Marketing and Cooperative officer (woreda level)

JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION 

Farm Africa, founded in 1985, is an international non-governmental organization working in Ethiopia since 1988. We drive agricultural and environmental change to improve lives. Our strategy has three pillars: agricultural expertise, management and preservation of ecosystems, and the power of business to drive prosperity. We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make this happen by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry techniques so that poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their families and sell. We help smallholders manage their natural resources sustainably so that they can withstand climate change challenges and shocks and ensure their families have enough food in the future as well as now. Farm Africa works in partnership with communities, government, local and international organizations, and the private sector to innovate, learn, and share best practices for maximum impact of our projects\

JOB TITLE: Marketing and Cooperative officer (woreda level)

REPORTS TO: Project Coordinator for BER Phase- II Programme

REPORTING TO POSTHOLDER: None

LOCATION: Dello Mena Woreda, Bale

DURATION & HOURS: Until April 2024 with probation period of 60 Working Days

Farm Africa is implementing a large number of projects/programmes in the areas of agriculture (crop and livestock), natural resources management and market engagement across Ethiopia. We are increasingly designing and implementing complex and integrated multi-sector projects, some by ourselves and some others in partnership with like-minded organizations in the form of a consortium

Farm Africa, in partnership with SoS Sahel-Ethiopia, FZS, PHE-EC, and IWMI, has secured funding from the EU to implement an integrated multi-sector landscape management programme in Bale Eco-Region in Oromia National Regional State of Ethiopia. The programme is a follow-up of an earlier project called SHARE Bale Eco-Region that employed an eco-regional approach to integrate and coordinate activities across sectors and actors so as to minimize trade-offs and maximize synergies across sectors and ecosystems at various altitudinal gradients while ensuring sustainable use and management of environmental resources for socio-economic development in the project intervention areas as a pilot in 16 woredas of the Bale Eco Region. The project will work across 16 woredas located in two zones, namely Bale and West Arsi. Farm Africa is seeking to recruit a dynamic and experienced woreda-level ‘Marketing and cooperative officer’.

This officer will be based inside a woreda office working side by side with government experts to implement the BER framework across identified woredas.

The overall responsibility of the position holder is to coordinate the planning and execution of market-related activities of the project – working closely with the agriculture and NRM experts. He/she will be specifically responsible for planning, and executing of capacity building trainings, facilitating market linkages, organizing farmers’ groups, supporting Co-operatives with technical advice, and providing technical support to government counterparts.

He/she ensures that communities are engaged in improved high-value crop and livestock production, processing, and marketing. In coordination with the project coordinator, he/she will ensure good partnerships with government stakeholders, community members, CBOs, consortium partners, CSOs, private sectors, and other relevant partners in the operational areas of the BER Phase- II project.

Key areas of responsibility are:

1.        Ensure timely project implementation at the Woreda level

• Work with the project team and government counterparts to achieve the project outputs/outcomes at his/her specific woreda
• Ensure adequate consultation and participation of Woreda and village/community level stakeholders ensuring active participation of women
• Facilitate identification of training needs, prepare training materials, and deliver training, business plan development, and other services to CBOs and unions
• Conduct other duties as may be assigned by the Project Field Coordinator

2.        Bring technical expertise to ensure high-quality project delivery

• Support the setup of new cooperatives/livelihood groups and strengthen existing ones
• Support in identifying processes in aggregation hubs of NTFPs and rangeland products to maximize marketing potential.
• Work with the Cooperative offices in establishing support to cooperatives on registration, and licensing support
• Facilitate market linkage of crop and livestock producing and marketing groups to private sectors
• Support small business group development and their implementation

3.        Facilitate and coordinate community/institutional capacity-building activities

• Provide technical support to Woreda-level technical staff and government staff to support cooperative leaders/managers in building capacity technically and managerially by using OCAT tools
• Train cooperative managers/leaders in inventory for agricultural input issues, market linkage, loan management (disbursals and repayments), financial management, record keeping, and legal requirements on registration and licensing.
• Organizes and coordinates capacity-building training and workshops for beneficiaries, CBOs, and private sectors on improved agronomic and livestock practices and support.
• Facilitate the development of Organizational and Managerial Capacity Assessment
• Organize periodical assessment of cooperatives’ organizational and managerial capacities using the developed OCAT tool
• Analyse the results of the assessment and prepare tailor capacity building plans
• Ensure implementation of these capacity-building plans in close collaboration with the relevant stakeholders

4.        Contribute to project management and reporting

• Participate in the assessment, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation processes of the project activities with other woreda experts and project staff.
• Prepare and develop status reports as required by management.
• Ensure proper recording and documentation of best practices and success stories
• Ensure that the project is implemented according to the work plan and BER framework.
• Monitor and document the project progress, lessons, good experience, and impact on rural communities.

5.        Play an active role as a member of the Farm Africa Project team

• Identify and explore opportunities to improve project implementation and guarantee its sustainability
• Keep up to date with developments in the sector, including best practice examples in-country and internationally, to ensure ongoing organizational and personal development and learning;
• Identify and explore opportunities to grow and expand the country project pipeline, both in relation to the current project (e.g., potential scale-up opportunities, replication in other geographies/regions) or related to new project opportunities
• Pro-actively share information with other project and BER consortium partner staff members to support Farm Africa’s aims
• Participate in broader Farm Africa meetings with other project staff members, as requested by the line manager.

These essential functions are not to be interpreted as a complete statement of all duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job-related duties as required. All work responsibilities are subject to having performance goals and/or targets established.

Investing in smallholder farming is the number one way to combat poverty in rural Africa. Farm Africa is a leading NGO specialising in growing agriculture, protecting the environment and developing businesses in rural Africa.

EXPERT. Deep expertise and insightful evidence-based solutions are at the heart of everything Farm Africa does.

GROUNDED. Positive change starts with Africa’s people, so our experts work closely with local communities, engaging them in every level of decision-making.

IMPACTFUL. We take a long-term view so we can deliver lasting changes for farmers and their families.

BOLD. We model innovative new approaches and are not afraid to challenge strategies that are failing.