Summary

The Junior Agronomist will be responsible for supporting the adoption of climate smart technologies by farmers and service providers in the potato value chains. S/he will support specific climate smart field-based activities and extension systems linked to inclusive business cases, which are potentially supported through the project’s climate innovation and investment facility funds for interventions and scaling.  S/he will work in coordination with the Project Coordinator , Senior Agronomist and the M&E Advisor to contribute to cost/benefit analyses which will underpin the investments for effective climate resilient production systems.

Responsibilities

• Support the co-design of climate smart interventions based on farming systems approach and farmer typology and profiling;
• Support the training and coaching of extension service providers on climate smart practices and technology adoption;
• Support extension providers in delivering needs-based and practical trainings to male, female and young farmers;
• Support the testing of profitable climate smart innovations with smallholder farmers in collaboration with the research partners;
• Contribute to improved service delivery to farmers by cooperatives, agri-SMEs and service providers in collaboration with consortium partners;
• Support SMEs in the promotion, market uptake and scaling of evidence-based climate smart technologies;
• Support the provision of tailormade information to producers and SME’s on crop suitability, climate risks and cost effectiveness/viability of interventions;
• Support the identification and analysis of the barriers for the uptake of climate smart technologies and formulate recommendation to SME’s, financial institutions and government;
• Support the brokering and creation of improved linkages between farmers, cooperatives, public and private service providers and other relevant stakeholders through the development of inclusive business cases;
• Contribute to learning on scaling CSA.

Education and Qualifications

• A relevant academic qualification in agronomy, Agriculture, or related field
• Minimum of 2-5 years of experience of working in agronomy advisory and/or agribusiness development

Requirements

• Knowledge of technical aspects of prioritized commodities (pulses, oilseed and grains) and farming systems in east Africa;
• Experience in famer extension, SME advising, and agribusiness case development;
• Experience in climate smart agriculture design and financial analysis of climate smart technologies will be an added advantage;
• Experience working with female entrepreneurs and gender integration approaches, as well as young agri-enterpreneurs;
• Knowledge climate smart innovation and farmer adoption;
• Experience with result-based service provision and farmer organization strengthening;
• Excellent communication (written and oral), reporting and presentation skills;
• Willingness to travel to all project locations.