5 Job Positions at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 21 February 2023)

5 Job Positions at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 21 February 2023)

Finance Advisor at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 21 February 2023)

USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

Access to Finance Advisor

CNFA

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.

Program Description USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

The purpose of the Modernizing Agriculture Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.

Position Description

Reporting to the Finance & Investment Director, the Access to Finance Advisor is responsible for leading, designing, and facilitating implementation of project activities aimed at increasing access to finance for farmers (so they can increase the productivity of nutritious products) and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) working in the agriculture sector (so they are better equipped to deliver services, goods, and value-addition to farmers producing nutritious products). The Access to Finance Advisor is based in Kigali.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main duties of the Access to Finance Advisor include, but are not limited to:

• Facilitate capacity building for banks and other financial institutions to increase their understanding of the agriculture sector, improve their products and services; and enhance inclusion of women, youth, and other marginalized groups
• Facilitate MSME access to BDS providers to increase borrowers’ ability to access financing and investment with bankable business plans and coherent financial projections
• Ensure agribusinesses are “investment ready” and prepared to participate in ModAg pitch fairs
• Collaborate with the Financial Literacy Advisor to improve farmers’ and agribusinesses’ financial literacy skills in a socially inclusive manner, including but not limited to use of the CAES approach
• Collaborate across program components, especially technical advisors, to identify and facilitate access to appropriate financial products for market actors
• Support the development of input-financing models for Farm Service Centers and contract farming approaches
• Support the design and implementation of activities to improve and increase awareness of financial products and services and increase their availability to the agriculture sector (including farmers, cooperatives, and SMEs)
• Support the design of and implement activities that address liquidity shortages experienced by MSMEs and provide technical assistance for financial institutions on products that meet these needs such as index-based weather insurance, warehouse financing, and cash-flow-based lending;
• Engage with the private sector to increase value chain financing using approaches including but not limited to second tier lending
• Identify opportunities to increase access to finance through digital financial tools
• Support borrowers to better define and present their financing needs to lenders and investors
• Identify opportunities for blended finance to reduce the risk of financing in the agriculture sector
• Coordinate and collaborate with other access-to-finance development programs and other relevant market actors to co-create solutions to identified market constraints and harmonize approaches
• Collaborate with the with the Gender & Social Inclusion Advisor to ensure vulnerable groups have access to finance
• Support the completion of initial assessments to inform and guide activities over the life of project, including the Market Systems Baseline
• Coordinate with the MEL unit to participate in M&E, learning, and programmatic reporting activities, including the development of annual work plans, quarterly and annual reports
• Undertake other assignments or tasks at the request of the Chief of Party or designee.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Finance, Business Administration or a related field;
• At least 8 years of professional experience in banking, micro-finance, rural and agriculture investment finance; business development services, and private sector development for donor-funded projects, non-profit organizations, and private sector banking for donor-funded projects.
• Technical experience with INGOs (non-governmental organizations) and INGO procedures, knowledge of USAID procedures a plus;
• Significant experience and competence in drafting and advising on agri-business and SME/MSME business plans, forecasting profit/loss, etc. with strong ability to understand and address financing needed of entrepreneurs and businesses.
• Demonstrated ability to interact and communicate with wide range of stakeholders both verbally and in writing;
• Effective at collaboration; willingness to innovate and ability to think systematically;
• Proven experience in managing multiple and competing tasks while maintaining quality of deliverables within deadlines;
• Fluent speaker of English, Kinyarwanda, also French is an advantage.

Application Instructions

All interested and qualified Candidate can send their application (motivation letter, updated CV, certificates and references) documents to: ModAg@cnfarwanda.org not later than 21^st February 2023 at 6:00 PM.  Please quote the job title in the subject.  Only candidates selected for interview will be notified.

 

ICT for Agriculture (ICT4Ag) Advisor at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 21 February 2023)

USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

ICT for Agriculture (ICT4Ag) Advisor

CNFA

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.

Program Description USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

The purpose of the Modernizing Agriculture Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.

Position Description

Reporting to the Director of Agriculture Productivity, the ICT4Ag Advisor is responsible for promoting and strengthening the availability and use of appropriate, customized and impactful ICT solutions in agriculture in Rwanda through the collaboration with project partners and stakeholders. The ICT4Ag Advisor will work extensively with the private sector and public institutions to enhance institutional and grassroots capacity in the use of ICT in agriculture for an increased efficiency of agricultural value chains. The ICT4Ag Advisor is based in Kigali.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main duties of the ICT4Ag Advisor include, but are not limited to:

• Provide technical advice and support in the development and implementation of ICT4Ag strategies to increase the use of ICT solutions in agriculture and strengthen the ICT4Ag ecosystem
• Conduct the above in collaboration with partners including public institutions, the Government of Rwanda, educational institutions, and the private sector (including but not limited to technology companies, agribusinesses, and financial institutions) to ensure buy-in and sustainability
• Facilitating and promoting strategic partnership opportunities with private institutions in strengthening the implementation of ICT solutions in agriculture sector;
• Lead the project interventions in mainstreaming ICT in agriculture value chain to foster innovation and increase customized ICT solutions that address Rwanda’s agriculture challenges through affordable and tailored ICT solutions
• Organize and coordinate capacity-building programs for ICT in agriculture entrepreneurs to improve their businesses and their capacity to provide services to farmers and value chain players while also facilitating their access to additional resources.
• Organize capacity building and outreach activities to ICT for agriculture users (i.e., farmers, agrodealers, food processors, financial institutions, etc.), to increase the adoption of ICT solutions in their activities.
• Contribute to the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework (including reporting), in close collaboration with Agriculture productivity Director and the MEL Director;
• Coordinate with relevant technical leads in the field and the Kigali-based technical and administrative management units to ensure smooth implementation of ICT4Ag activities;
• Coordinate with the ModAg grants and Catalytic Service Provider (CSP) team to ensure ICT4Ag-related grants and CSP contracts align with ICT4Ag mainstreaming strategies
• Collaborate with the Gender and Social Inclusion Advisor to ensure all activities under the Advisor’s scope are inclusive of women, youth, and other marginalized groups
• Undertake other assignments or tasks at the request of the Agriculture productivity Director, the DCOP and/or the Chief of Party.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Agriculture or related field, Communications, Value Chain Development, International Development or a related field;
• At least 3-5 years of progressively responsible work in the design and/or implementation of information and communication technology for development (ICT4D), including agriculture extension services, agricultural services, or other similar digital development initiatives related to agriculture;
• Proven experience and understanding of application of ICT in agriculture at all levels of value chain i.e., input management, production, postharvest management, marketing, transportation, etc.
• Applied understanding and knowledge of local ICT4Ag practices and use cases
• Experience in leading capacity building activities for smallholder farmers, farmers cooperatives, and private sector in agriculture;
• Demonstrated experience working with complex donor-funded project(s) related to agricultural productivity, value chain development, private sector investment management and/or access to finance preferred;
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with wide range of stakeholders both verbally and in writing,
• Effective at collaboration; willingness to innovate and ability to think systematically;
• Proven experience in managing multiple and competing tasks while maintaining quality of deliverables within deadlines;
• Advanced oral and written communication skills in English and Kinyarwanda required, French considered an asset.

Application Instructions

All interested and qualified candidates can send their application (motivation letter, updated CV, certificates and references) documents to: ModAg@cnfarwanda.org not later than 21st February 2023 at 6:00 PM.  Please quote the job title in the subject.  Only candidates selected for interview will be notified.

 

 

Nutrition/Food Systems Advisor at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 21 February 2023)

USAID/Modernizing Agriculture Activity

Nutrition/Food Systems Advisor

CNFA

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.

Program Description USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity:

The purpose of the Modernizing Agriculture Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ nutrition and market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.

Position Description:

Under the guidance and supervision of the Nutrition and Market Development Director, the Nutrition/Food Systems Advisor will provide technical guidance on ModAg nutrition and food system strategies, design, and implementation. S/he will provide technical support to the project staff and nutrition stakeholders, and generate evidence to enhance the demand for and supply of nutritious foods in the market. S/he will contribute to achieving the overall goal of improving income and nutrition for healthy, productive, and resilient households, including vulnerable populations, especially women, and children aged 0-59 months.  This position will report to the Nutrition and Market Development Director. The position is based in Kigali.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Guide the technical aspects of the project regarding nutrition outcomes. Ensure that activities are implemented in compliance with the requirements of the donor and in line with market-based approaches to promote nutrition best practices. Develop work plans and activity budgets for the project and build the capacity of the project staff and relevant market actors.
• Develop and maintain a detailed understanding among project staff of the nutrition issues at the market level in Rwanda including national policy development, key players in government, INGOs, UN, national and local civil society organizations and private sector.
• Facilitate and where necessary lead the development of training manuals, tools, procedures, materials in market to nutrition management, food fortification and dietary diversification practices. Work with the technical teams and relevant market actors to organize and facilitate training programs on best practices and innovations in nutritious foods’ marketing and nutrition and provide technical support to ensure effective nutrition messaging in market places.
• Integrate gender transformative and socially inclusive strategies to food system interventions to increase leadership, income generating opportunities, and access to/utilization of nutrient-rich foods by women, adolescents, and children.
• Maintain networks with key stakeholders relevant in the field of nutrition in Rwanda. Engage with the private sector (including the Scaling Up Nutrition Business groups and private sector clusters and market actors’ groups) to leverage expertise, and resources to deliver sustainable and scalable access to locally available nutritious foods (proxy healthy diet as determined by the project), such as high-quality grains, aflatoxin-free peanuts, soy beans, milk, premixes and micronutrient supplements.
• Support the coordination and implementation of nutrition market system activities related to the project as outlined in the detailed implementation plan.
• Work in close collaboration with all identified stakeholders to improve value additions capacity for food processing that supports healthy diet through fortification (biofortification and food fortification using country identified micro-fortificants).
• Work with the public, private sector, cooperatives and all market actors in increasing access (physical and financial), demand, and consumption of nutritious agricultural foods and products
• Work in collaboration with other components and stakeholders to develop sustainable strategies that can increase availability and use of genetic material for bio-fortified foods and promote the existing high value and/or nutritious crops (High Iron Beans, Orange Sweet Fresh Potatoes and Horticulture)
• Utilize market facilitation approaches to strengthen input and output market systems and increase access to and affordability of nutritious food in rural identified markets.
• Support the development of behavioral change communications, social mobilization, and events to increase income and improve nutritional outcomes through Social Marketing, Behavior change and gender messages.
• Contribute to timely, accurate, and appropriate reporting of program activities and results to the donor, including progress reports and annual reports
• Work collaboratively with project staff to ensure learning and steering of activities, proper financial projections, reporting, spending, and compliance with project terms and conditions.
• Ensure all component deliverables are met on time and of high quality.
• Promote and support the dissemination of best practices among the project teams.
• Establish and maintain a productive relationship with key stakeholders, including private sector, government officials, NGOs, and community groups for smooth implementation.
• Other duties as assigned by the Chief of Party or designee.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in nutrition, public health, or relevant discipline required, plus min. 5 years of relevant experience
• Additional education may substitute for some experience
• At least 5 years of experience working within market systems development contexts and/ or applying nutrition-sensitive principles to private sector strengthening for economic growth and nutrition outcome objectives
• Demonstrated agriculture nutrition-sensitive and/or food systems and market development experience, ideally in USAID programming
• Familiarity with USAID funded programs and working for an International NGO would be an asset.
• Effective team player, able to develop and maintain effective working relationships.
• Flexible, creative and problem solving-oriented
• Fluent in English and Kinyarwanda
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work in fast-paced environment, report writing and presentation skills
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Application Instructions

All interested and qualified Candidate can send their application (motivation letter, updated CV, certificates and references) documents to: ModAg@cnfarwanda.org not later than 21st February 2023 at 6:00 PM.  Please quote the job title in the subject.  Only candidates selected for interview will be notified.

 

 

Post-Harvest Handling (PHH) Advisor at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 21 February 2023)

USAID/Modernizing Agriculture activity

Post-Harvest Handling (PHH) Advisor

CNFA

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.

Program Description USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

The purpose of the Modernizing Agriculture Activity (ModAg) is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ nutrition and market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.

Position Description

Under the supervision of the Nutrition and Market Development Director, the Post-Harvest Handling (PHH) Advisor will be responsible for ModAg’s efforts to improve value-addition and PHH related to high and/or nutritious value chains and food products. S/He will facilitate capacity building for Large, Small and Medium Enterprises (LSMEs), as well as smallholder farmers, cooperatives, aggregators, agro-dealers and, agro-processors in improving their post-harvest handling and food safety practices and systems. S/He will be responsible for designing and overseeing all program food safety, post-harvest and processing activities. S/He will collaborate with the ModAg Market Access Advisor to improve food safety and handling issues at marketplaces where there is room for improvement at the stages of transport, storage, packing and retail distribution. The PHH Advisor is based in Kigali.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main duties of the PHH Advisor are:

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of ModAg post-harvest-related partnerships
• Support ModAg in feasibility assessments, design and delivery of technical assistance to post-harvest and processing enterprises and suppliers;
• Identify, engage and catalyze relevant stakeholders (both public and private) to develop and propose user friendly and efficient post-harvest production processing activities
• Provide expertise and training on post-harvest approaches, systems, procedures and processes including usage, accounting for profit and loss, processing activities, maintenance of facilities, etc.
• Develop or adapt existing training curricula for PHH actors on appropriate post-harvest techniques at commodity level to extend shelf life, increase quality levels and reduce losses during harvest, packaging, transport and storage;
• Coordinate with staff across components to design, develop, and teach appropriate procedures and processes for postharvest handling and food safety and related facility operations;
• Coordinate with the Environmental Advisor to ensure adherence to USAID (22 CFR 216) and Rwanda environmental compliance requirements
• Collaborate with the Gender and Social Inclusion Advisor to identify and implement inclusive strategies in partnership with the private sector.
• Contribute to data collection and reporting.
• Other duties as assignment by the Chief of Party or designee.

Qualifications

• Minimum of Bachelors’ degree required in Food Science and technology, marketing and/or post-harvest technology, Masters’ degree preferred;
• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in food safety emphasizing post-harvest handling and storage with at least 3 years within the Development Project sector;
• Knowledgeable on current innovations in PHH technologies relevant in the context of Rwanda agriculture sectors;
• Strong interpersonal skills with evidence of ability to engage productively with a wide
  range of organizations, beneficiaries, and related parties (e.g., producers, government,
  private sector, non-governmental organizations, and research and training institutions);
• Private sector experience working with a major agricultural supplier and/or exporter in high value agricultural products will be an advantage;
• Experience working on USAID or other donor-funded programs a plus;
• Familiar with USAID (22 CFR 216) and Rwanda environmental compliance requirements;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel;
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work in a fast-paced environment;
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously;
• Fluency in English and Kinyarwandan;

Application Instructions

All interested and qualified Candidate can send their application (motivation letter, updated CV, certificates and references) documents to: ModAg@cnfarwanda.org not later than 21st February 2023 at 6:00 PM.  Please quote the job title in the subject.  Only candidates selected for interview will be notified.

 

 

Social Marketing and Behavior Change Integration Advisor at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 21 February 2023)

USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

Social Marketing and Behavior Change Integration Advisor

CNFA

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.

Program Description USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

The purpose of the Modernizing Agriculture Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.

Position Description

Reporting to the Market Systems Team Lead, the Social Marketing and Behavior Change Integration Advisor will develop behavior communications interventions to increase demand and consumption of nutritious foods and promote positive income use and nutritional behaviors. In this context, the Social Marketing and Behavior Change Integration Advisor will ensure the quality of the theoretical design of the social communications activities and market penetration for nutritious foods, and the creativity and impact of the behavior communications interventions themselves. The position will work with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Unit and Communication Director to ensure that the impact of the Social Marketing and behavior change activities is measured and evaluated for constant learning, adaptation and improvement.  The position will be based in Kigali, Rwanda.

Duties and Responsibilities

The duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provide strategic leadership and vision for ModAg social marketing behavioral interventions, identifying strategies that support public and private actors to facilitate behavior change.
• In collaboration with Market Access Advisor, develop the list of high value and/or nutritious food crops and products to promote
• Strengthen existing and develop new and promising market-oriented strategies to increase the sales, profitability and consumption of these nutritious foods, increase availability, access and affordability of these foods for smallholder rural farmers
• Work closely with the ModAg field staff at the provincial and district levels to understand and apply market-based approaches to nutrition behavioral science tools and approaches to select and integrate evidence-based behavior change techniques into behavior-centered interventions
• Coordinate social marketing behavioral assessments (quarterly basis under direction by MEL Director) of the existing and new private sector market for related selected crops, food products and services
• Build on successes and lessons learned from other programs engaged in social marketing and behavior change agenda in Rwanda or in similar contexts.
• Promote and support the dissemination of evidence based-best practices among the project teams and other stakeholders, as relevant
• Support market actors to test, market and promote new food products
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with relevant government ministries and private sector actors partners and ensure that ModAg is represented at technical working groups
• Collaborate with the Gender and Social Inclusion Advisor to ensure all activities and approaches are inclusive of women, youth, and other marginalized groups.
• Contribute to timely, accurate, and appropriate reporting of program activities and results to the donor, including progress reports and annual reports
• Implement other duties as determined by the COP or his/her delegee.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in social science, public health, or relevant discipline required, plus a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience.

• Additional education may substitute for some experience
• Demonstrated agriculture food systems and market development experience, ideally in USAID or GoR programming.
• Knowledgeable on nutrition behavioral science tools and approaches
• Experience working within market systems development contexts and applying social behavior analyses into interventions, particularly to foster behavioral change services through the relevant market actors
• Familiarity with USAID-funded programs and working for an International NGO preferred
• Effective team player, able to develop and maintain effective working relationships.
• Flexible, creative and problem solving-oriented
• Fluent in English and Kinyarwanda, French skills considered an asset
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work in fast-paced environment, report writing and presentation skills.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Application Instructions

All interested and qualified Candidate can send their application (motivation letter, updated CV, certificates and references) documents to: ModAg@cnfarwanda.org not later than 21st February 2023 at 6:00 PM.  Please quote the job title in the subject.  Only candidates selected for interview will be notified.