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AGRA is an alliance led by Africans with roots in farming communities across the continent. We understand that African farmers need uniquely African solutions designed to meet their specific environmental and agricultural needs so they can sustainably boost production and gain access to rapidly growing agriculture markets.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Head of Strategy & Analytics, the Senior Gender Officer, will be in charge of ensuring a gender strategy is in place and an understanding of the same by staff, grantees and all other partners at both regional and country levels. S/he will be the key resource in providing quality advisory services to AGRA management and to the country teams in regard to incorporating gender within all programs and activities at AGRA. S/He will be responsible for providing technical support and coordinating internal capacity building, as well as promoting the capacity of partners and grantees through integration of a gender approach in policies and programs, across AGRA. S/He will help position AGRA as a knowledge leader and technical leader in the Gender space with various stakeholders.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
- Support the development and refinement of AGRA’s gender strategy and approach
- Lead in developing and adopting a gender policy with internal accountability and reporting mechanisms including promoting a good working atmosphere
- Support the strengthening of AGRA’s country plans by incorporating strong gender governance and thinking
- Be the gender focal person on all gender matters at AGRA in relation to policy priorities, programme development and donor funding
- Identify and supervise the work of expert consultants providing substantive inputs to the work programme
- Lead interdisciplinary work and initiatives with the donor community, government, public sector, AGRA countries, multilateral organisations and NGOs to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment at national, regional and global levels
- Advisory to AGRA staff and leadership on incorporating gender within all programs and activities at AGRA
- Provide leadership, timely and high quality advisory services to AGRA management and to the country teams on Gender, ensuring that outputs are delivered in a timely manner according to budget
- Develop and draft policy guidance, policy positions, issues papers and factsheets on gender, for a range of audiences
- Lead in conducting evidence-based analysis, and policy dialogue within AGRA and with relevant stakeholders on Gender issues
- Exercise quality control of policy guidance products and reports on gender;
- Ensure capacity building of AGRA staff and teams to set and deliver against gender specific targets
- Technical support and capacity building for AGRA grantees
- Develop guidelines for reference by potential grantees and staff during proposal solicitation and development
- Support the design and development of proposals to ensure incorporation of a well laid out gender strategy
- Consult with grantees to develop new grant ideas around gender in achieving sustainable productivity growth according to AGRA’s strategy
- Conduct project visits and provide technical guidance on gender during monitoring and evaluation
- Knowledge management and thought leadership in gender
- Driving the advancement of knowledge management and thought leadership in gender development activities
- Write project reports, gender technical briefs, abstracts and document success stories
- Develop and implement effective communication strategies for policy products to maximise their value, visibility and impact within AGRA and the food security and sustainable development community
- Represent AGRA at designated international meetings and conferences, prepare briefing materials, speaking points and make presentations
- Lead in convening meetings and workshops on gender capacity building
- Resource mobilization and partner engagement:
- Lead fund-raising activities for AGRA’s programming from funding sources that specifically address gender advancement ensure the agreed work programme activities are supported by a sustainable funding base
- Foster relationships and develop strategic partnerships with partner organizations, countries, multilateral organisations and NGOs, working on gender and development.
Key Qualifications and Experience required
- Minimum of 10 years’ relevant work experience working in similar organization or institutions e.g. a bilateral aid agency, a multilateral organization or with a partner government on gender issues in a developing country context (analytical, policy and operational). Excellent track record in leading evidence-based analysis in the field of development and gender-related issues;
- At least five (5) years’ Senior-Level experience designing and implementing programs and/or gender development policies and activities in developing countries;
- A Master’s degree in political sciences, public policy, international relations or other relevant discipline with a specialization in gender and development. Relevant work experience may be considered in lieu of this.
- An understanding of various African gender laws and devolution related legislations; Understanding of international conventions on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
- Deep understanding of both the government and private sector policies and governance structures;
- Experience and proven capacity to communicate effectively with different counterparts (government authorities, heads of agencies, civil society, and the private sector) to align actors and build networks;
- Experience in managing complex initiatives with proven ability to develop high impact partnerships;
- Proven leadership ability to influence, develop and empower employees to achieve their best with a team approach;
- Excellent organizational, and problem solving/decision making skills;
- Intelligent, motivated self-starter with strong interpersonal skills and work ethics;
- Results and detail orientated with a very hands on approach;
- A working knowledge of French will be an advantage.
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Position Summary
Reporting to the Program Manager of PROFIT and closely collaborating with the Head of Inclusive Finance, the Associate Program Officer will be responsible for the management of Technical Assistance funds linked to improving access to agricultural finance for SMEs and smallholder farmers active in staple crop value chains.
In the first year, the APO will mainly support the PROFIT program manager in successful delivery of the Business Support Services (BSS) component of the PROFIT Program. The BSS component supports SMEs, Farmer Based Organisations and Farmers in improving their access to agricultural finance. The component also support Financial Services providers in improving their offer of Agricultural financial products.
As AGRA sources more Technical Assistance funds to enhance access to finance for SMEs and smallholder farmers, the role will expand to other countries, financial services providers and value
chains. The APO will be successful if TA funds are efficiently and effectively deployed and leading to enhanced access to finance for the agricultural sector actors.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Support PROFIT Program Manager
- Support in actual implementation process for the BSS component through Technical Service Providers (TSPs), partners and/grantees, providing relevant technical backstopping as may be required;
- Assist the Program in assessing and identifying capacity needs and gaps in partners and grantees ability to implement projects, and implement mitigating strategies;
- Work closely with the TSPs and grantees to ensure that appropriate target groups are identified and technical assistance delivered as per plan;
- In line with PROFIT’s design, support in collaborative efforts with other AGRA and IFAD programs and ensure program activities are implemented in alignment with AGRA’s new strategy;
- Work with M&E on capacity building including training of partners and grantees in data capture, management and reporting based on overall Program outputs and outcomes;
- Monitor program implementation to ensure partners and grantees are implementing project in accordance with the contractual agreement;
- Support in technical review of partners and grantee quarterly reports and other deliverables as is required;
- Assist the Program Officer in preparing reports to the AGRA board and donors;
- Control costs associated with budget for the program;
- Developing and/or reviewing the project implementation framework including implementation strategy with partners and grantees and providing detailed quarterly work plans and budgets;
- Provide technical backstopping to partners on gender and youth mainstreaming;
- Documenting and knowledge-sharing of the success stories, best practices and lessons learnt from program implementation and support in preparation of policy briefs;
Support Technical Assistance Facility management
- Build a data base of Technical Services Providers in the area of access to finance for Agri SMEs and Agricultural finance for Financial services providers
- Contribute as an active team member to the development and implementation of AGRA’s Inclusive Finance strategy
- Where necessary, support other team members (FISFAP, PROFIT, Farm to market) in their duties of developing and managing activities linked to agricultural finance.
- Perform other duties in the area of Inclusive Finance for Agriculture as they appear.
Key Qualifications and Experience required
- Minimum of a Master’s degree in Business, Agricultural Economics or related discipline;
- At least five (5) years’ experience working with partners and managing programs in agricultural value chain development and access to finance for SMEs and smallholder farmers and; capacity building for SMEs and smallholder farmers in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa
- Experience in conducting needs assessments, terms of reference development, procurement processes and management of consultants and trainers in the agricultural finance sector.
- A sound knowledge of, and experience in, rural finance at national and regional levels;
- Ability to travel up to 50% of time required
An attractive remuneration package commensurate with the responsibilities of the position will be negotiated with the successful candidate,
If you believe you are the right candidate for this position, kindly submit your application with a detailed CV (including your e-mail address and telephone contacts to recruit@agra.org noting to quote the job reference number in the subject of your email)
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