Lead Agronomist at SunCulture Kenya Ltd

Details:

Purpose & Mission

SunCulture's mission is to make smallholder farming households more productive. Through passion for agriculture and technology, it has developed a solution that combines affordable solar water pumping and customized irrigation system. SunCulture is taking an active part in improving not only the lives of farmers, but also the environment by reducing CO2 emissions and water usage. SunCulture’s flagship product is called the RainMaker, a world class solar-powered irrigation system for smallholder farmers.

AgOptimized:

Given trends of changing weather, lack of infrastructure and financing for smallholder farmers and feedback from farmers, we are launching AgOptimized, our $50 farm sensor + app package which increases yield by 45% with 35% lower input costs by offering real-time recommendations on when to plant seeds, irrigate, apply fertilizer, or treat a future pest outbreak. We also offer other products on this AgOptimized platform such as tractor, market access and inputs in order to enable one stop shop farmers.

Position Summary

The lead agronomist will be responsible for leading a team of junior agronomists on the ground to develop world-class agronomy recommendations for farmers throughout Kenya. They will interface with farmers to make complex, sophisticated AgOptimized technology come to life in the context.

Responsibilities

• Conduct field research into optimum planting methods for common horticulture and commodity crops and prepare reports on data collected;
• Offer advisory support to SunCulture farmers including fertilizer application, irrigation timing, pest forecasting, etc.;
• Pilot new features of AgOptimized application in the field with lead farmers;
• Provide context on the ground to how agronomy algorithms should be adjusted based on local conditions;
• Train field technicians to collect soil, water, and plant tissue samples;
• Train field technicians to identify common crop pests and remedies;
• Review and analyze crop field data;
• Run large control trials to test the efficiency of SunCulture products and services; and
• Lead a team of junior agronomists on the ground to complete tasks above in an efficient manner.

Requirements

• Masters or PhD from top Kenyan University in Horticulture, Soil Science, or other similar discipline from an accredited Kenyan or international university;
• Technical experience in agronomy or horticultural R&D ( PhD with a minimum of 5 years; MS with a minimum of 7 years ;
• High agronomy technical knowledge, analytical and research skills;
• Strong understanding and experience calculating fertilizer content, EC, ETp, etc;
• Experience creating and understanding digital content;
• Experience working directly with farmers, plus excellent communication and human relation skills;
• Has worked with sophisticated software/hardware, such as weather stations and soil sensors;
• Has published academic research
• Extensive knowledge of Kenyan soils, horticultural sector, integrated pest management (IPM), and drip irrigation methods
• Background in Data science
• Comfortable with ambiguity and working with remote coworkers
• Can write 30 page paper but can synthesize it into a brief in layman's terms
• Familiar with content creation: videos, photos, papers
• Familiar with IoT, ML, and AI is a plus