Agribusiness Management Specialist - Nakuru at AVSI Foundation

Job Summary

• The Agribusiness Management Specialist will provide expert technical leadership in agricultural value chain competitiveness, commercial farm management, cooperative capacity building and agri-business linkage development. The primary goal is to transform informal producer groups into commercially viable enterprises, establish sustainable market linkages with off-takers, facilitate access to agricultural resources and improve institutional governance within public-private agribusiness partnerships.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide technical support, coordinating with public and private stakeholders, while integrating gender, youth and climate-smart practices across field operations.
• Coordinate with local government authorities, agricultural research institutes and private sector players to build sustainable service ecosystems.
• Support producer compliance with food safety regulations, grade standards, certification requirements and quality control protocols.
• Prepare and submit monthly performance reports, work plans and budgets to facilitate the realization of project implementation.
• Coordinate the implementation of AGRIPACT project activities and ensure that they are implemented efficiently and to high standards of quality.
• Provide technical support and capacity development to the field officers.
• Coordinate the tracking and reporting on progress, best practice documentation and achievements of the project using the monitoring and evaluation system provided.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships and liaison with project staff and partners, and maintain and develop policy dialogue with the respective County governments, line ministries, the private sector, interest associations, etc.
• Represent AVSI and the AGRIPACT project at meetings related to the project.
• Closely monitor and document the progress and milestones of the matching grants for the dairy cooperatives.
• Capture evidence of the project’s impact and success stories on the ground to assist the Project Manager in developing best practice documents.
• Coordinate the mobilization of participants for various project events such as trainings, field visits/trials/learning tours, and provide logistical support for the same.
• Take the lead in data collection as per the data collection tools provided and document cases of best practice in collaboration with the monitoring and evaluation team (including success stories/case studies).
• Prepare, attend and participate in the bi-weekly MEAL meetings and the Quarterly Project Management Committee meetings.
• Develop at least 3 life transformation project success stories.
• Implement and protect AVSI principles and procedures at all levels.
• Any other duties delegated by the supervisor.

Essential Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness Management, Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, Rural Development, or a closely related field. Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience designing and managing market-led agricultural development interventions, agribusiness enterprise support, or value chain projects.
• Demonstrated experience working with agricultural cooperatives, producer organizations, off-takers, commercial banks and microfinance institutions.

Required skills and experiences

• Demonstrated experience working with agricultural cooperatives, producer organizations, off-takers, commercial banks and microfinance institutions.