SENIOR PROGRAMME OFFICER-ACCESS TO FINANCE At Fairtrade Africa

ABOUT US

Established in 2005, Fairtrade Africa (FTA) is a member of Fairtrade International and the umbrella network organization representing Fairtrade-certified Producer Organizations in Africa and the Middle East. It has four (4) regional networks – Eastern & Central Africa; Southern Africa; West Africa; and the Middle East & North Africa. FTA currently represents 1,354,294 farmers and workers in 660 producer organizations spread across 28 countries in Africa and the Middle East by providing services to them that contribute to the improvement of their livelihoods.

ABOUT THE ROLE

FTA is looking to hire a Côte d’Ivoire (CDI) based Workstream Lead for Access to Finance on the Livelihoods Ecosystem Advancement Programme). The Livelihoods Ecosystem Advancement Programme (LEAP), aims to address the root causes of market failures which keep Ivorian cocoa farmers in poverty traps. The programme will deliver tailored interventions across three key areas: cooperative strengthening; access to finance; and income diversification. By the end of the programme, it is anticipated that over 5,200 Ivorian cocoa farmers will benefit from increased incomes. The programme will also test and seek to understand which interventions and/or a combination of interventions drive farmers closer to reaching a living income in CDI.

The aim of this workstream is to address market failures associated with access to finance in cocoa, and ultimately unlock the drivers of investment. This will require an approach from several angles. Firstly, establishing risk-sharing arrangements between appropriate parties and seeking to partner with regional financial bodies to deliver appropriate products and services. Secondly, the workstream will work with cooperatives to develop credit agreements to fund the pre-financing of farmer inputs. Finally, it will be important to engage with farming communities on issues of trust and risk-aversion associated with credit and investments, the importance of building formal financial profiles, kick-starting processes of financial inclusion, and uptake and repayment of safe credit. The endgame would see farmers in a position to utilize pre-financed products and services for farm inputs, rehabilitation and replenishment.

We are looking for a candidate with experience working closely with access to finance interventions, cooperatives and farmers, with a good understanding of rural credit markets, and agricultural value chain assessment approaches. The candidate must be able to build trusted relationships with a wider variety of stakeholders, have good business acumen and good programme management experience, with the ability to develop and manage a work plan and budget for their work, identify resources required, and stakeholder management.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Workstream Management

• Lead, (with the QA of the Programme Manager and UK Programme Lead) the work of Workstream 3, including identifying milestones, planning, budgeting and the management of consultants.
• Work closely with international consultants, cooperative management, farmers and colleagues on the mapping and subsequent relationship building with relevant rural agricultural finance market actors and institutions
• Be the key point of contact for all Ivoirian and regional financial institutions, maintaining relationships and securing their partnership for LEAP.
• Lead on the development of business cases for financial institutions to work with the LEAP programme and farmer groups, with the support of consultants
• Lead on the co-design and development of relevant financial products and services that meet cooperative, farmer and financial institution needs, alongside staff in the banking sector and specialist technical consultants on access to finance.
• Work closely with workstream leads in cooperative strengthening and income diversification to identify farmer financing needs, risk appetite and uptake of financial products and services
• Work closely with specialist consultants on the design and delivery of a multimillion-dollar Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) fund held within the project.
• Be the key point of contact and ensure excellent collaboration with farmer cooperatives and farmers in ensuring their views, direction, concerns and needs are built into the LEAP programme activities
• Maintain an entrepreneurial mindset for the project, staying on top of new trends, innovations, emerging new market actors and feeding back into programme design

Stakeholder Management

• Initiate and maintain relationships with local communities, public and government institutions, and educational institutions among other stakeholders
• Understand producer needs and concerns, and advocate for relevant policies to enhance LEAP’s work with the local opinion leaders and decision-makers.
• Ensure awareness of the local trends, perceptions and players in the local community, including a keen focus on climate and gender
• Advise on how to manage risk and optimise the opportunities
• Influence localized policies and perceptions in favour of FTA and LEAP through the support of the Programme Manager.
• Represent LEAP (and FTA) in country and field events
• Support the needs and situational assessment of producer organizations and propose recommendations to best support Small Producer Organizations

LEAP Programme Support

• Represent and lead the programme work on access to finance, including representation to internal and external stakeholders, planning and delivery
• Support the LEAP programme manager to implement LEAP programme strategy and ensure delivery of programme activities to plan and budget
• Be committed to the programme learning agenda, including raising issues and adapting ways of working according to lessons learned and best practice
• Submit necessary reports on programme activities as per required timelines
• Support and or, participate in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) activities
• Advise on member’s perceptions and attitudes towards the LEAP programme and other stakeholders operating within the region
• Support the identification of opportunities for LEAP programmatic development
• Attend regular programme meetings and be prepared to travel to visit farmers regularly.

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Agriculture or related field

Experience and Knowledge

• A minimum of 3 years experience in agricultural development, microfinance and/or finance institutions
• Experience in identifying and supporting sustainable supply chains from a financial perspective
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience in value chain assessments
• Ability to build business cases to attract private sector partners to work with new businesses
• Knowledge of agricultural development and sustainable business practices
• Knowledge and understanding of market systems approaches are highly desirable
• Thematic knowledge and expertise in FTA’s priority areas

Skills

• Good command of spoken and written English and French
• A keen entrepreneurial mindset, with a natural interest in new trends and innovations in the sector
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to interact with individuals across multi-functional disciplines and a wide variety of stakeholders
• Conflict resolution skills
• Good organizational skills