Agricultural Livelihood Specialist at National Employment Authority (NEA)

Job Purpose

• The Agricultural Livelihood Specialist will lead the technical coordination and strategic oversight of INReMP’s agricultural livelihood interventions. This role focuses on enhancing productivity, promoting climate-smart and sustainable farming practices, and strengthening inclusive value chains. The Specialist will ensure that agricultural activities are responsive to the needs of women, youth, and vulnerable groups among other groups, and are aligned with INReMP’s goal of building resilient rural livelihoods within restored ecosystems.

 Key Responsibilities

• Diversified and Resilient Livelihoods Lead the design and implementation of crop and livestock value chain interventions across target counties. Facilitate structured linkages between producers and market actors, including aggregators, processors, and financial institutions. Support the development of inclusive commodity platforms and aggregation models to improve market access and income generation.
• Capacity Building and Skills Development Design and deliver training programs for farmers, extension officers, and community groups on agribusiness, climate-smart agriculture, nutrition-sensitive farming, and sustainable land management. Promote farmer field schools, demonstration plots, and peer learning platforms.
• Community Inclusion Ensure alignment of agricultural activities with INReMP’s Theory of Change, environmental sustainability goals, and inclusive development objectives. Forge and manage partnerships with county governments, research institutions private sector actors, and farmer organizations to promote innovative, climate-resilient agricultural practices. Ensure gender equality, youth empowerment, and environmental sustainability are integrated into all agricultural interventions.
• Coordination and Advisory Role Support integration of digital advisory tools and e-voucher platforms to enhance input access and extension services. Contribute to the development of Annual Work Plans and Budgets (AWPBs) and ensure timely reporting on agricultural components.
• Collaborate with the M&E Specialist to track performance indicators, document lessons learned, and inform adaptive management. Work closely with the Agribusiness Development Specialist to align production systems with market demand and value addition opportunities.
• Other Duties Undertake any other duties assigned by the NPC

Academic Qualifications/Professional Skills/Expertise:    

• A Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, Rural Development, or a closely related field from a recognized university.

Applicable Professional Experience

• Minimum of seven (7) years of continuous experience in agricultural development, including at least three years in a senior management role within GoK/Development Partner-funded programmes. Demonstrated expertise in value chain development, climate-smart agriculture, and rural livelihood enhancement. Ability to provide support and input to the development of the Early Warning Systems (EWS) at field level, including market monitoring, weather data monitoring to track climate-related risks with a focus on enhancing quality, accessibility, and integration of early warning climate related information to beneficiaries.
• Proven experience working within Kenya’s devolved governance structures and familiarity with county-level agricultural policies and planning frameworks.
• Competencies and Skills Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to translate field realities into actionable programme strategies.
• Excellent report writing, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills. Proficiency in MS Office Suite and statistical/data analysis software such SPSS, STATA, Kobo Toolbox. Skilled in participatory approaches including PRA, PLA and community mobilization. Ability to mentor multidisciplinary teams, manage competing priorities, and deliver results under pressure.