District Portfolio Manager at Land O’Lakes Venture37: (Deadline 13 February 2023)

District Portfolio Manager at Land O’Lakes Venture37: (Deadline 13 February 2023)

Job Description

District Portfolio Manager

Orora Wihaze Activity

District level, Rwanda

Background:

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening agriculture from farm-to-fork, helping businesses grow, and linking farmers to markets. Since our start in 1981, we have been leveraging nearly 100 years of expertise in crop inputs, agricultural insights, dairy and animal nutrition from our close affiliate, Land O’Lakes, Inc., a farmer-owned agribusiness committed to fulfilling its purpose of feeding human progress.

Our team is made up of nearly 350 employees who are committed to market-led approaches, and passionate about collaborating locally to create lasting inclusive economic growth. By unlocking the potential of agriculture for the last 36 years, the lives of more than 3 million people have been transformed through nearly 300 programs in more than 80 countries.

Project Description:

The Feed the Future Rwanda Orora Wihaze (Raise Animals for Self-Sufficiency) Activity is a USD $13.8M five-year (October 2019 – September 2024) Market System Development project that works with local partners and private sector actors in Rwanda to strengthen the animal sourced foods (ASF) market system. Implemented under a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contract, the project works across 8 districts of Rwanda including Burera, Gakenke, Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, Rutsiro, Ngororero, Kayonza and Ngoma Districts. The goal of Orora Wihaze is to sustainably increase the availability of access to, and consumption of ASF through the development of a profitable market. This will be achieved by a selection of interventions under two broad objectives i) Private Sector-Led ASF Value Chains Strengthened; ii) Increase Demand for ASF Consumption for Women and Children. To accomplish this goal, Orora Wihaze seeks to remove production, marketing and consumption constraints affecting dietary diversity of households, especially for women of reproductive age and children of 6-23 months. For households that do not produce or sell ASF, Orora Wihaze will enhance access to safe ASF through development of the existing market system.

The Orora Wihaze activity uses a private sector oriented, market facilitation approach to achieve the intended goal. The approach must sustainably increase livestock productivity, improve relationships across actors in the ASF value chains, build capacity of enterprises in the ASF sector, facilitate access to finance and increase private sector investments in ASF value chains.

Position Summary:

The District Portfolio Manager (DPM) will be located at the district level and will serve as the frontline facilitator of Orora Wihaze activities and will be responsible for supporting livestock production and marketing activities and agribusiness development initiatives across two districts: Nyamagabe and Nyamasheke Districts. The DPM will establish relationships and coordinate closely with key private sector and public sector stakeholders, finance institutions (e.g. MFIs, SACCOs, and other lending institutions), and other development implementers to facilitate market-led activities. The DPM will be paired with a project District Nutrition Advisor to integrate market-led activities with nutrition sensitive approaches in alignment with project objectives.  The DPM will liaise closely the Orora Wihaze head office (based in Kigali) to continuously provide feedback and learning for the project.

Reporting & Supervision:

The District Portfolio Manager (DPM) will report to the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP).

Primary Responsibilities:

• Facilitate district level interventions to support livestock production and marketing activities, and oversee agribusiness development initiatives;
• Develop key stakeholder relationships with private sector and Government of Rwanda entities, financial institutions, and other development activities that are operational in the selected districts;
• Identify key SME partners for investment and scaling and develop engagement agreements (EAs) with the project to facilitate potential co-investment;
• Provide input to specific activity design processes that facilitate partner access to the market innovation funds under the project implementation approach
• Oversee the implementation of ongoing partnerships with various market actors Coordinate with local district officials during the implementation of project market systems analyses to identify suitable technical support to entrepreneurs and MSMEs to improve market logistics and increase market information in the ASF value chain;
• Collaborate with key local financial institutions to raise awareness of SME financing opportunities and constraints in the ASF sector, develop innovative finance models to support agribusiness development; and coordinate closely with both the Monitoring & Evaluation Manager and the Market Systems Change Advisor to gather robust, real-time data to inform project learning and adaptation.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• A valid motorcycle driving license (category A) and demonstrated ability to drive a motorcycle
• Bachelor’s degree in animal production, international development, finance, agriculture, economics, food science or related field (with experience in livestock related agribusiness) of study is desirable;
• Five (5) years or more of progressively responsible work experience in supporting district-level agriculture and agribusiness activities of similar scope and complexity to that of Orora Wihaze;
• Experience working with a wide range of key agriculture sector stakeholders at the district level including private sector agribusinesses, district level government entities and the donor community, as well as civil society organizations (e.g., farmer organizations and cooperatives, NGOs, CBOs, etc.);
• Experience supporting collaborative, participatory livestock production and market development efforts in communities with similar levels of education, risk tolerance, habits related to ASF consumption in Rwanda;
• Extensive networks of public and private sector stakeholders, as well as relationship management and networking skills;
• Ability to implement project activities with a high-degree of autonomy; and
• Oral and written fluency in Kinyarwanda, as well as in depth knowledge of the local operating environment in Rwanda, is desirable.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No phone calls will be accepted.

Land O’Lakes Venture37 will never ask you for personabale identifiable information, and we will never request money or payment during the recruitment or employment process. Please submit any questions or concerns to: [email protected]

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is an equal opportunity employer and an organization striving to help global communities thrive through agriculture. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status, among other factors. Our culture values a diversity of voices. So, bring us your unique experiences, your workstyle, and your dreams — they’ll only make us stronger.

Candidates need to send a Cover letter and CV. All those documents should be sent through email: [email protected] , Application deadline is 13th February 2023.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be called for an interview.