Junior Agrologist Expert for South Liaison office

Project: RAISE-FS LOGIC

Duty station: Hawassa, with frequent travel to the three hubs: Shashemene Potato hub covering Sidama and Oromia regions, Dale Avocado hub covering Sidama region, and Arba Minch Banana hub covering South Ethiopia region, and the linked production sites

Duration: One year, subject to annual renewal based on performance and availability of funding

Reports to: Team Leader, Hawassa Liaison office

1. Background

Stichting Wageningen Research (SWR) Ethiopia is an international NGO registered in Ethiopia since March 2021 with the FDRE Agency for Civil Society Organizations. The organization is established with the objectives of promoting a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable food systems in Ethiopia. SWR Ethiopia currently implements different projects.

2. Project background and rationale

Agrologistics is one of the underdeveloped sectors in Ethiopia. Insufficiency in refrigerated transporting and storage facilities, capacity gap among actors, high transportation costs, poorly developed infrastructure, coupled with disorganised fleets, contribute to delays in product delivery, increase postharvest losses, reduce product quality, and marketability. Limitations in sorting, grading, and packaging according to the safety standards result in increased rejection of the produce in the international markets.

The RAISE-LOGIC project was developed to address the challenges in the agro-logistics sector and enhance the agri-food sector resilience against market fluctuations, climate shocks and postharvest losses by improving efficiency and sustainability of the logistics systems. The project envisages bringing improvements in the agrologistics sector of avocado, banana, and potato through building the capacity of actors, and scaling innovations and practices that help in maintaining product quality and safety along the supply chain.

The project will focus on building the capacity of chain actors, strengthening the value chains and improving their performance, and supply chain efficiency, ensuring sustainable use of logistics technologies and practices. is anticipated to improve product quality and shelf-life, minimise post-harvest loss, improve market access, and increase actors’ income. Hence, we are looking for a qualified professional who can closely work with project teams, stakeholders and partners to facilitate improvement of the agrologistics system through possible innovations, including capacity building, establishing/capacitating aggregation centres, arranging transportation facilities, managing the supply chain and monitoring efficiency.

Therefore, these Terms of Reference (ToR) outline the project overview, role and responsibilities, required qualifications, and reporting structure for an Agrologistics advisor:

4. Responsibilities and duties

• Assist the regional team leader with strategic planning, establishing collection centers, coordinating activities, and managing the end-to-end supply chain.
• Support the regional team leader in delivering overall managerial and technical leadership for the proper implementation of the Agrologistics project in the assigned region.
• Assist in establishing a sustainable supply chain management system from the field to Mojo Cool Port, as well as to local and international market destinations,
• Assist in establishing sustainable collaboration and coordination among chain actors, partners, and stakeholders;
• Liaise between producers, aggregators, transport and warehouse service providers;
• Assist in leading the planning and coordination of project activities with technical staff and partners as required ensuring that food system approach is exercised;
• Produce annual work plan and ensures effective and efficient implementation as per approved budget;
• Undertake periodic and regular monitoring, evaluation & learning (ME&L) of project activities and implementation of lessons learnt from the ME&L activities and other best practices;
• Ensure proper documentations and support communication processes and practices towards achieving the outcomes of the project;
• Ensure all socio-economic related activities of the project are well planned and implemented;
• Assist the regional team leader in maintaining effective engagement of partners to ensure responsive and sustainable implementation and reporting;
• When required participate in project related meetings providing strategic oversight to the project delivery and ensure updates on project progress, risks and risk mitigation strategies;
• Together with the regional team leader and other staff, organize/facilitate periodic project related meetings at regional level to review project progress with staff and partners;
• Assist the regional team leader in producing timely and quality periodic technical and financial reports; and
• Perform other assignments given by the regional team leader.

3. Required qualifications and experiences:

Education:

• MSc degree in supply chain or agro/-logistics management, business administration or related fields.

Work experience:

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in relevant fields,
• Demonstrated experience in supply chain and agro-logistics or logistics management, specifically experience on agricultural commodities such as avocado, banana, potato, mango, papaya, onion, or fruits and vegetables),
• Hands-on experience in creating business linkage, organizing multi-stakeholder platforms and discussion forums in the fruits and vegetables subsector,
• Proven track record in working with the private sector,
• Technical expertise in establishing communication strategies and information sharing mechanisms.

5. Skills and competencies:

Technical: proficiency in a mix of software and complementary skills that enhance operations, analytics, and communication (Microsoft Office, SQL, TMS, WMS and visualization tools),

Analytical: strong problem-solving and analytical abilities.

Management: team building, leadership and organizational skills,

Interpersonal: excellent communication and negotiation skills,

Compliance: knowledge on logistics regulations and safety standards,

Language: Proficiency in English and in one of the local languages in project operation areas is an advantage.

Knowledge: expertise in market prospecting and business intelligence, geography of the operation areas, including production and supply routes, marketing destinations, domestic and international ports and hubs.

6. What we offer

Depending on candidate’s education and work experience, we offer a competitive salary as per the organization the salary scale assigned for the position. We also offer other benefit packages as per the internal HR manual.