Consultant to Provide Coaching and Mentoring Support to Agribusiness Clusters (ABCs) at International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)

Tasks

•  Conduct an assessment and prioritisation of the capacity development needs of ABC coaches and design a program to provide same.
•  Support ABC coaches, Business Support Service (BSS) providers, rural entrepreneurs, and other grassroots actors to set clear vision and to understand their roles in the ABCs.
•  Plan and lead capacity building sessions for all ABC coaches supported.
•  Provide regular field support to ABC coaches, Business champions, and other grassroots actors to strengthen the functioning of the ABCs and field level governance system. ABC functions include but not limited to:
•  enhances access to agro-inputs and services
•  encourages coordinated action, collective learning, co-innovation and co-investment
•  facilitates empowerment, more voice and better bargaining power of the grassroot actors
•  Support the ABC actors to develop strategies to embed the cost of coaching and other paid advisory services within the partnership cost structure.
•  Provide support to the ABC coaches network (Community of Practice) in-country and facilitate cross learning among coaches both within and outside of the country of post.
•  Support (through the ABC coaches) Producer Organisations (POs), micro, small and medium sized enterprises to perform in a professional and well accepted standard to improve their business performance.
•  Contribute to the development of ABC Annual Action Plans (AAPs) and support ABC coaches to implement all interventions to strengthen the ABCs.
•  Enhance ABC coaches' capacity to integrate gender and youth in all their activities and support to the grassroot actors.
•  Collaborate with other 2SCALE thematic experts and consultants to align and draw synergies for optimum impact.
•  Document and share lessons learned (including best practices, challenges etc.) to inform program decision making.

Supervision and team collaboration

The consultant is supervised by and reports to the 2SCALE country team leader. He/She will receive technical guidance and support from the ABC development specialist and work in close collaboration with all other 2SCALE colleagues, including Partnership Facilitators, thematic experts, interns, and other consultants.

Position and duty station / Location

This consultancy is a national position and requires intensive travels (up to 70% of the time) in the target ABCs in-country. Trips to other 2SCALE target countries may also be required.

Required Experience

Qualifications and experience

•  Advanced degree in agricultural economics, communications, extension, or rural development.
•  Proven experience in organizing and conducting a variety of training programs preferably at the grassroots level including technical, business, marketing, management, organizational etc.
•  At least 4 years working experience in agriculture or rural development in the country of post.
•  Proven experience in organizing and facilitating grassroots-level capacity building programs (trainings, demonstrations, field visits, etc.), business meetings, adult training, and training-of-trainers.
•  Ability to communicate effectively with grassroots stakeholders and to stimulate a genuinely participatory and inter-active learning process.
•  Result-orientation and ability to take initiatives under minimal supervision and to reach targets.
•  Fluent in English and at least one local language widely spoken in the target ABCs.