Agricultural Extension Officer at Corus International

Job Brief

• The Agriculture Extension Officer will be supporting the Government of Nigeria agriculture extension agents, farmers, and input suppliers on the range of products and services available for uptake in the cocoa sector. The AEO will provide technical support, training, and monitoring support.

Position Summary

• The Agricultural Extension Officer will report to the Program Technical Advisor and overall supervise by the Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP).

Job Description

• Provide technical leadership and guidance in planning and implementation of TRACE activities of project location in collaboration with project partners and relevant government agencies.
• Mobilize farmer groups to get into & cocoa production/traceability system and ensure group social cohesion, organization, and management.
• Provide technical support to lead farmers to cascade training using the developed curriculum package of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Good Agronomic Practices (GAP) for Cocoa cropping and advise/ train the growers to adopt the same to ensure increased yield & productivity.
• Support cocoa producer groups to self-organize, increase their financial, technical, and organizational skills, access financial services, and establish Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) and products.
• Support and Monitoring of weather, cocoa traceability & other developments to update production estimates and assess the impact of various scenarios on yields.
• Input distribution and credit accounting, if needed.
• Build and sustain reliable LWR's Producer Enterprise Agent (PEA) and cocoa producer groups/associations based in the catchment areas (Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Abia, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom States) and ensure a sustainable supply of high-quality products for private sector partners (Cocoa trading companies/processors).
• Support quality cocoa seedling production through commercial seedling producers (youth & women enterprise) and participating farmers.
• Support the private extension agents from the cocoa trading companies to build an operational team to run the farming out-grower program - Scheduling operations as well as resources and monitoring the activities in the field to achieve production and buyback targets.
• In coordination with the MEL Director and MEL analysts, ensure timely and quality capturing of MEAL data on TRACE activities and project components.
• Prepare monthly update, quarterly, and annual work plans, budgets, and technical reports on project activities as part of the overall program planning and reporting cycle.
• Represent LWR in cocoa forums.
• Provide effective management, coaching, and support to Project lead farmers, LWR Producer Enterprise Agents, Producer groups, and intermediaries (input suppliers, distributors, transporters, and Licensed Buying Agents (LBA)s).
• Facilitate and implement a schedule of post-training field inspections to monitor training quality and adoption of training.
• Ensure that TRACE related activities are implemented in accordance with LWR standards and approaches.

Key Deliverables

• Improved productivity and increased production volumes for farmers
• Management of out-grower, LWR Producer Enterprise Agents (PEA) and traceability program and volume of buyback from the farmers.
• Facilitate the distribution and monitor improved planting material, which includes both hybrid and clonal material.

Requirements

• Must have expertise in the cocoa value chain, Natural Resources Management, cocoa traceability system & cropping, and 3 - 5 years of experience managing farmer / out-grower / contract farming, business development services, and agricultural extension services.
• Proven experience in donor funding, NGOs, and cocoa certification/sustainability program.
• Understanding of cocoa seedlings production, crop management, and buyback of produce.
• Knowledge on agro-climate, soil fertility, disease & pest control, farmers organization strengthening.
• Bachelor's degree in agriculture, agronomy, agricultural economics or relevant field or equivalent experience.
• Experience with market development approaches, such as cocoa and agricultural value-chain development (linking producers to markets) programming.
• Has previous experience in the cocoa value chain, youth and women enterprise, cocoa traceability system, project management and related fields.

Working Conditions, Travel and Environment

• The duties of the job require regular attendance of at least 5 days/week. The employee must be available to work outside normal office hours or on weekends as required. Corus has a hybrid work policy, allowing 50 percent of work to be done remotely.
• This position must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business purposes. While performing the duties of this job in different locations, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.