Agronomy Technical Expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

The Company

The Government of Kenya has adopted four priority areas to spur economic growth, create employment and transform the livelihoods of the citizens over a five-year period up to 2022. The four development priorities christened as the Big Four Agenda are Food Security, Manufacturing, Universal Healthcare and Affordable Housing especially for the Urban Poor.
Our Client is a government department that intends to play a key role in the implementation of the Big Four Agenda through direct interventions in the priority areas as well as leveraging its mandate to facilitate and enable state and non-state actors to achieve these priorities. To position themselves for this critical role, Our Client is currently prioritizing and streamlining their activities and programs in the following areas:

• Manufacturing: Commercially produce cotton to contribute towards increased local production for garment and other forms of cotton-based manufacturing and expand capacity in textile and apparels production.
• Food Security and Nutrition: Invest in large-scale farming of such crops as Rice, Maize, Sugarcane, Grapes etc. This will contribute towards eliminating the existing national production deficits for these crops and increase food security and nutrition.
• Solid Waste Management and Recycling: Explore solid waste management and recycling through a partnership with select County Governments in waste management and recycling.
• Renewable Energy: Contribute to harvesting solar energy to supplement the national grid through development of a solar power park through Public Private Partnership arrangements.

To support the above programs, Our Client wishes to recruit an Agronomy Technical Expert

Roles & Responsibilities

Job purpose and responsibilities:

Agronomy Technical Experts will liaise with relevant stakeholders to procure relevant data and ensure that the information collected is accurate and applicable to the program. They will be responsible for advising the program accordingly on matters related to crop breeding for the identified value chain crops (Rice, Maize, Cotton, Sugarcane and Grapes). They will also be involved in testing the fertility of the soil and advising the program on suitable crop varieties and breeding practices necessary for optimum production of the respective value-chain crops.

Key responsibilities:

• Identify and advice the program on suitable farm inputs, layout, infrastructure and fixed assets necessary for the respective end-to-end farm lifecycle of the respective value chain crops;
• Liaise with the relevant stakeholders for soil testing activities and selection of best-suited seeds and input for the area in which the farms are located;
• Evaluate and interpret soils and soil-related data in order to understand the soil resources in the farms and their contribution to agricultural production, soil improvement as well as how they affect environmental quality;
• Lead in production planning and scheduling of farming activities for the different crops, including providing guidance on appropriate timing, specific nature of activity, tools and inputs;
• Work collaboratively with the finance and procurement teams in developing budgets, cash flow forecasting and procurement of inputs.
• Work closely with Agribusiness teams in demand forecasting and understanding of market requirements
• Spearhead the cultivation and growth of respective value chain crops according to the recommended practice;
• Advise the program on compliance with current legislation and government regulation for food safety and environmental management within the farms and in the identified markets;
• Lead in collaboration with external government and non-governmental agencies involved in research and regulation of various agricultural crops and practices to improve the potential of the client farms;
• Seek to continuously apply modern farming methods and application of innovations and technology in the production at the farm level.
• Seek to maximize the yield and profitability of the farms.
• Lead in the supervision, coordination, training and capacity building of the client’s operations team at the farm level.

Requirements

Key qualifications and experience:

• Master’s degree in agronomy, soil/earth sciences, agriculture, horticulture, crop/plant science or related discipline from a recognised university.
• Minimum of 10 years of professional work experience in agronomy with an emphasis on two or more of the identified value chains (Rice, Maize, Cotton, Sugarcane and Grapes) is required.
• Experience preparing reports and analysis to support management decisions.
• Experience working and collaborating with diverse sets of stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills, including demonstrated advanced ICT skills.
• Demonstrable practical knowledge of the Kenyan agricultural and horticulture industry.