Component 3 Lead (Inclusive Finance) at International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)

Programme Discription

• IFDC and its consortium partners have secured funding from EKN Nigeria to implement a transformational horticultural program in Nigeria by introducing innovative, sustainable and profitable horticultural productivity and resilient market system value chain approaches leading to a sustainable transition of Nigeria’s food system; thus, from a system based on food imports, low productivity and depletion of natural resources, to an integrated sustainable food system, capable of providing sufficient, healthy and nutritious food to a growing (urban) population.
• For this reason, IFDC has decided to hire you for the position of a Component 3 Lead (Inclusive Finance) to support implementation of the HortiNigeria programme.

Duties and Responsibilities
Responsible for implementing activities that will increase access to finance for SME companies that invest in solving value-chain bottlenecks at regional and national level. Specifically, you are expected to perform the following roles:

• Ensure to target small- and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are active in the entire vegetable value chain (input supply, advisory services, aggregation, storage, logistics, processing and market access). Note that limited financial management capacity and access to finance are the main obstacles preventing these companies from expanding and innovating.
• Train farmers and SMEs on financial capacity management and business support, provide technical assistance of financial service providers, broker investment deals.
• Facilitate and expand the inflow to the horticulture sector, of (semi-) commercial capital, which will remain available after the project ends.
• Ensure that private sector investments are made along the value chains. There is a preference for an approach that works directly with SMEs and financial service providers to raise (semi-) commercial capital for actualizing company expansion and innovation plans.
• Involve and create opportunities for youth as well as women-led companies.
• Work hand-in-hand with Leads of Component 1 (Increasing Productivity and Incomes in Kaduna and Kano) and Component 2 (Piloting Production Systems Innovations and Regional Diversification in Ogun and Oyo States) to prioritize and implement initiatives that have national focus
• Implement all component 3 activities to achieve expected results as stated in the project documents
• All other duties as might be assigned by the Project Director.

Requirements

• Preferably an Advanced Degree in Agriculture
• A minimum of 7 years of experience in implementing agricultural projects, preferably horticultural projects.
• Good understanding of the Development Objectives of the Netherlands; preferably, experience in implementation of Dutch Development Programs
• Experience in Nigeria is preferred
• Senior Management experience
• Strong proficiency in English language
• Strong knowledge of security matters; reasonable travel experience