Agriculture Officer at Pyxera Global

Location: Southern Katsina/Northern Kaduna, Nigeria
Division: Enterprise and Community Development
Reports To: Project Director, Rayuwa Nigeria
Supervisory Role: Supervise the Agriculture team

Summary

• We are seeking qualified candidates for the position of Agriculture Officer to be based full-time in the Southern Katsina/Northern Kaduna Office, Nigeria.
• This position will work with the Rayuwa Project team to implement an integrated community development project with a focus on enhancing resilient agriculture and accountable education in the region.
• The Rayuwa Project is housed within the Enterprise and Community Development division of PYXERA Global.
• PYXERA Global has worked in over 90 countries since 1990, with the Enterprise and Community Development division seeking to strengthen the local systems that drive prosperity and opportunity that forge community resilience.
• The Rayuwa Project involve collaboration with diverse partners and a drive to be continuously adaptive to the local context.
• The Agriculture Officer will provide technical expertise and will work with the project team to implement the project’s resilient agriculture activities.
• The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in smallholder agriculture, agribusiness, and training and/or extension service delivery.
• Additionally, the candidate will be familiar with a diverse set of agricultural value chains and an understanding of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practices.
• Candidates with experience working on international development initiatives and who speak English and Hausa fluently are preferred.

Key Position Responsibilities
The Agriculture Officer will report directly to the Rayuwa Project Director and will have the following responsibilities:

• Support overall technical expertise and management of all agricultural-related activities.
• Provide relevant technical guidance and collaborate with project team and stakeholders to design and deliver the participatory agriculture and rural enterprise development project. Key responsibilities include: engaging and building strong relationships with community members, support M&E team in analyzing data collected to identify agricultural-related gaps, designing priority action plans and training modules on improved agricultural techniques, mechanizations, inputs, etc. in partnership with the community.
• Develop a clear and adaptive training work plan based on the seasonal calendar, farmer availability, project deadlines and targets, etc.
• Incorporate adult learning skills objectives and techniques to prepare and deliver training modules to follow adult learning quality standards.
• Establish and develop various locally applicable agricultural interventions and oversee capacity building of local farmers and the local agriculture sector.
• Facilitate and provide guidance to farmers on appropriate cropping patterns, farming techniques, etc.
• Manage a project market study to establish project impact tracking indicators and design key technical focus areas for project interventions.
• Through the agriculture team, provide guidance to farmers on various available Government schemes/programs and how to access them, and identify opportunities to leverage and integrate existing schemes into project activities to maximize the impact of the project and drive project sustainability.
• Document field achievements, innovations, failures, and lessons learned to integrate into project activities and inform project strategy.
• Provide input on monitoring & evaluation tools to ensure accurate data collection, verification and analysis of training activities, and to avoid duplication of efforts.
• Support the development of project reports on agriculture activities, as needed.
• Conduct frequent site visits to observe trainings, monitor adoption of practices, and collect data from farmers.
• Staff capacity building: Oversee capacity building of Rayuwa agriculture team.
• Exhibits and is committed to the Rayuwa Values of: honesty, transparency, integrity, humility, freedom to innovate, equality, keep a “light” attitude, quality, teamwork, focus on the goals, accountability to all partners, and monitoring to learn and improve.
• Other duties, as assigned.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Agronomy, Agribusiness, or related field.
• At least 6 years' experience in agriculture or agribusiness, with a minimum of 3 years in training/capacity building of smallholder farmers. Hands-on field experience required, field experience in the Southern Katsina/Northern Kaduna region preferred.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing adult learning training modules on agriculture practices or relevant content - including curriculum, lesson plans, objectives, and learning assessments.
• Knowledge of water resource management, resilient farming practices, and/or adaptation and farmer risk mitigation techniques preferred.
• Familiarity with agricultural and livestock production, market-linkages, and agricultural constraints.
• Excellent facilitation skills, familiarity with training-of-trainer (ToT) approaches and methodologies, and competencies to use tailor-made and diversified facilitation/training methods and tools.
• Demonstrated expertise in agronomic practices, financial literacy, farmer loans and credit, on-farm technologies and capacity building programs for farmers and non-farm agriculture-based livelihood trainings. Experience in ‘farming as a business’ and engagement with youth is an advantage.
• Candidates fluent in English and Hausa preferred.
• Professional experience in Southern Katsina/Northern Kaduna, Nigeria, preferred.
• Nigerian national required.