Project Officer at Self Help Africa

Reports to: Programme Manager
Salary: Gross Annual Salary – Kes. 1,056,000
Benefits: 22 days annual leave, medical insurance and 10% employer pension contribution
Expected Travel: 70% County level travels
Restrictions: 6 months’ probation, 2 year contract

Job Purpose- The purpose of this position is to work directly with farmers and Farmer Business Groups on a day to day basis on all the activities of the project on “Strengthening the competitiveness of the cassava value chain in Kenya (KF1)”.

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitate the development of capacity of smallholder farmers to produce quality cassava
• Facilitate the strengthening of farmer business groups through training and mentorship on group management, leadership, planning etc
• Facilitate the establishment of farmer field schools as learning centers for farmers
• Coordinate trainings to seed entrepreneurs
• Coordinate trainings to Lead Farmers and Follower Farmers on Good Agricultural Practices, Climate Smart Agriculture, Post Harvest management among others
• Coordinate trainings and mentorship initiatives to farmer business groups on gender and social inclusion
• Coordinate trainings on nutrition and dietary diversity to farmer business groups
• Facilitate Market access and business linkages for farmers
• Facilitate the establishment of aggregation centers where farmer produce can be aggregated, collected and marketed
• Support farmer business groups to establish Micro and Small Enterprises (Cooperatives or Companies)
• Strengthen the capacity of the established Micro and Small Enterprises in processing and value addition of Cassava
• Facilitate access to credit for farmers
• Sensitize and disseminate information to famer business groups on available credit products from the financial service provider
• Coordinate trainings of Farmer Business groups on savings and lending
• Facilitate stakeholder engagement in the cassava VC
• Facilitate the establishment and strengthening of county level cassava/Root and Tuber Crops platform
• Participate in county level stakeholder meetings
• Contribute to county level discussions on policy formulation that contribute to providing a conducive environment for smallholder farmers and agribusinesses
• Facilitate knowledge and information sharing for stakeholders at county level
• Support Monitoring and Reporting
• Conduct frequent follow up visits to groups
• Prepare activity, monthly and quarterly reports on the project implementation process
• Participate in Result Based Monitoring through data collection, cleaning and entry
• Ensure effective planning, Budgeting and implementation of project activities in the target county
• Any other duties as assigned by the Programme Manager

Key Relationships

• Internal
• Head of Programmes
• Project Coordinators – Nutrition and Gender, Agriculture and NRM, Mand E,
• Financial Inclusion Officer
• M & E Assistant Officer
• Finance and Administration Team

External

• County Governments and relevant County departments – Agriculture, Trade, Nutrition, Social Services, Gender, etc
• Other partners like KALRO, KEPHIS
• Other development organizations/ stakeholders

Knowledge and Experience:

• Good understanding of project cycle management approaches, monitoring and evaluation, and farmers’ capacity building.
• Good report writing skills.
• At least 2 years’ experience with Agriculture/livelihood program implementation, working with farmers and farmer groups.
• Skills in training/facilitation of development processes, including organization and mobilization of communities and networking among different development partners such as community-based Organizations, and Government officers.
• Proficiency in computer packages especially with Ms Word, Outlook and Excel and other related packages.

Skills and Qualifications

Essential:

• At least Degree in Agricultural Extension, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics or related discipline.
• 2 Years’ experience working in a rural setting on Agribusiness, food security and livelihoods and community development projects
• Motorcycle Riding Licence

Role Competencies:

• Good communication and presentation skills
• Ability to work as part of team across different cultures
• Ability to work with minimum supervision and take initiatives
• Ability to develop effective partnerships and relationship
• Ability to ride a motorcycle
• High level of integrity and high standards of personal conduct

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available and SHA reserves the right to make necessary changes.