Senior Technical Agriculture Specialist at TechnoServe

Program Overview:

The StreFas Project aims to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions through regenerative agricultural practices and at the same time develop an inclusive, sustainable, scalable, and adaptable regenerative agriculture solution to help smallholder farmers (SHFs) and local SMEs (aggregators) be more resilient and produce low-carbon grains in Nigeria. The three-year project will provide a guaranteed structured market for farmers to produce high-quality grains yearly, with a significant quantity of grains produced from environmentally sustainable practices. The project aims to impact up to 25,000 SHFs directly as beneficiaries of the program. Importantly, StreFas will sustain and scale up the successful elements of the regenerative agriculture pilot of the Developing Inclusive Grain Value Chains in Nigeria (DIGVCN) project.

Job Summary:

• The Senior Technical Agriculture Specialist -Strengthening Farmers and SMEs Resilience through Climate Smart Grain Production in Nigeria (StreFas) will work under the supervision of the Program Manager to provide overall project technical support to the StreFas team in Kaduna and Nasarawa States and the goal is to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through regenerative agricultural practices.
• This goal will be achieved primarily through upskilling Maize, Rice, Sorghum, and Soybean farmers in regenerative agricultural practices. S/he will provide technical support to facilitate farmer behavioral change from conventional agriculture to regenerative and climate-adapted agriculture.
• The tasks outlined below are the key responsibilities of the employee, however, s/he will be expected to perform other tasks that are necessary within the context of the evolving needs of TechnoServe’s Agricultural portfolio.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Provide technical oversight of the project’s interventions related to the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions through regenerative agricultural practices. S/he will be the technical lead facilitating activities aimed at achieving farmer behavioral change from conventional agriculture to regenerative and climate-adapted agriculture.
• Work with the Program Manager to engage the relevant practice teams internally to get maximum support that ensures the successful delivery of the project.
• Optimize team technical competence and ensure that members are adequately capacitated to conduct their respective project activities and upskilled in critical areas of the project such as regenerative agricultural practices and carbon credit calculations. Mentor and build the technical capacity of field staff on regenerative agricultural practices.
• In collaboration with the Program Manager, develop training curriculum for farmers and coordinate all required training, including training-of-trainers (ToTs), and ensure all training manuals are updated throughout the life of the project.
• Work closely with the Program Manager and the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) specialist to ensure proper and timely reports of the program for internal communication and action. Support the sharing of best practices and lessons learned from the project and program communication activities.
• Adapt project approaches, as needed, to reach targets and milestones related to GHG Emissions reduction and mitigation targets and the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices.
• With the MEL Specialist to assess the impact of the project’s interventions and ensure high-quality data is being collected to demonstrate project results, particularly related to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduced/mitigated through regenerative agricultural practices.
• Contribute to donor reports and presentations, and work with the Program Manager to represent the project at external meetings and events.
• Assess the gaps in SMEs (Aggregators)/SHFs technical knowledge and capacity and develop adequate technical training to enhance performance.
• Understand, respect, and promote TechnoServe’s values, vision, and strategy in the implementation of assigned duties.
• Any other tasks that may be assigned about the evolving needs of the project.

Qualifications:

• An advanced degree in Crop Science, Agronomy, or other relevant field and at least 5 years of relevant professional experience with a bachelor’s degree. Alternatively, 3 years with a Masters’ degree.
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of regenerative agriculture, carbon credits, and greenhouse gas emission reduction through regenerative practices.
• Demonstrated experience in leading technical studies such as environmental impact assessment, baseline, and endline evaluation studies, and so on.
• Experience working in Nigeria is preferred.

Required Languages: Fluency in English is required. Other preferred Language, Hausa.
Travel: Local travel 40-50%
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Deep understanding of regenerative agricultural practices in the Nigerian context.
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of public and private sector counterparts and other key stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills in a multicultural environment.
• Ability to work with tight deadlines while managing multiple tasks and priorities.
• Ability to contribute to well-written, cohesive analyses and reports.