Vacancy Announcement
ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY
Position: Regional Project Officer II – Cooperative Based Seed Production
Term of Employment: One year with possibility of extension
Duty Station (s): Oromia (Addis Ababa)
Required Number: One
Salary & Benefits: Competitive
Application Deadline: November 28, 2019
BACKGROUND:
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) is a strategy and delivery-oriented government agency created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of the country’s agriculture sector. The ATA envisions that, by 2025, smallholder farmers are commercialized with greater incomes, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability, contributing to Ethiopia’s achievement of middle-income country status.
The agency focuses on two primary national approaches to catalyze agricultural transformation. First, we support the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoA), its affiliate institutions, and other partners to identify and address systemic bottlenecks within an Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Second, we support Regional Governments to accelerate development of high-priority commodity value chains in clearly defined geographic clusters, through the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) Initiative.
Our major activities include conducting strategic and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support, coordinating platforms to better integrate partners and projects, and designing and directly leading a number of implementation projects. Our headquarters are in Addis Ababa, and we have regional offices in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray regional offices, allowing us to work closely with a wide range of public, private and development sector partners across the country.
OUR CULTURE
We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results. Our culture is one where talented, dedicated and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great team work to achieve excellent results.
At ATA, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector. We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training. We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our employees with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.
POSITION SUMMARY:
Working under the supervision of the Project Team Leader, the Regional Project Officer – CBSP will be responsible for providing technical guidance and conducting capacity building activities to targeted primary cooperative and unions engaged in seed production and marketing. The CBSP Officer will be responsible for ensuring that seed unions developed a business plan, have access to early generation seeds and output financing. The CBSP Officer is also responsible for providing technical support to the unions and primary cooperatives throughout the seed value chain and liaising the unions with partner organizations.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES:
- Technical support: to 5 seed unions and more than 70 primary cooperatives in cooperatives’ governance, leadership, seed business plan development and management.
- Support unions to diversify business: Provide technical support across the seed value chain such as seed production, quality management, credit access, aggregation, seed processing, labeling and packaging, promotion and marketing components.
- Problem solving and active engagement to solve systemic bottlenecks of the seed business: Explore both the systemic challenges and solution, improvement options in the seed business, and support active engagement of all relevant stakeholders to solve pressing issues of seed unions and primary cooperatives.
- Support analysis and studies: Conduct different studies and diagnosis at regional level to identify technical, cooperative governance, leadership, policy, etc, related bottlenecks and recommend actions and policy briefs for high level decision makers and key stakeholders.
- Mobilize local resources: Mobilize physical, financial, and in-kind resources from farmers, primary cooperatives, Unions, local government and non-government organizations and re-allocate to seed unions that are actively engaged in seed business.
- Project Cycle Management: Facilitation the process of project activity planning, execution, monitoring and follow up of grant management cycles across seed facility and seed business development areas.
- Develop strategic linkage and partnership: that ensure collaboration between seed unions and key stakeholders: Research, Extension, Regulatory Body, Cooperative Promotion, NGOs, Policy Makers, and financial institutions.
- Facilitate institutionalization of CBSPs: Support institutionalization process of seed union and support geographic expansion of unions based on documented lessons.
Job Requirements
- BSc (BA) or MSc or MA degree in fields such as Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Agricultural Business Management, Development Economics or Cooperatives, rural development, Crop production, other closely related fields.
- At least 6 years (for BSc/BA) or 4 years (MSc or MA) of work experience in areas related to on-the-ground community seed initiatives, e.g., working alongside farmer’s cooperative unions, in community seed banks, Small and Medium enterprise (SME) development, cooperative development, value-chain development, and other related disciplines.
- Understanding of Ethiopia’s agricultural system with a broad perspective on interactions between public, private and informal actors in the seed system.
- Deep knowledge of different community-based seed production modalities, e.g., farmers’ unions, primary cooperatives, organized out-growers, farmer entrepreneurs, etc. and associated regulatory issues.
- Expertise in SPV in cereal crops like wheat and teff, as well as in other focus crops, i.e., pulses, oilseeds, and tubers.
- Experience in prioritizing and sequencing both programmatic and operational activities
- Experience in program design, performance management, stakeholder management, contract management, and Monitoring Learning and Evaluation (MLE) systems.
- Knowledge of analytical methods such as different statistical tools.
- Practical experience in developing and maintaining linkages between producers and markets
- Ability to thrive in a fast-moving, start-up environment, with an emphasis on high-performance, teamwork and accountability.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty and desire to be of service.
- Fluency in English and Oromiffa are essential. Knowledge of Amharic language is a plus.
How to Apply
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to send (i) a cover letter and (ii) CV (maximum 3 pages) at [email protected] by mentioning the position title on the subject line.
Also, please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application form.
Women are highly encouraged to apply.
- Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
More Information
- Job City Oromia
