Agri-Business and Market Development Manager at Centre for Community Development and Research Network (CCDRN)

Job Description

• The Agri-Business and Market Development Manager identifies, designs, and supervises the implementation of interventions that support value chain development for the CCDRN's Agri-based livelihood projects.
• S/he analyzes and strengthens value chains, supports agribusinesses' development through producer organizations, service providers, and value chain enterprises, and establishes sustainable market linkages.
• To be guided by the principles of Market for the Poor (M4P), the Agribusiness Development Manager will support the achievement of the CCDRN's agricultural production, agro-industry, and marketing objectives, principally through leading the organization's capacity-building strategy with the staff, farmer groups, government officials and entrepreneurs in these areas.
• S/he will work closely with Livelihood Advisor and the field-based teams to oversee interventions to increase and improve linkages between farmer groups, business service providers such as micro-finance institutions, aggregators, government, and the private sector; and manage the monitoring and evaluation component. Specifically, the persons will be responsible for the following:

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinates and represents CCDRN in various forums, including with relevant government institutions and the private sector, and updates the donor on the organization's performance in providing sustainable livelihood and pro-poor market linkages for beneficiaries.
• Develop a detailed Monitoring and Evaluation system to measure targeted value chain enterprises' profitability and relevant business indicators.
• Oversees the data collection and monitoring of field activities and documents key qualitative and quantitative changes by beneficiaries.
• Identify markets and supply chain relationships, focusing on market opportunities and sustainable, demand-driven solutions for various livelihood projects.
• Develop, execute, and facilitate training for CCDRN staff, farmer groups, relevant government officials, and entrepreneurs, ensuring all training materials meet the branding and gender requirements.
• Provide technical support for establishing a marketing database to keep farmers, aggregators, and buyers informed of the prevailing market prices of various products and commodities.
• Facilitate access to timely market information by the targeted smallholder farmers and buyers through existing platforms.
• Facilitate business analysis and development of business plans and access to finance for Cooperatives/Associations/Producer Organizations.
• Support exploring business opportunities along the value chain of the selected commodity(ies) and preparing business plans for cooperatives and farm families.
• Build innovation in business development for smallholder farmers and cooperatives and increase efficiency and effectiveness.
• Support beneficiary smallholder farmers with updated technology for reducing post-harvest loss and compliance with quality standards.

Qualifications

• Interested candidates should possess a Bachelor's or Master's Degree with at least 5 years experience.