Company Overview

The Pharo Foundation (the ‘’Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organisation that runs philanthropic programmes as well as a for-profit arm, Pharo Ventures. The Vision of the Foundation is an economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve the Vision by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation.

Established in 2011 as a UK based non-profit, the Foundation has since made a strategic shift to directly design and implement its own programmes to ensure greater engagement with communities, better results, and increased accountability. The Foundation has carried out numerous projects in East Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia and Somaliland, and is now expanding operations in Rwanda and Kenya. The key strategic pillars for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water, and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation also started its Pharo Ventures franchise to prioritise sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self-sustaining businesses, which focus on job and economic value creation. 

The Foundation has a programme office in Assosa, the regional capital of Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz Regional State (BGRS), with plans to expand operations in the country. Since its establishment in 2016, the Foundation’s programme office has been working on an integrated livelihood development program that covers agriculture, water, health, and education.

Headquartered in London, the Foundation has an operational head office in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Assosa), Somaliland (Hargeisa), and Rwanda (Kigali) with further expansion plans in Africa

Position Summary

The Agriculture Crop Community Facilitator (ACCF) will work under the direction of the Agriculture Development Programme Unit Coordinator in Assosa to promote communication between stakeholders and increase the capacity of smallholder farmers and development agents. The Agriculture Deveopment Programme Coordinator will teach the Woreda agricultural specialists, development agents, and community facilitators, who will then train the smallholder farmers, resulting in capacity growth across the sector. The Agriculture Crop Community Facilitators will be allocated to work with communities in the Foundation's program kebeles in Menge, Homosha and Undulu Woredas. The Foundation are looking for a capable and committed Agriculture Crop Community Facilitators who are enthusiastic about their role the position plays in the agriculture sector and enjoy making a real impact.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Facilitate the adoption and expansion of improved agricultural practices/technologies like food and cash crops, horticultural crops, improved livestock breeds and management, beekeeping, irrigation practices to small holder farmers.
• Conduct demonstration trials and seed multiplication operations on the farms for selected farmers.
• Organise field days andexperience sharing for Woreda experts, development agents, and farmers on best practices with the assistance of the Agriculture Programme Coordinator in order to scale up better agricultural technology.
• Provide field-based training to agricultural experts, development agent, small holders farmers, cooperative members, private firms, and cooperatives on good agricultural practices, providing recommendations and monitoring progress.
• Advise primary coops in seed multiplication, agronomic practices, post-harvest handling issues, marketing and cooperative topics.
• Provide training on improved livestock production and management including beekeeping practices and awareness creation on hay collection to farmers.
• Support in the selection of Woreda employees, development agent, farmer trainees and follow and assist the implementation of the training.
• Collaborate with government organisations and other partners.
• Data collection and reporting on the use of improved agricultural technologies/practices by gender, yield increase, job creation, number of beneficiaries, percentage of post-harvest and number of post-harvest handling trainees.
• Record and report on pre-harvest and post-harvest yield estimation.
• Pay close attention to targeted participants to improve their quality of life.
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the Programme office and the Agriculture Development Programme Coordinator.

Role: Agriculture Crop Community Facilitator

Location: Menge, Homosha and Undulu Woreda, BGRS

Contract Type: Permanent

Number of Positions: 3

Reporting to: Agriculture Development Programme Coordinator, Assosa Program Office

Job Requirements

 Qualification Requirements

• BSc degree and above in agronomy, general agriculture, plant sciences, crops and/or horticulture crop production-related field, providing the relevant experience and skills in good agricultural practices in agricultural production, livestock production and management skills.
• Minimum five years of proven and progressive work experience in the implementation of community-based agricultural activities, preferably in NGOs.
• Work experience at the field level assisting small-scale farmers with agricultural practices such as crop production and/or livestock management.
• Familiar with the BGRS and of Ethiopia's rural cultural, social, and traditional contexts.
• A motorcycle driving license is mandatory.
• Proficiency with basic computer applications such as word and excel.

 Personal Attributes

• Great attention to detail and a flexible approach to work.
• High professional and ethical standards.
• Structured and process oriented.
• Excellent time and project management skills with the ability to balance multiple priorities.
• Motivated to learn and perform and not afraid to ask questions.
• Willing to challenge the status quo and add value by introducing positive change.
• Excellent communicator and comfortable to work in a team environment.
• Positive outlook and outgoing personality with solid leadership, interpersonal and diplomatic skills.

How to Apply

Review of complete applications will be on a rolling basis. In the event that we identify an outstanding candidate early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested candidates to apply at the earliest possible time. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact short-listed candidates.

Send a detailed CV and Covering Letter, 500-word essay on; What experience have you gained that makes you the most qualified candidate for the role? , One-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts and add where you saw this advertised via email: recruiting.et@pharofoundation.org as a single PDF file by indicating “Agriculture Crop Community Facilitator" in the email subject line.