Deadline of this Job: 04 December 2022
JOB DETAILS:Organizational setting
Integrated Seed and Sector Development Uganda (ISSD Uganda) is an independent local NGO in Uganda, which aims to be a leading agricultural development organization in fostering resilient seed and food systems for sustainable agricultural production. ISSD Uganda builds on the impactful outcomes and experiences of the successfully implemented seed projects that focused on; seed sector transformation; capacity building and knowledge transfer; partnerships and sector coordination, as well as supporting fragile communities including refugees.
Project overview
Restoring Resilience of highland farmer communities and watersheds in Uganda is a 4-year project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kampala. The project is a land restoration and farming systems project in the Western and South Western Highlands of Uganda, implemented in a collaborative partnership between Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR) as lead partner, and ISSD Uganda, as the local implementing partner. The project works through three pathways to achieve its goal to build resilient farmer communities and watersheds in the highlands of Uganda. In Pathway 1 “resilient farming systems” the project focuses on empowerment and motivation of farmer households to work towards establishing resilient farming systems through the PIP approach; Pathway 2 “watershed restoration” focusses on restoring natural resources and ecosystem functioning to enable restored watershed resilience; and Pathway 3 “improved marketing” focusses on improved marketing opportunities for all farmers directly engaged in the project, and the wider community. The project headquarters will be in Fort portal.
Position overview
The Agribusiness & Marketing expert focuses on coordination of activities on improved marketing in Pathway 3. The position is responsible for implementing initiatives that will improve marketing opportunities for smallholder farmers directly engaged in the project with a special focus on women and youth. The expert will work closely with the field staff to support farmers and other stakeholders to address bottlenecks that limit market access; strengthening marketing opportunities for key local crop commodities; and supporting growth of viable entrepreneurial initiatives. S/he will guide communities to select relevant interventions to solving the market related bottlenecks, and collaborate with relevant institutions and service providers in the development and execution of interventions.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
• Conduct market analyses to identify general market access bottlenecks within the communities
• Facilitate the participatory prioritization of the general market access bottlenecks to be addressed by the project with the relevant stakeholders
• Guide partnership formation development of MoUs and signing of agreements to improve collaboration for improved market access at community level, district level and with other stakeholders
• Coordinate and provide technical support to field staff and beneficiaries on planning, implementing and monitoring of the agreed partnerships and measures to addressing the market access bottlenecks based on the signed MoUs
• Provide selected entrepreneurial groups with tailor made trainings to improve their business skills, governance, financial sustainability, accountability and client focus and support them into participatorily developing and validating Integrated Group Plans (IGPs)
• Identify a range of relevant financial services products for the entrepreneurial groups, assess groups’ constraints to access of each product and broker access to finance and investment between the entrepreneurial groups and various financing structures
• Monitor implementation of the IGPs and report the performance of each entrepreneurial initiative as per set milestones
• Build capacity of selected ‘IGP Trainers’ to train other youth or women led groups into development and implementation of IGPs for their entrepreneurial initiatives as part of the scaling initiative
• Build capacities of value chain actors and key stakeholders on “resilience-based stewardship” and how to establish sustainable “business” relations with farmers
• Establish and maintain effective links with all key stakeholders (e.g., district authorities and development organisations) to strengthen collaboration on agribusiness related issues
• Identify areas for synergy with other EKN funded interventions within the project site to complement project interventions and address issues beyond the project’s scope
• Support the project M&E team to develop and maintain an M&E system for the project interventions especially development of a proper data collection system
• Document best practices and lessons learnt of the project and support to replicate it
• Compile and prepare periodic progress reports highlighting progress made in improving marketing opportunities for farmers within the watershed based on project periodic plans
• Contribute to project newsletter articles and annual reports
• Facilitate implementation of the project baseline study and relevant research studies (as they come up) by actively contributing to their design, rollout and report writing.
Qualifications, Experience, & Competencies
• Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Management, Agricultural marketing, Rural Development, or agricultural related degree
• Minimum of 8 years’ experience working with rural smallholder business development, providing services, training and/or technical assistance
• At least five (5) years’ experience in local value chain development projects and market systems development, preferably in the Western and South Western Highlands of Uganda
• Working knowledge in identifying opportunities for value addition and market access at the processor and household level
• Experience working with financial institutions to improve farmers’ access to financial services
• Proven ability and demonstrated experience of appraising business cases, with experience in Gender (male, female, and youth) entrepreneurship programs
• Strong agribusiness relationship management experience and focus with ability to stimulate trust and manage various stakeholders
• Excellent communication in English (written and oral), reporting and presentation skills. Local language skills an added advantage
• Flexible approach to take on additional responsibilities as assigned/delegated;
• Willingness to travel to all project locations;
Deadline of this Job: 04 December 2022
JOB DETAILS:Organizational setting
Integrated Seed and Sector Development Uganda (ISSD Uganda) is an independent local NGO in Uganda, which aims to be a leading agricultural development organization in fostering resilient seed and food systems for sustainable agricultural production. ISSD Uganda builds on the impactful outcomes and experiences of the successfully implemented seed projects that focused on; seed sector transformation; capacity building and knowledge transfer; partnerships and sector coordination, as well as supporting fragile communities including refugees.
Project overview
Restoring Resilience of highland farmer communities and watersheds in Uganda is a 4-year project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kampala. The project is a land restoration and farming systems project in the Western and South Western Highlands of Uganda, implemented in a collaborative partnership between Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR) as lead partner, and ISSD Uganda, as the local implementing partner. The project works through three pathways to achieve its goal to build resilient farmer communities and watersheds in the highlands of Uganda. In Pathway 1 “resilient farming systems” the project focuses on empowerment and motivation of farmer households to work towards establishing resilient farming systems through the PIP approach; Pathway 2 “watershed restoration” focusses on restoring natural resources and ecosystem functioning to enable restored watershed resilience; and Pathway 3 “improved marketing” focusses on improved marketing opportunities for all farmers directly engaged in the project, and the wider community. The project headquarters will be in Fortportal.
Position overview
The Farming Systems Expert focuses on resilient farming systems in Pathway 1, and is responsible for supporting farmers to achieve sustainable farm and land management through diverse crops and farm activities which increase productivity and reduce land degradation. The position is also responsible for development of training materials and providing technical support to training of field staff on agro- technical aspects of the project. Support to smallholder farmers will include implementation and further development of the ‘Integrated Farm Planning’ (PIP) approach.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
The Farming Systems Expert has the following duties and responsibilities;
• Coordinate the implementation of an in-depth assessment of current farming systems in the farmer communities to identify existing crop and land management practices, opportunities and innovations to improve farm performance, as well as challenges and bottlenecks that need to be tackled (e.g., crop management, soil quality, erosion)
• Support development of, or review already available training materials on sustainable land and crop management practices to contextualise them to the local community setting
• Train groups of innovative farmers (PIs) on context specific crop/land management topics based on participatory prioritization of specific problems, causes, demands, and training needs for each village
• Work with the Innovative farmers (PIs) to establish Integrated Plot Plans (IPPs) that are covered with a combination of sustainable land use practices in all target communities and monitor their performance together with the PIs to facilitate learning and experience sharing during open days and workshops on IPPs
• Coordinate activities to scale the IPPs to more communities through validated farmer-to-farmer trainers (Crop Management Trainers)
• Coordinate and supervise the engagement of consultants that will be assigned to train farmers in specific topics of interest as selected by the community
• Establish and maintain effective links with all key project stakeholders (e.g., district authorities and other development organisations) to strengthen collaboration with the project on issues related to creating better performing farming systems
• Identify areas for synergy and promote collaboration with other projects in the region funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Kampala (EKN)
• Support the project M&E team to develop and maintain an M&E system for the project interventions especially development of a proper data collection system
• Document best practices and lessons learnt of the project and support to its out-scaling to other community of farmers
• Compile and prepare periodic progress reports highlighting progress made in creating more resilient farms within the project sites based on periodic plans
• Contribute to project newsletter articles and annual reports
• Facilitate implementation of the project baseline study and relevant research studies (as they come up) by actively contributing to their design, rollout and report writing.
Qualifications, Experience, & Experience
• Minimum of a Master’s degree in Agriculture Sciences
• Minimum 8 years’ experience in sustainable agriculture and livelihood programs, providing technical assistance to implementing diverse/integrated crop and land management practices
• Experience working in a rural highland environment with bottom-up participatory approaches
• Ability to develop training manuals and conduct trainings to farmers
• Experience with (participatory) research and evaluation of farming systems performance
• Ability to establish networks and coordination with various organizations
• Demonstrated capacity to support, advise and guide institutional networking processes with Local Government and other stakeholders
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, commitment to team work and working across disciplines
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Excellent language skills (written & spoken English); local languages an added advantage
• Flexible approach to take on additional responsibilities as assigned/delegated
• Willingness to travel to all project locations
Deadline of this Job: 04 December 2022
JOB DETAILS:Organizational setting
Integrated Seed and Sector Development Uganda (ISSD Uganda) is an independent local NGO in Uganda, which aims to be a leading agricultural development organization in fostering resilient seed and food systems for sustainable agricultural production. ISSD Uganda builds on the impactful outcomes and experiences of the successfully implemented seed projects that focused on; seed sector transformation; capacity building and knowledge transfer; partnerships and sector coordination, as well as supporting fragile communities including refugees.
Project overview
Restoring Resilience of highland farmer communities and watersheds in Uganda is a 4-year project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kampala. The project is a land restoration and farming systems project in the Western and South Western Highlands of Uganda, implemented in a collaborative partnership between Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR) as lead partner, and ISSD Uganda, as the local implementing partner. The project works through three pathways to achieve its goal to build resilient farmer communities and watersheds in the highlands of Uganda. In Pathway 1 “resilient farming systems” the project focuses on empowerment and motivation of farmer households to work towards establishing resilient farming systems through the PIP approach; Pathway 2 “watershed restoration” focusses on restoring natural resources and ecosystem functioning to enable restored watershed resilience; and Pathway 3 “improved marketing” focusses on improved marketing opportunities for all farmers directly engaged in the project, and the wider community. The project headquarters will be in Fortportal.
Position overview
Based in the field offices (one in the South West and one in the West), the Regional Coordinators are responsible for planning and coordinating the operations of the project activities at zonal level. The position serves as the extended arm of the project headquarters (HQ) in the field and works closely with the project HQ team and field-based staff. The Regional Coordinators also play a liaison role as the focal point for Government authorities in their respective zones, districts, project partners, and civil society. They will provide leadership, strategic direction and ensure that implementation of project interventions goes according to project objectives and respective zonal water management plans. They will work in collaboration with partners in joint implementation of project activities including coordinating synergies, promoting awareness, learning, and advocacy for natural resource restoration and conservation.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
The Regional Coordinators have the following duties and responsibilities;
• Oversee technical implementation of the project activities at the zonal level through the field staff
• of the project (team of 12 field staff)
• Supervise and coordinate implementation of project activities at the zonal level by the field staff to
• ensure that work plans are followed adequately and phased budgets are spent as required
• Maintain a comprehensive overview of project interventions in the zone through regular
• communication and reporting with the project HQ team
• Coordinate the interaction of activities implemented by staff along the three project pathways and
• provide strategic guidance to achieve project outputs and outcomes
• Work closely with regional water management programs of the Ministry of Water and Environment
• to align project activities with the respective zonal watershed management plans
• Represent the project in zonal forums and mechanisms that require focal points, and promote
• partnership-building with respect to watershed management issues
• Convene periodic meetings with relevant stakeholders in the zone to facilitate information-sharing,
• identify opportunities for cross-project collaboration, and synthesize best practices and lessons
• learned
• Facilitate implementation of the project baseline study and relevant research studies by actively
• contributing to their design, rollout, and report writing
• Facilitate opportunities for synergy with other interventions within the project sites through cross
• project planning and implementation to complement project interventions and address issues
• beyond the project’s scope
• Review and approve activity workplans, budgets, and field activity reports developed at zonal level
– within delegated approval limits
• Assume organizational responsibility for monitoring of field office operations, including the
• coordination of shared resources and common services and harmonization of operational
• procedures and systems according to guidelines from management
• Ensure compliance with project systems and requirements, including responsibilities over quality and
• timely reporting (financial and narrative) on a periodic basis
• Systematically document experiences and lessons learned across districts, watersheds and facilitate
• information sharing and learning with the rest of the project team
• Compile and prepare periodic progress reports highlighting progress made in implementation of
• activities within the zone based on periodic plans
• Contribute to project newsletter articles and annual reports
• Facilitate implementation of the project baseline study and relevant research studies (as they come
• up) by actively contributing to their design, rollout and report writing
• Perform any other related duties as required.
Qualifications, Experience, and Skills
• Masters’ Degree in Biology, Agronomy, Environmental Resource Management or related field
• Post graduate studies in Business Administration or Project Management, is an added advantage
• At least 8 years of professional work experience in a similar role/position, with proven experience in
• project management and leading a team of field staff of 12 people or more
• Experience in the areas of sustainable development, community-based approaches and natural
• resource management especially natural resource restoration and watershed management
• Demonstrated capacity to support, advise and guide institutional networking processes with Local
• Government and other stakeholders
• Strong leadership skills, interpersonal skill and commitment to team work
• Proven ability to use Microsoft Office tools such as Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc.
• Superior organizational, interpersonal, public speaking, and team-building skills
• Excellent communicator with good writing and presentation skills in English language. Knowledge
• of local languages is an added benefit
• Flexible approach to take on additional responsibilities as assigned/delegated
• Excellent organisational, negotiation, influencing and advisory/coaching skills
• Affinity with capacity development and institutional change processes
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Willingness to travel & work extensively in highland areas of Uganda
Deadline of this Job: 20 December 2022
JOB DETAILS:The Project Assistant will support the Coffee and Cocoa project officers under the Matching Grant Component of the project in the execution of annual work plans and Quarterly work plans as necessary
Key duties and responsibilities
• Organize field coordination meetings (prepare minutes) and other occasional
• meetings with the community and Partners as required by Coffee and Cocoa project officers;
• Work with project officers and stakeholders to develop Cocoa and Coffee training modules where necessary and utilize materials.
• Assist the Coffee and Cocoa Project officers to Compile monthly reports on cocoa and Coffee activities in different regions
• Assist the Coffee and Cocoa Project Officers in the execution of fieldwork plans
• Ensure key issues and lessons learned are documented and shared between partners;
• Ensure that Reports are written and submitted in line with donor EU and UCDA requirements.
• Participate in the development of work plans.
• Prepare and submit timely accountability for field activities
• Perform any other duties as required and directed by the Coffee and Cocoa Project Officers.
Educational Qualifications:
• A Bachelor’s degree in the following fields, Arts in Economics, Development Studies, Tourism, Social Sciences or related courses
• Must have at least 2 years of working experience in a reputable dynamic private or public organization.
• Must have relevant working experience with donor-funded projects.
Competencies:
• Demonstrate experience in either community development and research in this area or a related field.
• Ability to work with and coordinate the activities of a range of public and private agencies, at community, sub-county and district levels
• Have the ability to coordinate at multi-sectoral level, district, and community level
• Ability to competently operate various computer-based word-processing software, spreadsheets, and internet
• Excellent communication skills, including report writing
• Ability to work independently, and produce accurate work in a timely manner
• Keen and attention to detail
Deadline of this Job: 20 December 2022
JOB DETAILS:The objective of this assignment is to ensure that the project provides overall technical leadership and technical assistance to all stakeholders under the CoCoDev Project to achieve all agriculture-related activities related to coffee and cocoa agribusiness with quality. The Agribusiness Expert has the responsibility of the development and implementation of business cases whereby climate-smart agriculture interventions are integrated into the coffee and cocoa value chain from an agronomic, financial, and inclusion perspective. The Agribusiness expert will identify and support business cases for the matching grant scheme co-investment fund and broker access to finance and investment of the businesses. S/he will coordinate and work with a matching grant scheme to scale climate-smart investments.
Key duties and responsibilities
• Identify business cases for the matching grant scheme for co-investing
• Support agribusinesses to develop the business cases
• Establish appraisal criteria for the matching grant scheme, design milestone-based payment scheme and contribute to the assessment of the business cases
• Coordinate with the UCDA and PMU, the planning and disbursement of grant funds
• Support the implementation and roll-out of business cases
• Monitor and report the performance of the business cases as per the set milestones
• Set-up of coaching programs on agribusiness management for male and female entrepreneurs and youths.
Relevance and experience
• A relevant academic qualification: Master’s degree in Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, or Business Administration;
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience working with or in Agribusiness, preferably in coffee and cocoa
• Knowledge of the coffee and cocoa value chains preferably at the global level and in East Africa
• Experience in coffee and cocoa value chains development and agribusiness finance, preferably experience with matching grant schemes
• Ability and demonstrated experience in designing and appraising business cases
• Strong agribusiness relationship management experience and focus with the ability to stimulate trust and confidence with clients and investors including managing various stakeholders.
Competences
• Demonstrated creativity, willingness to innovate, think systemically and work independently high-level interpersonal skills
• Team player
• Advanced knowledge and skills with MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Proficiency in English is a must.
• Ability to take initiative and accomplish tasks with minimum supervision
• Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills
• Excellent analytical and problem–solving abilities
• Relationship builder
• Ability to work with a wide range of actors from different backgrounds (farmers, private sector companies, Government, and NGOs
• Willingness to travel to all project locations
• Excellent organizing, negotiation, influencing, and advisory/coaching skills
Deadline of this Job: 20 December 2022
JOB DETAILS:The objective of this assignment is to ensure that the project provides overall technical leadership and technical assistance to all stakeholders under the CoCoDev Project to achieve all agriculture related activities related to cocoa with quality. Supervise and follow-up all stakeholders in project related activities to improve service delivery quality with farmers’ capacity building. Develop training modules and outlines as per project plan. Facilitate different staff and participant’s level of training and workshops and play role as a key technical person on cocoa issues. Ensure that the project`s agriculture related activities are on the right track. Maintain coordination with Government and other service providers at the National, District and other levels.
Key duties and responsibilities
• Develop training plans and modules related to cocoa as per project design;
• Set and ensure achievement of all targets related to cocoa, project design with quality within agreed upon deadlines;
• Liaise and work with stakeholders in cocoa and value chains’ operations and provide feedback to improve project quality;
• Record all success stories for project documentation.
• Developing and monitoring project implementation plans to ensure successful project milestones are met.
• Prepare a range of project-related documents for key stakeholders as required, including status updates, reports, and discussion papers to manage the flow of information.
• Seek out and actively manage key stakeholder relationships based on open and regular discussions and feedback, to ensure effective project implementation.
Relevance and experience
• Master’s degree in agriculture, agriculture extension or any other relevant field. University degree in agriculture, agriculture extension, agronomy, agricultural economics or any relevant fields.
• At least 5 years’ relevant experience in agriculture commodities’ value chain development. Working with cocoa value chains will be an added advantage.
• Extent and relevance of experience in project management preferably on sustainable agriculture management, climate smart agriculture and market led approaches;
• Capacity to promote for results new approaches and practices as well as demonstrated commitment in promoting participatory and bottom-up approaches;
• Demonstrated knowledge of the latest developments in advancing good/best practices in value chain development, climate change and policy development that reaches the women, youth, the poor.
• Interested to undertake extensive field work
Competencies
• Demonstrated creativity, willingness to innovate, think systemically and work independently.
• High-level interpersonal skills
• Team player
• Advanced knowledge and skill with MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel.
• Proficiency in English is a must.
• Ability to take initiative and accomplish tasks with minimum supervision.
• Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills.
• Excellent analytical and problem–solving abilities
• Relationship builder
• Ability to work with a wide range of actors from different backgrounds (farmers, private sector companies, Government, and NGOs etc