The position: The International Centre of Insect Physiology & Ecology (icipe) seeks to hire Market Linkage Development Officer I based in Addis Ababa, with a frequent field, travel to regions.

General: The International Centre of Insect Physiology & Ecology (icipe) is a pan-African and non-profit Centre of Excellence for research and development and capacity building in insect science and its applications. Its mission is to help alleviate poverty, ensure food and nutritional security and improve the overall health status of peoples of the tropics by developing and extending management tools and strategies for harmful and useful arthropods while preserving the natural resource base through research and capacity building. Since its establishment in 1970, icipe has become a significant contributor to science and innovation required to meet the health and food security challenges of sub-Saharan Africa. The Centre has achieved this status by developing alternative and environmentally friendly pest and vector management technologies and products that are effective, selective, non-polluting, non-resistance inducing, and are affordable to resource-limited rural and urban communities. Employing close to 500 international and national staff, icipe also has approximately 150 graduate students who contribute to its research portfolio annually. The Centre currently has operations in more than 40 African countries and thriving partnerships with universities and research organizations across the world. For more information visit: www.icipe.org.

icipe is partnering with the Mastercard Foundation to implement the MOre Young Entrepreneurs in Silk and Honey (MOYESH) program. The purpose of this partnership intervention is to secure fulfilling and dignified employment and income for unemployed young women and men by scaling up integrated beekeeping and silk farming businesses, building on lessons learned from the YESH project and leveraging the public-private partnerships that are already created. The MOYESH program targets to provide 100,000 youth (of which 60% are female) with appropriate skills and knowledge and enable them to secure dignified and fulfilling work in four target regions of Ethiopia.

Job Purpose: The purpose of this post is to provide market linkage support to the development and promotion of youth-owned micro, small and medium-sized businesses. The job holder will build strong relationships with a range of players in enterprises related to the MOYESH project and will use these relationships to improve business and market opportunities for those MSMEs. The job holder will provide technical expertise under the MOYESH project to expand and create new enterprises and create sustainable market linkage across the value chain in project locations. The job holder will provide technical support and guidance to project staffs and partners on enterprise development and market linkage to rural youth, input suppliers, aggregators, processors and exporters and other agricultural value chain actors within the MOYESH project. The job holder will support efforts to leverage innovation and technology-led solutions to achieve the program’s goals

Main Responsibilities:

• Conducts detailed apiculture and sericulture market system assessment and analysis, through both secondary and primary information gathering;
• Develops an understanding of and document youth group access to a structured market within and outside the region’
• Mobilizes experts and undertakes industry demand analyses for honey and silk products and develops and shares specific knowledge of the youth, and SMEs on market opportunities, industry preferred market channels, quality and quantity requirements, price officers and available market demand;
• Supports and mobilizes youth groups and SMEs for sustainable supply of honey and silk to the structured market;
• Develops contract farming and out-grower scheme model sand strategy and other innovative products;
• Supports the development of digital technology solutions for business to business (B2B) & business to customer (B2C) linkage to build long term business partnership;
• Efficiently coordinates project resources to achieve market linkages related results of the project in the region;
• Identifies, supports the linkage of input suppliers with producers and producers with processors and exporters;
• Supports the capacity of apiculture and sericulture value chain actors on quality control, exports market requirement and standardization;
• Undertakes capacity needs assessment of youth and SMEs and provide inputs for an intervention plan;
• Collaborates and participates in different platforms and enhance synergy between the project market related objective and other programs in the region;
• Provides expert advice to key partners in developing innovative business services, new business partnerships, and market-oriented information systems;
• Assists with the development of manuals, lending forms, portfolio reviews, and acquisitions, and serves on task forces or committees as required in the promotion of opportunities in the honey and silk sector;
• Initiates and assists with special projects, such as trade fairs, promotional events, advertising, and product development support in close collaboration with project clients;
• Performs other duties as assigned by the immediate supervisor.

Minimum Requirements:

Education:

• Master’s degree in Agribusiness, Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, Investment Finance or Marketing, or other relevant disciplines.
• Broad / specialized knowledge of methods, techniques, and processes

Experience:

• Minimum of three years’ experience demonstrating success in business consulting, investment finance, marketing or private sector entrepreneurship.
• Knowledge of production (Agriculture), including quality control, market standards, and/or product development
• Excellent oral and written communication in English including report writing
• Deep understanding of Ethiopia’s economic and business environment, particularly at the MSME level
• Agricultural Markets and/or Value Chain development
• Development of Business Services, finance, and financial services
• Private sector experience, particularly entrepreneurship
• Computer skills: Microsoft Office Applications, specifically Excel and Word and Access

Core Competencies:

• Results-oriented and sound decision making
• Demonstrating accountability and commitment
• Ability to communicate effectively and work within a team
• Ability to gathering information, assist with research
• Build relationships and ability to bring people together
• Managing and improving team performance

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, with a frequent field travels to regions

Grade: HG 13

Minimum Base salary: Birr 35,492 per month (Negotiable depending on the salary history of the candidate)

Terms of appointment: This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, initial appointment is for three years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. icipe offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with a competitive salary and excellent benefits in line with ILRI salary applicable for its Nationally Recruited Staff. icipe is an international and equal opportunity organization and believes that diversity of its staff contributes to excellence.

The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus with dining and sports facilities that are located on-site.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter, a detailed curriculum vitae including names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees and a letter providing a point by point response to the essential and desirable person specifications. The position and reference number: MLDO/02/2020 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter. All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal:http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 11 February 2020.

To find out more about icipe, visit our Website at http://www.icipe.org

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at https://www.ilri.org

Suitably qualified women are particularly encouraged to apply.

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