Market Systems and Cooperative Officer at Nuru Nigeria

Job Summary

• The Market Systems and Cooperative Officer at Nuru Nigeria will be responsible for assisting the Market System and Business Development Specialist in analysing market systems, identifying opportunities, and implementing strategies to improve the business environment for smallholder farmer’s cooperatives, entrepreneurs, and local enterprises.
• The Officer will work closely with stakeholders, including the Farmer Association, Farmer Organisations, local businesses, government agencies, and other NGOs, to promote sustainable farmer’s organization, providing market linkages, increase market effectiveness, and enhance income-generating activities.

Responsibilities
Market Systems Analysis:

• Conduct thorough market assessments, mapping key actors, value chains, and market opportunities.
• Analyse market trends, supply and demand dynamics, and other relevant factors affecting farmers, local businesses and community-driven aggregations for profitability.
• Identify market constraints, challenges, and opportunities for growth and development.
• Develop comprehensive reports and recommendations based on market analysis finding

Cooperative Development:

• Provide guidance and support to cooperative members on business development, management, and governance.
• Assist cooperatives in financial planning, budgeting and accounting
• Monitor financial performance and provide advice on financial management practices
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders, including government agencies NGOs financial institutions and community members
• Collaborate with various entities to support cooperative initiatives and market development
• Identify training needs for cooperative members and provide or facilitate training programs
• Forster skill development and knowledge enhancement among cooperatives members with the impact team.
• Mediate and resolve conflict within cooperatives or between farmer’s association and farmer’s organization
• Address issues related to governance, leadership and internal disputes.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting:

• Support the development of robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track the progress and impact of Nuru Nigeria’s market development initiatives.
• Collate and analyze data on critical market information, market dynamics, market trends and impact indicators in a timely manner for informed decision-making.
• Identify lessons learned and best practices to inform future program design and implementation.
• Develop and implement systems for monitoring and evaluating the performance of farmers’ organization cooperatives
• Assess the impact of market and cooperative development programs
• Prepare reports on market trends, cooperative performance and program outcomes
• Prepare regular progress reports and contribute to program reporting requirements.
• And any other duties as assigned by the line manager.

Qualifications and Job Requirements

• HND or Bachelor's in Business Administration, Economics, Agricultural Economics, Cooperative studies or a related field.
• Minimum of 4 years of professional experience in Cooperative support and administration as well as experience in marketing development
• Strong understanding of agricultural cooperative management structure.
• Knowledge of market-based approaches, including value chain development, access to finance, and enterprise development.
• Excellent analytical skills, including collecting, analysing, and interpreting complex data.