Vegetable Business Officer

Overview

To establish vegetable aggregation centers in several counties in liaison with the implementing partners in the Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P) project, government partners, and private sector, and facilitate a sustainable and replicable aggregation center business model.

Duties and responsibilities

• Develop feasibility studies and business plans for the establishment and operation of pilot vegetable aggregation centers in 3 different counties in Kenya, based on the concept note that has been developed by V4P&P.
• Quantify project revenue streams based on sale of produce, logistics, business development services, storage, value addition, member fees, and other fees. Develop a cost structure for the aggregation centers.
• Liaise with the anticipated clients of the aggregation centers, such as vegetable producers, agro-input providers, service providers, transporters, traders, and buyers, derived from existing vegetable business networks (VBNs) in the project.
• In liaison with the project communication officer, media, other stakeholders, and field days, promote the values of the aggregation centers and its products among consumers and the wider community.
• Promote accountability, transparency, and good leadership.
• Monitor and document the operation of aggregation centers for the purpose of learning, sharing lessons with stakeholders, and reporting.
• Manage other activities: identification and acquisition of land, design of aggregation center, building of infrastructure, consultative meetings with stakeholders, set up a management committee for each center, capacity building of management committees.
• Identify and mitigate potential risks within your work area.
• Take reasonable care of own occupational health and safety and that of others as obliged by CIFOR-ICRAF’s Occupational Health and Safety Policy and cooperate with CIFOR-ICRAF in complying with requirements under any statutory health and safety provisions of relevant Country laws.
• Liaise with V4P&P project to coordinate complementary activities.
• Perform any other duties assigned by the Kenya Country Director.

Education, knowledge and experience

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in agricultural economics, agribusiness, or related field.
• Minimum three years’ experience in agricultural value chains, facilitating upstream and downstream linkages.
• Proven experience in building capacity of agricultural enterprises.
• Proven experience in liaising with public-, and private partners, and linking smallholder farmers to markets, particularly for perishable products.

Personal attributes and competencies

• Excellent computer skills in MS‐office applications (Word, Excel, Power point).
• Team player with excellent communication skills in spoken and written English and Kiswahili.
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to interact with partners and colleagues in a multi-cultural setting.

The application deadline is 22 Mar, 2023