The Ugandan Jobline

 

Job Title: Associate Agronomy Advisor

Organisation: TechnoServe

Duty Station:  Kayunga, Uganda

Reports to: Senior Agronomy Advisor

 

About US:

TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to
build competitive farms, businesses and industries. We are a nonprofit
organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to
information, capital and markets. With more than four decades of proven
results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.

 

Program Description:

TechnoServe is implementing a four-year coffee agronomy training program
that seeks to improve incomes for 30,000 coffee farming households in Central
and Western Uganda by increasing their coffee farm productivity. This will be
achieved by promoting improved coffee agronomic practices at the farm level
through a two-year structured and farm-based training program based on the
coffee growing cycle.

The training will be conducted by locally recruited and trained Farmer
Trainers (FTs) and delivered in three different cohorts. It is expected that up
to 60% of the target households will adopt at least half of the coffee best
practices, which will translate to at least 50% increase in coffee yields. To
validate the impact of the program on yield increase and attribute the results
to actions of the program, a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) is conducted by external
agencies.

 

Job Summary:  The
Associate Agronomy Advisor shall support the implementation of strategies that
will enable farmers to achieve sustainable increases in coffee quality and
yields.

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

Planning and management of
Farmer Trainers (FTs)

·       Supervise 6 to 8
Farmer Trainers (FTs).

·       Prepare and
submit weekly work plan and monthly training schedules.

·       Collect and
review weekly training plans and attendance data from FT’s. Ensure completeness, accuracy and clarity of data
prior to submission for processing.

·       Clearly
communicate goals and roles and responsibilities to Farmer Trainers.

·       Provide
feedback, coaching and development activities related to performance management.

·       Develop a team spirit among all reports.

Conduct monthly agronomy
training to FTs

·       Model monthly
agronomy training to FTs at local training demonstration plots.

·       Supervise
teach-backs and give feedback to Farmer Trainers.

·       Prepare and
ensure all training materials reach
FTs in a timely manner.

Observe FTs delivering
training to farmers

·       Observe full
training delivered to farmers by assigned Farmer Trainers (FTs).

·       Check attendance
form, cross check with number of farmers seen as present. Ensure reported data is accurate, clear and
complete.

·       Complete
training observation assessment on tablet and give feedback and coaching to the
FT.

·       Each FT must be
observed at least once a month, with a minimum of 9 observations in total per month.

Visit farmer fields and demonstration
plots

·       Visit randomly
selected farmers, discuss training, farmer adoption and challenges and complete best practice check list on tablet.

·       Meet with Focal
Farmer (FF), check demo plot status and discuss any challenges and innovations.

·       Complete
demonstration plot assessment on tablet. Give feedback to FT on improvements required. A minimum of 10 demonstration plot
visits and assessments to be made each month.

Attendance Monitoring

·       Support the FT
to develop strategies to encourage the attendance of women at training.

·       Collect, check
for completion and submit complete set of FTs attendance sheets to the M&E team within 1 week of training completion.

·       Compile weekly
attendance update and discuss any attendance issues with FTs and develop actions to solve problems.

Prepare & check FTs
expenses

·       Collect official
voucher receipts for transport and accommodation and timely submit to Finance.

Stakeholder
Management

·       Create a good
working relationship with stakeholders and manage quarterly update meetings with local
stakeholders including district, sub-county, parish and village leaders.

Program
representation and expansion

·       Lead and manage
the expansion of the agronomy program into a new operational area including needs assessment, stakeholder
sensitization, farmer mobilization, group formation and recruitment of FTs.

·       Be a program
ambassador at the operational area.

·       Provide
translation and contextualization services to high-level visitors.

·       Spearhead
efforts in making the agronomy
program more gender inclusive and conflict sensitive using local customs etc.

·       Provide support
to the Uganda country operations as required.

 

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

·       Bachelor’s
degree in Agriculture, Agronomy, Agribusiness, Crop science, Horticulture or related agricultural
sciences.

·       At least two
years’ professional experience – ideally in the private sector – in one or more
of the following areas:
agriculture, small and medium enterprise development, farmer associations or cooperatives,
project management, financing, engineering, community development.

·       Strong planning
abilities; prior experience working with tight and strict deadlines.

·       Ability to lead
a team and work collaboratively within a team; prior experience managing direct reports.

·       Strong
interpersonal and cross-cultural skills, willingness to spend significant time
in rural areas.

·       Experience
working with farmers is essential.

·       Experience
riding motorcycles and a valid riding permit.

·       Experience
working in the project location
and knowledge of Luganda is essential.

 

Success Factors:

·       Competency is a combination of knowledge,
skills and abilities (KSAs) directly related to successful performance on the
job.

 

 

 

Core Competencies include:

·       Integrity and
honesty: Is widely trusted; seen
as a direct, truthful individual; presents truthful information in an
appropriate and helpful manner; keeps confidences; admits mistakes; does not misrepresent
himself or herself for personal gain.

·       Team Work/
Relationships: Works co-operatively
and flexibly with other members of the team with a full understanding of the
role to be played as a team member and/or leader, to achieve a common goal.
Ability to build and maintain effective relationships and networks.

·       Learning
attitude: Proactively takes
advantage of opportunities to learn. Actively identifies new areas for
learning; applies and shares new knowledge and skill appropriately.

·       Diversity/Inclusiveness:
Demonstrates an understanding and appreciation for diversity and supports diversity efforts. Interacts
effectively with and inclusively with people of all races, cultures,
ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, ages, and genders.

·       Communication:
Expresses ideas effectively in individual and group situations. Listens
effectively; shares information,
ideas and arguments; adjusts terminology, language and communication modes to
the needs of the audience; ensures accurate understanding; acts in a way that
facilitates open exchange of ideas and information; uses appropriate non-verbal
communication.

·       Decision
making/Problem Solving: Is able to analyze situations, diagnose problems,
identify the key issues,
establish and evaluate alternative courses of action and produce a logical,
practical and acceptable solution. Is able to make effective decisions on a
day-to-day basis, taking ownership of decisions, demonstrating sound judgement
in escalating issues where necessary.

·       Results
Oriented/ High Quality Deliverables: Stays focused on the efforts necessary to achieve quality results
consistent with programmatic or departmental goals. Demonstrates the ability to
achieve effective results; works persistently to overcome obstacles to goal
achievement.

Accomplishes
tasks by considering all areas involved, no matter how small; showing concern
for all aspects of the job; accurately checking processes and tasks.

·       Planning &
Time Management: Establishes a course of action for self and/or others to
accomplish a specific goal.
Effectively plans, schedules, prioritizes and controls activities; identifies,
integrates and orchestrates resources (people, material, information, budget,
and/or time) to accomplish goals. Prioritizes work according to the program or
department’s goals, not just own job responsibilities; manages own time
effectively.

·       Business Acumen:
The ability to use information, ask the right questions and take decisions that
make an impact on the overall
business performance.

 

Job Specific/Technical
Competencies include:

·       Partnership/Donor
Management: program staff should
understand and apply techniques to develop, maintain and manage business
relationships with clients, donors and internal or external partners in order
to implement and manage projects and/or identify new business.

·       Financial & Resource Management: an important
competency program staff must possess to enable them budget properly based on
facts and change course when necessary, knowledge of finance to develop and
manage budgets.

·       Innovative
Mindset: program staff should know how to ask questions and seeks out information from multiple sources, learn
from mistakes, and see change as an opportunity.

·       Analysis,
Research, Report Writing: Experience in business planning and analysis,
modeling for feasibility and
execution. Able to analyze and express oneself clearly in business writing.

 

Managerial Competencies
include:

·       Emotional
Intelligence: Empathetic, understands attitudes, interests, needs of others;
predict others behavior.
Self-aware and keeps own emotions from interfering with work. Understanding both
the strengths and limitations of others.

·       Trust to
Delegate: Appropriately allocates decision‐making authority and/or task responsibility to others; maximizes the organization’s and
individual’s effectiveness.

·       Strategic
Thinking: Formulates objectives and priorities, and implements plans consistent
with the long-term interests of
the organization in a global environment. Capitalizes on opportunities and
manages risks.

·       Staff
Development: Planning and supporting the development of individuals’ skills and abilities so that they can
fulfill current or future job responsibilities more effectively.

·       Coaching/Feedback:
Recognizes and acknowledges strengths in others. Provides timely guidance and feedback to help others develop knowledge
and skill areas to accomplish tasks or solve problems.

 

Career Pathways:

The position that might be next career opportunities for employees in this
job title include Agronomy Advisor.

 

How to Apply:

Qualified and interested applicants should submit a resume and cover
letter in one single Microsoft Word document to ug-jobs@tns.org

 

Please identify the position for which you
are applying in the subject
line. Due to a high volume of applicants, please understand that we are able to
contact only those who meet the minimum qualifications. No phone calls, please.

TechnoServe encourages diversity in all levels and across all facets of
our organization. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not
discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation, gender identity, ages, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status,
disability and all other protected classes.

 

Deadline: 24th February 2021 by
close of business

 

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