SENIOR PROGRAMME OFFICER-INCOME DIVERSIFICATION 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 Income Diversification 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 unblock barriers to income diversification for cocoa farmers, thus improving economic resilience, meeting household food security needs, and ultimately contributing toward total household income growth. Income diversification activities will factor in both on-farm diversification – focusing on crops (dual and cash crops) and off-farm income generating opportunities – which will be tailored to open entrepreneurial opportunities. The workstream will then form partnerships with businesses to offtake farmer produce and services, and target creating market linkages with farmers to improve their incomes. To do this it will be critical to identify the activities to develop key supply chains and ensure close working with the cooperative strengthening workstream to ensure farmers have access to the right services and inputs to engage in these new sectors effectively.

We are looking for a candidate with experience working closely with cooperatives and farmers, with a good understanding of economic growth, market systems and agricultural value chains approach. 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 2, including identifying milestones, planning, budgeting and the management of consultants.
• Lead on the regular review of the optimal sectors (at local, regional and international levels) for farmer diversification, maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset to new emerging trends and opportunities and feeding into the programme approach, including regularly meeting potential business partners to understand engagement opportunities and build business cases to secure their engagement on LEAP and work with farmer members.
• Lead and work closely with international consultants, cooperative management, farmers and colleagues on the identification of viable markets for non-cocoa products and services.
• Work closely with cooperative management and workstream 1 leads to cooperative strengthening to identify the necessary services and inputs farmers need to diversify their incomes successfully, building this into the farmer services delivered by the cooperative
• Ensure excellent collaboration and provide support to farmer cooperatives and farmers in building linkages with viable business off-takers for their produce and service, including the development of business modelling, pitches, and marketing support to ensure their access to trade, and training as required
• 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

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 Income Diversification, including representation to internal and external stakeholders, planning and delivery
• Support the LEAP programme manager to implement the 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
• Experience in identifying and supporting sustainable supply chains
• 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 is 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