies and practices to extension systems as appropriate. She/he will be also responsible in identification, award, management and supervision of grants with the objective of building human and institutional capacity by identifying training needs, recommending individuals for graduate and post-graduate training in crop, soils and water management  as well as identifying infrastructural  and curriculum needs of national research and educational institutions with the aim of equipping appropriate tools, methods and innovations, with focus on enhancing resilience technologies and practices.

Role Summary

S/he will work closely with other colleagues in the area of sustainable farming, extension and capacity building to ensure a context-specific last mile delivery system and continuum of learning and utilization of productivity-enhancing inputs and technologies among smallholder farmers.  

Key Measures of Performance

• Reaching number of farmers with quality extension services.
• Ability to support national and regional institutions to employ successful last mile delivery.
• Grant support provided to national research institutes, universities and colleges to undertake problem-solving research.
• Successful implementation and Monitoring and Evaluation of awarded grants.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose – Innovate

• Integrate demand-based last mile delivery system in AGRA target countries.
• Targeted capacity building of last mile delivery professionals and their respective institutions.
• Identifies opportunities for grant support to support input delivery and extension systems on productivity enhancing and resilience technologies and practices.
• Identifies opportunities for providing grant support to national research institutes, universities and colleges to undertake problem-solving research.
• Supports partners in training extension staff, and in being engaged proactively in providing technical backstopping in projects that aim at wide-scale dissemination of sustainable farming practices.
• Identifies opportunities to improve the networking of seed specialists, soil scientists, agronomists and other researchers in Africa that are engaged in the process of creating new or adapting existing agricultural technologies across sub-Sahara Africa (SSA.

Engagement – Advocate

• Promote integrated crop, soil, water and nutrient management practices for enhancing productivity and resilience. 
• Identifies and builds strategic partnerships with research and development agencies that are concerned with strengthening the training and research of agricultural technologies at national universities.  
• Facilitate platforms for joint learning and cross-country flow of technology and knowledge. 
• Networks closely with the other AGRA programs and units to contribute to the development of knowledge products that are focused on strengthening Africa’s capacity to build human and institutional capacity for sustainable agricultural production and productivity. 
• Enables talent management and development of existing staff, acquiring of new staff as necessary and manages team dynamics to ensure high-performance and positive employee experience.
• Communicates results through presentations, written and verbal communication.

Delivery – Define the Project Cycle

• Adopt and institutionalize proven last mile delivery models to reach farmers.
• Initiates the contracting of grantees, and follow-up on implementation of activities.
• Contributes to overall AGRA vision and mission through effective engagement in program integration processes, working with other AGRA programs in designing joint projects that demonstrate the benefits of implementing joint program investments.
• Provides supervisory oversight, monitoring and evaluation of awarded grants to ensure that targets and milestones set are achieved. This entails visiting grantees periodically, reviewing progress against the Projects Implementation Plans, and determining what quality assurance measures are needed to achieve the desired goals and outcomes.
• Devises and documents success stories emerging from the training institutions and investments through output of various reports –publications, AGRA newsletter, success stories, articles on AGRA website, status reports.

Model the IRISE Values & Be a Culture Carrier

• Integrity: Uphold moral convictions and always doing the right thing.
• Respect: Value differences and embrace diversity and inclusion.
• Innovation: Strive for excellence and embracing continuous improvement, bold creativity, and change.
• Stewardship: Be responsible for actions undertaken and resources entrusted.
• Equity: Be governed by fairness in all undertakings.

Requirements

Academic and Professional Qualifications

• An MSc or PhD degree in Agricultural extension, agricultural Economics, Soil Science, Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development or equivalent.
• Fluency in English required, knowledge of French and/or Portuguese is an added advantage.

Required Skills/Abilities

• Good knowledge on issues pertaining to agricultural extension. 
• Demonstrate ability to supervise students and to design courses for short term training.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills with the ability to work both with autonomy and with a team in diverse cultural contexts.
• Hands on experience on African farming systems and working relationships with Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.
• Extensive experience in working with farmers and their institutions.

Relevant Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of Extensive experience in last mile delivery systems, and capacity building research and development institutions in Africa.
• Extensive experience in capacity building, research and development and teaching at university level is an advantage.

Key Competencies

• Achieving Results: Shows determination to achieve goals over time; resists any pressure to be deflected from this attainment; Prepares to challenge others and address poor performance where this is impacting on effective service delivery; Takes calculated risks, based on learning and experience, to achieve longer-term service improvements.

• • Managing & Sharing Knowledge: Encourages knowledge-sharing across units/departments and ensures that knowledge is captured, recorded and disseminated appropriately; Demonstrates individual responsibility for defining and delivering on the organization’s priorities; Takes others’ perspectives into account when communicating, negotiating or presenting arguments; Keeps teams informed of decisions and directives of senior management and communicates them in a manner that ensures understanding and acceptance.

• Accountability:  Proactively seeks responsibility in delivering towards the goals of the organization with appropriate stakeholders; Plans and organizes work with a clear and deliberate focus, ensuring commitments are easily identified and progress is widely communicated; Stands by the actions of team or department, publicly accepting ownership; Takes responsibility of own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

• Diversity & Inclusion: Takes every opportunity to ensure that project teams and work groups are diverse; Encourages and capitalizes on the diverse contributions and strengths of team members; Practices inclusive behaviours in groups and intervenes with sensitivity when exclusionary behaviours occur; Encourages innovation and creativity in the workplace; Embraces diversity as a resource to benefit the organization and its members; Supports systems, procedures and practices which promote diversity in the workplace; Leverages the benefits differences can add.
• Adaptability: Publicly supports and adapts to major/fundamental changes that show promise of improving established ways of operating; Seeks opportunities for change in order to achieve improvement in work processes, systems, etc.; Maintains composure and shows self-control in the face of challenges and change; Adapts to new ideas and initiatives across a wide variety of issues or situations; Shifts priorities, changes style and responds with new approaches as needed to deal with new or changing demands.
• Stakeholder Focus/Partnerships: Tracks trends and developments that will affect own organization’s ability to meet current and future stakeholder needs; Identifies benefits for stakeholders; looks for ways to add value; Seeks out and involves clients or prospective stakeholders in assessing services, solutions or products to identify ways to improve; Establishes service standards and develops strategies to ensure staff meet them; Creates stakeholder-centric processes for others to use; that are relevant and efficient; Networking – Ability to establish mutually beneficial relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Teamwork: Fosters a sense of team spirit by developing a shared understanding, accountability and enthusiasm for the team’s work; Displays a high level of cultural awareness, sensitivity to different ways of working and leverages individual’s strengths in order to build a better team; Shares credit for team accomplishments and ensures that the contribution of others is recognized; Helps created a positive team spirit, putting aside personal considerations to help the team achieve its goals.

Terms of Appointment

3 Years Fixed Term (Consideration for renewal will be made subject to AGRA’s needs, available funding and performance).

Location

Based in Nairobi, Kenya.

How to Apply

If you believe you are the right candidate for this position, kindly submit your application with a detailed CV (including your e-mail address and telephone contacts to recruit@agra.org noting to quote the job reference number in the subject of your email)

To be considered, applications must be received on or before Monday 18th September 2023.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer