Agribusiness Market Linkages Officer – Moyo/Adjumani, Uganda 238 views0 applications

Position: Agribusiness Market Linkages Officer

Report to: RISE Project Manager

Location: Moyo/Adjumani, West Nile – Uganda

Purpose of the position:

Provide supervision and capacity building of Market Facilitators, senior-level engagement with private sector businesses including in Kampala and elsewhere in Uganda as needed. The Agribusiness Market Linkages Officer will coordinate and support linkage between farmers and the market. The coordinator will identify right market for the products of the farmers and help them set up their businesses and through mentoring focus on developing commercial capacities of the farmers towards becoming professional business entrepreneurs. He/she will discover opportunities for contract farming or linkage of farmers with BDS providers, processors and exporting companies. The coordinator will work directly and closely with the Senior Project Officer, Technical coordinator Livelihood, Project Manager and project officers, District Local Government, (District Commercial Officer and Community Development Officers), local NGOs and other stakeholders.

Major Responsibilities:

General:

• Work with buyers to clarify their specific needs and help farmers to communicate with these buyers to plan concrete and successful completion of transaction
• Work with quality input suppliers to clarify their specific procedures of procurements and help farmers to communicate with these input suppliers to plan and concrete successful completion of transaction
• Work with banks and MFIs to clarify specific requirement for loan/financial services and help farmers to communicate with these buyers to plan and concrete successful completion of transactions

Producer’s Associations:

• Find markets and buyers for commodity produced by POs
• Facilitate transactions and signing of contracts between PAs and private sector
• Support the flow of commodities to aggregation centers and develop PAs bulking systems
• Support farmers to buy and bulk inputs from licensed input suppliers
• Help PAs develop a sound business system including setting up of financial records, bulking and sales records, warehouse records and sound governance (meeting, election etc) and financial viability (revenue generating systems)
• Ensure PAs have a viable business plan
• Conduct value-chain studies for PA’s commodities and work to remove constraints to link PAs to market
• Work towards ensuring PAs have access to formal loan
• Develop sustainability plan for PAs
• Compile reports on bulking and collective sales
• Increase PAs to meet high quality and quantity products including linkage to contract farming
• Support PAs to be connected to regional or national networks
• Develop and maintain a database of key market actors that can be used to further transactions

Competitive support:

• Find market for products by the farmers including contract farming
• Increase the capacity of the farmers to adopt high value, export standard and space saving enterprises
• Provide consistent and regular business support, mentoring and follow up to enterprises including production support to ensure a successful enterprise
• Support successful business set up including setting up financial records, business plan, dividend policy and profit and loss statement
• Conduct regular scoping of business, identify gaps and take measures to fill the gaps to reduce business mortality
• Support enterprises to have access to loan to ensure expansion or diversification
• Support enterprises to have access to input
• Identify opportunities for farm based value addition of products and provide instant training to farmers

Work-planning and Reporting:

• Actively facilitate the translation of intervention strategies into action plans with concrete activities targets and timeframes
• Work closely with the Livelihood Coordinator; support the project teams to prepare realistic annual and quarterly work plan output
• Work in liaison with Livelihood Coordinator, compile and submit timely quarterly and annual reports on Local Seed Business development

Child Protection and Wellbeing

• Monitor the wellbeing and child abuse cases and report any incidents in line with child protection policy and guidelines
• Work with local leaders to protect children from child violations and abuses
• Sensitize children including most vulnerable, guardians/parents and other stakeholders about children’s rights and responsibilities.

Qualifications: Education/Knowledge/Technical Skills and Experience

• Minimum 3 years’ professional work experience in livelihood humanitarian/ development work including in displacement setting.
• Have a degree in Agribusiness, Business/Agricultural Marketing, Market Research or relevant field.
• Have experience in project managing and coordinating people from a variety of backgrounds.
• Have excellent research, data collecting, and analytical skills.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Lugbara.
• Must have proficiency in computers, email, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Have excellent time management and organizational skills; ability to prioritize and execute.
• Possess skills or openness to working with others from different cultures.
• Must be self-motivated and have the ability to work and communicate well in a team
• Have knowledge of or desire to learn about permaculture and agroecology
• Competence in agro business planning, development and profitability analysis

How to apply:

Please submit your application and complete Curriculum Vitae, to Website: https://careers.wvi.org/job-opportunities-in-uganda

Address your application to the People & Culture Specialist, Recruitment, World Vision Uganda. Deadline for receiving applications is 25th February, 2019.