Junior Rural Development/MSME development Adviser

“Junior Rural Development/MSME development Adviser”

GIZ- Internal/External Vacancy Announcement ‘# vacancy number 048/2025’

“Soil Matters”

Brief Description of the project/ unit

The Global Programme “Soil Matters – Innovations for Soil Health and Agroecology” aims to strengthen and scale innovations, processes and policies for soil conservation, soil health and agroecology at national and continental level. It will build on learnings from the ongoing Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil) which is implemented in Ethiopia through two projects: the “Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project (ISFM+)” and the “Lowland Soil Rehabilitation Project (LSRP)”.

In Ethiopia “Soil Matters” is funded by the European Union and will be implemented in the high- and lowlands over the period from April 2025 to March 2028. It will support the scaling of the lessons and innovations generated by ProSoil, specifically on Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) and agroecological (AE) practices. GIZ, in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) developed the Dry Valley Rehabilitation and Productive Use (DVRPU) approach – a holistic strategy integrating technical, biological, economic, social, institutional, and managerial measures to rehabilitate degraded dry valleys. Moreover, Soil Matters will support the establishment of commercial, private sector-based supply chains for agricultural inputs and services and the scaling of existing Soil Health Decision Support Tools (DST). Political partners will be supported to develop and implement a national action plan aligned with the Nairobi Declaration, adopted during the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (AFSHS).

Duration of contract: Until December 31, 2027,

Application deadline: 19 May 2025

Required Candidates: 1

Place of Work: Addis Ababa

Responsibilities and Duties

The Junior Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development Advisor performs the following tasks:

• Conduct needs assessments and diagnostics for rural MSME to identify growth opportunities and constraints.
• Design and implement programs to support entrepreneurship, innovation, access to finance, and market linkages.
• Provide technical assistance and mentorship to entrepreneurs and small business owners in agriculture sector.
• Facilitate training workshops, business clinics, and networking events for rural MSMEs.
• Advise on policy and regulatory reforms that promote a conducive business environment for rural MSME working on agriculture.
• Develop partnerships with government agencies, financial institutions, NGOs, and private sector stakeholders.
• Stay updated on trends in entrepreneurship, small business development, and economic policy related agriculture
• Contribute to the successful planning and implementation of project activities in different regions
• Contribute to the development of training and promotional materials
• Support farmer cooperatives and rural MSMEs in developing and implementing small-scale proposals for the local adaptation, adoption, and scaling of ISFM and AE practices at the landscape level.
• Support partner initiatives in scaling ISFM and AE technologies and approaches, including the implementation of the Soil Health DST
• Identify and support public / private sector initiatives for the establishment of commercial input supply chains (e.g. lime, seed) and services (e.g. mechanization).
• Integrate proven technologies into the productive use component of the DVRPU approach
• Liaise with GIZ Agriculture and Rural Development initiatives for the promotion of soil health and AE practices

Other duties/additional tasks

• Assists other colleagues as needed in the project, programme or office on request of the project manager

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Agriculture economics, Business Administration, Rural Development, or related field.

Professional experience

• Minimum 2 years of field experience in rural MSME development in agriculture sector
• Proven experience with participatory training methods and adult learning principles.
• Familiarity with cooperative and MSME development is highly desirable.
• Working experience with MoA, Regional BoAs, Research, private sectors, etc

Other knowledge, additional competencies

• Sound technical knowledge on cooperative and MSME development
• Team worker
• Demonstrated experience in working with Farmer Cooperatives
• Very good skills in English and Afan Oromo reporting and presenting