Job Title: Agribusiness Facilitator
Organisation: Self Help Africa – Uganda
Location: Kiryandongo Town, Uganda
Reports to: Agribusiness Project Manager

About Self Help Africa:

Self Help Africa (SHA) is an international NGO dedicated to the vision of an economically thriving and resilient rural Africa. We have 50 years of experience working with smallholder farmers, farmer associations, cooperatives and agribusinesses across Africa to help farmers grow and sell more food, improve diets, diversify incomes and make their livelihoods more sustainable and resilient to external shocks. SHA also builds awareness of issues affecting smallholders and represents their interests at policy and institutional levels. SHA is currently implementing a portfolio of 32 projects in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Burkina Faso, Togo, Malawi and Zambia, funded by a variety of institutional and private donors including USAID, the European Commission, Irish Aid and World Food Programme.

SHA is a core member of The Gorta Group, alongside three social enterprise subsidiaries – TruTrade, which supports market access for small-holder farmers in the agricultural value-chain; Traidlinks, providing market-linkages to agri-business in East Africa; and Partner Africa, an ethical auditing and consultancy firm that operates across more than 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

Job Purpose:

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The purpose of the job is to facilitate the planning and implementation, monitoring and reporting of project activities directly with beneficiaries and other stakeholders. This includes technical backstopping and other support to beneficiary individuals, farmer organisations and associations and other stakeholders like local CBOs/NGOs and private sector players, who are working with project beneficiaries

Key Responsibilities

R1: Facilitate activity planning and implementation of plans with beneficiaries

  1. Sensitise communities on what the project will do, including project methodologies and approach.
  2. Establish good relationship with local leaders and opinion leaders in the area.
  3. Coordinate mobilisation and scheduling of community and/or group meetings.
  4. Facilitate participatory needs identification and problem analysis and planning exercises.
  5. Make follow-ups to review progress on implementation of the plans.
  6. Prepare reports on group and/or community planning processes in accordance with the project implementation plan.

R2: Liaison and linkage with government officials, local businesses, CBOs and other service providers within the project area.

  1. Promote linkages and cordial relationship with government officials and other NGOs
  2. Identify public and private sector service providers within the project area whose services and activities may be useful to the project beneficiaries
  3. Provide information to the beneficiary communities and groups on existing service providers and businesses in the area.
  4. Support the PM in creating awareness on project activities and approach to government officials, businesses and NGOs in the project area.
  5. Perform any other assignment that may be given to you regarding linkages and liaison with other NGOs, private sector and government.

R3: Supporting institutional and business development for smallholder farmers  and/or farmer groups

  1. Support groups formation and organisational development processes, including registration and development of constitutions and/or group rules
  2. Training group members and leaders in group dynamics, leadership and other aspects of organisational development.
  3. Facilitate access to and dissemination of information on agricultural technologies and related business opportunities
  4. Support the identification and access to appropriate agricultural technologies for enhance production and value addition
  5. Promote the production of extension materials to promote the dissemination of technologies within the communities.
  6. Provide training in VSLAs and other pro-poor financial services to project beneficiaries
  7. Support and train farmer groups and networks in market information systems, market data  collection,  analysis  and  dissemination,  price  determination  and  setting,  and accessing and utilising market information through different channels. Ensure the provision of weekly commodity market price information.

R4: Support the integration of women and other marginalised groups in project activities

  1. Sensitise communities on gender related issues.
  2. Undertake diagnostic studies to understand women’s constraints to full participation in project activities
  3. Using appropriate participatory tools, identify community criteria for wellbeing and how its distributed among the community by gender and other dimensions
  4. Identify and promote measures to enhance the participation of women and other marginalised groups in project activities
  5. Work with M&E Associate to ensure gender concerns are manifested in the project M&E reports
  6. Do any other duties assigned to you by your supervisor concerning the maximisation of women’s and other marginalised groups’ involvement in project activities.

R5: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)

  1. Implement project M&E plans with support from PM and M&E Associate
  2. Participate in data collection based on agreed M&E tools and processes as advised PM and M&E Associate
  3. Facilitate learning, promote peer-learning between staff and partners, participate in relevant national networks and actively engage in organisation level focal groups.
  4. Explore opportunities for positioning, innovation, upscaling and potential follow up projects

Key Relationships

Internal

  • Agribusiness Project Manager, Agri-business Facilitators, Technical Coordinators & other project staff
  • Self Help Africa Uganda Country Programme Staff and administrative staff

External

  • Farmer groups, youth and women groups, government departments, private enterprises, donors, Civil society organisations

Qualifications/Other requirements:

  • Minimum of Diploma in any field (preferably agriculture, extension, social sciences, agribusiness, business administration or related disciplines)
  • Demonstrated knowledge of community facilitation skills
  • Experience in participatory market surveys and value chain analysis of different agricultural commodities
  • Understanding of key aspects of SHA development work; including food, nutrition and livelihood security and cross-cutting themes (e.g. youth, social inclusion, environment, HIV and AIDS);
  • Skills in training and facilitation of community processes, including organization and mobilization of communities and networking among different development partners such as youth groups, community-based organisations, government officers and SHA staff;
  • Outstanding communication, interpersonal and presentation skills management and organizational skills, including proficiency in computer packages especially with MSOffice and other related packages;
  • Commitment to international and humanitarian NGO codes, standards and practises;
  • High level of integrity and high standards of personal conduct;

Desirable

  • Experience working in project geographical region
  • Experience working with farmer groups and private sector actors

Role Competencies:

  • Excellent communication skills
  • Ability to work as part of team across different cultures.
  • Ability to work with minimum supervision and take initiative
  • Ability to solve problems and take corrective action

Download the Job Description

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available and SHA reserves the right to make necessary changes.

How to apply:

Please download the Application Form and fill it in. Qualified candidates should send a completed application form, motivational letter and CV by E-mail to – uganda@selfhelpafrica.net. Please type “Agribusiness Facilitator” – [your name]” in the subject line of the e-mail.

Please note incomplete applications will not be considered for shortlisting.

Closing date is Tuesday 23rd February 2021 at 5pm

Please note that Self Help Africa Uganda advocates for equal opportunity and does not require applicants to pay any fee at whatever stage of the recruitment and selection process. Canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification.

Self Help Africa is committed to the highest possible standards of openness, transparency, and accountability in all its affairs and is completely against fraud, bribery, and corruption. All employees are bound by code of conduct, child protection and conflict of interest policies.

Any candidate offered a job with Self Help Africa will be expected to sign Self Help Africa’s Safeguarding Policies and Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

Police vetting is required.

All applicants are encouraged to read through the following safeguarding policies as you make your applications:

  1. Code of Conduct
  2. Conflict of Interest
  3. Child Protection

Women applicants are highly encouraged; Self Help Africa is an Equal Opportunities Employer

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