Program Officer, Technology for Development at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Job description

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Support conventional agricultural extension methods which employ small packs, on-farm demonstrations, farmer field days.
• Work with village-based advisors within the context of AGRA’s private sector-led approaches to agricultural transformation, in AGRA countries.
• Together with country staff, work with regulators, government and private sector to oversee and push penetration of mobile phones, video, mobile money, and other forms of electronic communications to smallholder farmers to support sustainable farming practices.
• Working with like-minded organizations, AGRA Partners, government and service providers, work towards overcoming the barriers represented by distance, lack of infrastructure, and cognitive gaps related to the use of improved technologies and marketing methods.
• Ensure the messaging and services offered through the use of ICT is genuinely relevant and useful to smallholder farmers, and is not a distraction.
• Position AGRA as a leading force in the identification, delivery, and scaling up of farmer-relevant information technologies and services.
• In line with overall organization vision and strategies, drive AGRA’s five-year strategy to reach 9 million smallholder farmers in Africa with improved technologies for achieving higher yields and better marketing opportunities to improve their productivity.
• Act as AGRA’s ICT liaison for agricultural development.
• Attend technology for development forums and workshops and continuously enhance knowledge and update existing systems and platforms as required with modern and relevant applications.
• Together with other program teams, drive farmer/stakeholder education and awareness on technologies that exist to enhance their production and productivity.