Position:                          Senior Project Officer II – Input Production & Supply Entrepreneurship Officer

Term of Employment:   One year with possible extension

Duty Station(s):              Oromia (Based in Addis Ababa), Bahir Dar, Mekelle, and Hawassa.

Required Number:         Oromia (1), Amhara (1), Tigray (1) and SNNP (1) 

Application Deadline:    May 19, 2024

 Please Note: ‘’PLEASE MENTION THE SPECIFIC DUTY STATION/LOCATION THAT YOU ARE APPLYING FOR, BUT IF YOU DON’T MENTION THE SPECIFIC LOCATION YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED”

    “We highly encourage competent FEMALE Candidates.”

 BACKGROUND: 

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) is a strategy and delivery-oriented government Institute created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of the country’s agriculture sector. The ATI envisions to be the leading center of innovative solutions for the transformation of Ethiopian Agriculture by 2030.

The Institute focuses on two primary national approaches to catalyze agricultural transformation. First, we support the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), its affiliate institutions, and other partners to identify and address systemic bottlenecks within an Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Second, we support Regional Governments to accelerate the development of high-priority commodity value chains in clearly defined geographic clusters, through the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) Initiative.

Our major activities include conducting strategic and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support, coordinating platforms to better integrate partners and projects, and designing and directly leading a number of implementation projects. Our headquarters are in Addis Ababa, and we have regional offices in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, Sidama, South-West, and Tigray regional offices, allowing us to work closely with a wide range of public, private, and development sector partners across the country.

 Our Culture

We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results.  Our culture is one where talented, dedicated and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great teamwork to achieve excellent results. 

At ATI, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector.  We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training.  We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our employees with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals

Program and position summary

ATI has designed a program called “Agriculture-focused Dignified Employment for Youth in Ethiopia” (ADEY) to address challenges of young women and men unemployment and increase their participation in the labor market, particularly in the agriculture sector. ATI has mainstreamed youth employment, gender equality, climate-smart, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture in all its programs and projects with the primary objectives of increasing access to sustainable and inclusive job opportunities for youth, inclusivity, and the sustainable use of natural resources while building resilience capacities to shocks at all levels.

ATI, among others, currently works with more than 3 million smallholder farmers (540,300 are women and youth) engaged in the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) and digital agriculture programs designed to improve smallholder farmers’ production and productivity while supporting other actors along the value chain.

Taking ATI’s reputable experience, ADEY program was designed to create inclusive and dignified employment opportunities for over six hundred thousand youths in ACC regions and Somali. The program will focus on several streams such as agriculture and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to strengthen access to agricultural input and output markets and finance; improve the competitiveness of youth-owned MSMEs through capacity-building activities; enhance the skills and mindsets of young women and men through technical and business skill development and create an enabling environment for employment opportunities through policy interventions. Like ACC, ADEY will operate along commodity value chains, largely using ACC infrastructures and complement the different ACC outcomes in general and outcome and outcome four (engagement of women and youth) in particular. The project on seed production, processing, and marketing and other seed sector value chains will be implemented in seven regions (Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, Sidama, South Ethiopia, Southwestern Ethiopia, central Ethiopia). Specifically, employment opportunities for youth, predominantly young women, will focus on youth engagement in seed production, processing and marketing, and supporting them in business networking.

 Position Summary

The regional senior project officer II (SPO-II) will be responsible for implementing and coordinating the overall interventions planned in ADEY program. He/she will work at the regional Agricultural Transformation Center and strive to achieve its planned objectives with measurable outcomes. To achieve this, he/she will be responsible for planning, implementation, monitoring/supervision, and coaching of interventions implemented with other local partners in the region. He/she will be responsible for data collection, reporting, documentation, and sharing of lessons, as per the ATI and donor standards. .

He/she will report to the regional program manager. He/she will closely work with all ACC and staff other ADEY staff. Besides, He/she will closely work in collaboration with the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, Bureau of Labor and Skills, Cooperative Promotion Agencies, and ADEY program implementing partners, under the guidance of the program manager.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Proactively assess, identify and promote potential and viable agri-business ideas in seed production and marketing sector for youth employment, predominantly young women.

• Facilitate to formation of youth groups to engage them in different agribusiness activities, particularly input production, processing and value addition, and marketing.

• Establish strong linkages and collaboration with key partners and stakeholders to effectively implement program activities in the region.

• Provide technical advice and guidance to youth beneficiaries in the process of agri-business planning and development.

• Provide technical support to agri-entrepreneurs to help them improve their business and organizational management skills.

• In collaboration with other staff, develop and ensure proper use of technical guidelines and training materials for capacity development of local partners and youth beneficiaries.

• Plan, implement, and monitor cost driver activities, and produce and submit quality reports to the regional program manager.

• Provide policy and technical support to service providers, including private sectors and government agencies, to play roles in promoting and strengthening agricultural input business development by youths. 

• Facilitate the formation and functioning of youth advisory groups in collaboration with key regional partners.

• Facilitate linkages of youth groups and enterprises to markets, different service providers, input suppliers aggregation centers.

• Support and advise youths on standard requirements and procedures of business registration, agri-investment, revenue and tax administration, and access to finance.

• Ensure gender and safeguarding are mainstreamed in the grain production and processing business activities.

• Closely support and work with young women groups, associations, cooperatives and offices of women affairs to ensure participation and benefits of the young women. 

Job Requirements

• Minimum of Master’s Degree in Seed Science, Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, Agri-business, Rural Development, Business Management and related field of studies.

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience and at least 8 years’ work experience in designing and implementing projects on youth employment in agricultural value chains

• Very good knowledge and experience of the Ethiopian Agricultural system in general and input supply system in particular.

• Extensive experience in identifying, forming, and supporting different models of agri-business, preferably in seed business.

• Strong technical skills and knowhow agricultural input production, processing, value addition and marketing.

• Very good knowledge and skill and in business training: skill development training, agricultural input business development, and entrepreneurship.

• Extensive experience in implementation n and management of donor-funded projects.

• Very good experiences in multistakeholder collaboration and partnership.

• Very good skills in business plan development and business advisory services for and entrepreneurship development.

• Strong analytical capabilities, problem-solving, and reporting skills.

• Ability and willingness to work under pressure and deliver quality results. Strong teamwork skills.

• Proficiency in computer and internet-based communication tools. .

• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

• Proficiency in English and Amharic, and knowledge of the regional language is required.

How to Apply

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to submit (i) a cover letter and (ii) a CV (maximum 5 pages) to THIS LINK

It is mandatory to mention the position title under the subject line of your cover letter.

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

NB. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.