The Ugandan Jobline

Job Title:     Associate Agronomy Advisor

Organization:
TechnoServe

Duty Station: Rakai
and Kyotera, Uganda

Reports to: Senior
Agronomy Advisor

About US:

TechnoServe works
with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms,
businesses and industries. We are a nonprofit organization that develops
business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital and
markets. With more than four decades of proven results, we believe in the power
of private enterprise to transform lives.

About Program:

TechnoServe is
implementing a four-year coffee agronomy training program that seeks to improve
incomes for 30,000 coffee farming households in Central and Western Uganda by
increasing their coffee farm productivity. This will be achieved by promoting
improved coffee agronomic practices at the farm level through a two-year
structured and farm-based training program based on the coffee growing cycle.
The training will be conducted by locally recruited and trained Farmer Trainers
(FTs) and delivered in three different cohorts. It is expected that up to 60%
of the target households will adopt at least half of the coffee best practices,
which will translate to at least 50% increase in coffee yields. To validate the
impact of the program on yield increase and attribute the results to actions of
the program, a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) is conducted by external agencies.

Job Summary:   The
Associate Agronomy Advisor shall support the implementation of
strategies that will enable clients to achieve sustainable increases in coffee
quality and yields.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:  

Planning and
management of Farmer Trainers (FTs)

·       
Supervise
4 to 6 Farmer Trainers (FTs)

·       
Prepare
and submit weekly work plan and monthly training schedules

·       
Collect
and review weekly training plans and attendance data from FT’s. Ensure
completeness, accuracy and clarify of data prior to submission for processing

·       
Clearly
communicate goals and roles and responsibilities to Farmer Trainers

·       
Provide
feedback, coaching and development activities related to performance management

·       
Develop
a team spirit among all reports

Conduct monthly
Agronomy trainings to FTs

·       
Model
monthly agronomy training to FTs at local training demonstration plots

·       
Supervise
teach-backs and give feedback to Farmer Trainers

·       
Prepare
and ensure all training materials reach FT’s in a timely manner.

Observe FT’s
delivering training to farmers

·       
Observe
full training delivered to farmers by assigned Farmer Trainers (FTs)

·       
Check
attendance form, cross check with number of farmers seen as present. Ensure
reported data is accurate, clear and complete.

·       
Complete
training observation assessment on tablet and give feedback and coaching to the
FT.

·       
Each FT
must be observed at least once a month, with a minimum of 7 observations in
total per month.

Visit farmer fields
and demonstration plots

·       
Visit
randomly selected farmers, discuss training, farmer adoption and challenges and
complete best practice check list on tablet

·       
Meet
with Focal Farmer (FF), check demo plot status and discuss any challenges and
innovations

·       
Complete
demonstration plot assessment on tablet. Give feedback to FT on improvements
required. A minimum of 7 demonstration plot visits and assessments to be made
each month.

Attendance
Monitoring

·       
Support
the FT to develop strategies to encourage the attendance of women at training.

·       
Collect,
check for completion and submit complete set of FT’s attendance sheets to the
M&E team within 1 week of training completion.

·       
Compile
weekly attendance update and discuss any attendance issues with FT’s and
develop actions to solve problems.

Stakeholder
Management

·       
Create a
good working relationship with stakeholders and manage quarterly update
meetings with local stakeholders including, sub-county, parish and village
leaders

Program
representation and expansion

·       
Lead and
manage the expansion of the agronomy program into a new operational area
including needs assessment, stakeholder sensitization, farmer mobilization,
group formation and recruitment of FTs.

·       
Be a
program ambassador at the operational area

·       
Provide
translation and contextualization services to high-level visitors

·       
Spearhead
efforts in making the agronomy program more gender inclusive and conflict
sensitive using local customs etc.

·       
Provide
support to the Uganda country operations as required.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

·       
The
applicant for the TechnoServe Associate Agronomy Advisor job must hold a
Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Agronomy, Agribusiness, Crop science, or
related agricultural sciences. May accept diploma and more than five years’
experience in lieu of Degree.

·       
At least
two years’ professional experience – ideally in the private sector – in one or
more of the following areas: agriculture, small and medium enterprise development,
farmer associations or cooperatives, project management, financing,
engineering, community development

·       
Strong
planning abilities; prior experience working to tight and strict deadlines

·       
Ability
to lead a team and work collaboratively within a team; prior experience
managing direct reports

·       
Strong
interpersonal and cross-cultural skills, Willingness to spend significant time
in rural areas.

·       
Experience
working with farmers is essential

·       
Experience
riding motorcycles and a valid riding permit

·       
Experience
working in the project location and knowledge of Luganda is essential

Competencies:

·       
Financial
and Resource Management: The
ability to estimate, justify, and manage appropriate funding levels to support
goal accomplishment. Managing Resources is about understanding human,
financial, and operational resource issues to make decisions aimed at building
and planning efficient project workflows, and at improving overall
organizational performance.

·       
Analysis,
Research and Report writing:
Experience in business planning and analysis, modeling for feasibility and
execution. Able to analyze and express oneself clearly in business writing.

·       
Donor/Partnership
Management: Identifying
opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one’s
area and other areas, teams, departments, or organizations to help achieve
business goals.

·       
Innovative
Mindset: Curious inquiries,
asks questions and seeks out information from multiple sources, learns from
mistakes, sees change as an opportunity.

·       
Emotional
Intelligence: Empathetic,
understands attitudes, interests, needs of others; predict others behavior.
Self-aware and keeps own emotions from interfering with work. Understanding
both the strengths and limitations of others.

·       
Trust
to delegate: Appropriately
allocates decision-making authority and/or task responsibility to others;
maximizes the organization’s and individual’s effectiveness.

·       
Staff
development: Planning and
supporting the development of individuals’ skills and abilities so that they
can fulfill current or future job responsibilities more effectively.

·       
Feedback/Coaching: Recognizes and acknowledges strengths in
others. Provides timely guidance and feedback to help others develop knowledge
and skill areas to accomplish tasks or solve problems.

How to Apply:

All qualified and
interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter in one single
Microsoft Word document to pkabagambe@tns.org. Please identify the position for
which you are applying in the subject line. Due to a high volume of applicants,
please understand that we are able to contact only those who meet the minimum
qualifications. No phone calls, please.

Deadline: Friday, 8^th May, 2020

NB: TechnoServe
encourages diversity in all levels and across all facets of our organization.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the
basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender
identity, ages, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all
other protected classes.

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