Business Advisor 1- FPUR Project at TechnoServe

Job Summary:

The Business Advisor will work under the supervision of the project manager in Kano and Ogun States to provide capacity-building for farmers and businesses and also facilitate the linkage of producers of unpolished rice to the Home-Grown School Feeding Program. In addition, S/he will gather market intelligence and monitor performance. It should be understood that the tasks outlined below are the key responsibilities, but the employee will be expected to perform any tasks that are necessary within the context of the evolving needs of the project

Program Overview:

TechnoServe’s Fortified Parboiled Unpolished Rice Project (FPUR) will pilot the uptake of parboiled unpolished rice and fortified parboiled unpolished rice to combat malnutrition in two states and increase the production, availability and consumption of whole grain, fortified, nutritious foods through the National Home-Grown School Feeding Program (NHGSFP) and large-scale fortification. The project aims to impact up to 1.4 million children who are beneficiaries of the program.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

Project Inception Phase

• Take the lead on community sensitization, mobilization and enrolment of smallholder farmers who are cultivating rice.
• Ensure gender targets are met
• Support the project manager and MEL officer in developing the project work plan, MEAL package and tools
• Support rapid assessment and baseline evaluation activities.
• Identify local community trainers in the assigned communities and support the operations team during the recruitment process.

Project Implementation Phase

• Oversee the local community trainers (LCTs) and ensure that their capacity is deepened through train-the-trainer sessions, and green and brownfield days.
• Support the project manager in developing training materials for the production and post-harvest cycles of rice production.
• Support the LCTs during step-down training and monitor attendance according to the program guidelines.
• Monitor the pilots of identified simple farm entry technologies and ensure data quality.
• Support the PM in identifying other HGSF programs that are not in proximity but are willing to procure unpolished rice from the producers.
• Support the PM in identifying private-sector organizations that would partner with the project
• Support all monitoring and evaluation activities, surveys and reporting as well as develop success stories and lessons learnt.
• Understand, respect and promote Techno Serve’s values, vision, and strategy in the implementation of assigned duties.
• Perform other duties in line with the evolving needs of the program.

Basic Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Agriculture, Agronomy, Human Nutrition, Food Science and Technology with a minimum of 2 years’ experience working with rural communities supporting rice farmers. Alternatively, 4 years’ experience.
• Demonstrated understanding of the rice value chain in Nigeria.
• Ability to engage and advise a broad range of stakeholders, especially community leaders,
• Demonstrated experience in data collection and analyses.
• Demonstrated experience with digital training and delivery mechanisms.
• Demonstrated experience in report writing
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and train in the Hausa or Yoruba language besides English

Preferred Qualifications:

• Must have strong interpersonal skills.
• Proven skills with Microsoft Office software (Excel, Word, PowerPoint). Knowledge of the use of Comcare, and KoBoCollect will be an advantage.
• Excellent communication skills.