Youth Inclusion Specialist at SNV Nigeria

Contract type: National employment contract
Contract: Local one-year contract with possibility for extension/renewal.  (Scale 16)

Background
2SCALE:

• The 2SCALE program (www.2scale.org) is designed to incubate and accelerate inclusive business development in African agri-food systems. 2SCALE works together with companies (African, Dutch, and other small and medium-sized enterprises - SMEs) and Producer Organizations (POs) to develop business and partnership models that promote inclusiveness, develop competitive edge, and have potential for scaling. These partnerships, also referred to as public-private partnerships (PPPs), are the core implementation modality to achieve the objectives of the program.

Specifically, 2SCALE supports partnerships in target agri-food industries with significant potential to:

• Improve food and nutrition security, both at grassroots level and at the consumer end of the value chain by serving local and regional markets (including Base-of-the-Pyramid – BoP - markets) with nutritious food products.
• Improve the terms of inclusion of smallholder farmers and other micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the value chains
• Attract and employ the youth
• Engage and empower women

To strengthen PPPs, 2SCALE also collaborates with companies and organizations that provide specific expertise to support the target agri-food value chains or act as a major off-taker in the chain.

2SCALE is co-funded by the private sector and by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS). Building on a first phase (2012-18), the current phase of 2SCALE runs from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023. It is awarded to a consortium led by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) and comprising the Base-of-the-Pyramid Innovation Center (BoPInc) and the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV).

Youth Inclusion Strategy 2SCALE
Overall, 2SCALE program targets 750,000 smallholder farmer groups (50% of them women).  In its Youth Terms of Inclusion specifically, 2SCALE  aims at improved livelihoods of out of school youth through youth mainstreaming in 2SCALE partnerships for 300,000 youth (40% of 2SCALE target).  As well, youth-focused decent and profitable self-employment and entrepreneurship for 8,000 youth and 1,000 Micro and Small Enterprises (of the 8,000) established in off-farm businesses in agriculture value chains. This entails that part of the 8,000 youth will find informal employment in the 1,000 new youth-led enterprises.

2SCALE will apply Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) market systems development approach (developed and implemented by SNV in several programs in Africa) :  Push (skills training and relevant technical training), Match (linking youth to market opportunities for employment and enterprise development, including access to finance), Pull (employment creation and enterprise development in identified value chains through mentoring, coaching and leadership development) to address targeted youth unemployment and underemployment and promote linkages with private sector companies.

On average, 1,000 youth per country will benefit from the OYE approach, an intervention geared towards enabling young men and women to identify, establish and sustain off-farm employment opportunities in select value chains.  These opportunities may include processing production and marketing of nutritional products, particularly attractive and accessible for young women, retail, aggregation, and input supply.

Furthermore, youth will be prepared to support the development of BoP products and markets, support the organization of marketing and distribution activities, create consumer demand, and serve as a workforce to get nutritious food and products to BoP consumers depending on specific partnership portfolio, plans and Impact domains per country.
In support of these efforts 2SCALE proposes to recruit two (2) Youth Inclusion Specialists. Specifically, the Youth Inclusion Specialists will support 2SCALE to ensure youth Inclusion in PPPs in the following strategic areas:  

• Youth mainstreaming targeting 300,000 youth (of the total 750,000 smallholder farmer groups in the 2SCALE program).
• A smaller number of 8,000 (of the 300,000) young men and women targeted based on off-farm opportunities for self-employment and entrepreneurship in partnership with the Business Champions.

Position Summary

• The Youth Inclusion Specialist(s), in close coordination with the youth inclusion team, is responsible for steering the youth inclusion agenda in the assigned countries.  
• He / She is expected to  provide required technical support to 2SCALE country teams  on private sector / agribusiness companies engagement for the purpose of ensuring inclusion of youth in employment and enterprise development.
• She / he will stimulate country teams with innovative approaches and strategies to balance private sector business interest – including their demand for employability skills - with the empowerment of youth.
• She / he is responsible for providing all demanded and needed support to the assigned country teams to reach the targets, planned results and impact.

Job Descriptions

• Working in close cooperation with the 2SCALE Partnership Facilitators and the Business Champions (SME or PO) the youth inclusion Specialist(s) will Ensure youth inclusion and capacity strengthening in the following 2SCALE thematic areas: BoP marketing, on-and off-farm innovation,  gender inclusion,  financial inclusion, agribusiness cluster formation, business support services, coaching, loyalty and trust-building and increased productivity. She/he will work closely with 2SCALE technical specialists in above mentioned thematic areas to facilitate the integration of the thematic-related strategies in the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).
• In addition,  depending on specific partnership portfolio, plans and impact domains per country; the Youth Inclusion Specialist(s) will Support 2SCALE country teams to ensure youth inclusion and skills matching in PPPs for participation in Agribusiness Clusters for access to inputs and services; financial inclusion; BoP marketing and distribution; private sector development, entrepreneurship and partnership governance.
• Furthermore, the youth Inclusion Specialist(s) will support the project team and partners to understand market / private sector demand and dynamics and positioning to ensure that the private sector appreciates empowerment and inclusion of young women and men. Key responsibilities will include but not limited to: (1) develop innovative solutions and approach with the context of the 2SCALE overall approach (2) support provision of technical support to the 2SCALE country teams and (3) contribute to partners and Business Champions engagement and position in youth employment.

In addition, the Youth Inclusion specialist(s) will accomplish the following specific tasks:

• Ensure youth inclusion and skills matching  in PPPs and participation in Agribusiness Clusters:
• Help build relevant technical skills for young farmers to increase their production and income.
• Facilitate youth access to start-up kits by creating linkages with other youth development actors.
• Prepare training materials and work as trainer in areas related to agribusiness in all regular training topics of the champion.
• Support Partnership Facilitators and Agribusiness Cluster Coaches to deliver youth training and report on training activities.
• Support and facilitate young female entrepreneurship and leadership development in 2SCALE partnerships.
• Ensure safety for young men and women training and facilitate youth peer-to-peer learning and participation.
• Engage youth participants and involvement in service provision linked to ICT and green innovations.
• Support youth linkages with financial institutions and other actors that support targeted value chains and based on country context, support / promote youth savings and lending associations as a starting point to financial access and inclusion.
• Support private sector development and engagement with young entrepreneurs to promote and distribute products in BoP markets.
• Support youth participation in governance meetings.

Support to the country portfolio orientation on Youth Inclusion and support to Partnership Facilitators (PFs):

• Advise country-based Partnership Facilitators on key issues and improvement areas regarding the Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) approach and its implications on 2SCALE youth inclusion agenda based on market dynamics and emerging trends.
• Support Partnership Facilitators on their relations with skills development actors in the respective countries and other thematic areas.
• Support 2SCALE teams to facilitate market-relevant and youth-friendly trainings on social and business development and technical skills; consistently identify further capacity gaps by the Business Champion and youth that may hinder formation of concrete linkage, trusting and sustainable working relationship between young entrepreneurs and Business Champions.  
• Ensure youth inclusion country-specific activity plans are aligned with other 2SCALE thematic areas.

Provide required support to Business Champion & stakeholder PPP:

• Promote good and strategic relationships between Business Champions, youth agribusiness actors and 2SCALE in-country consortium partners.
• Support 2SCALE teams in young women and men (50% women) mobilization and identification to join the program in coordination with the Business Champions and leverage on other ongoing in-country OYE programs and activities for scale and sustainability.
• Collaborate with the Communication Specialists to develop outreach materials in a frequent manner, and ensure the visibility of the youth Inclusion Thematic Area and its development (achievements, challenges, lessons learned) and positioning of young women and men as reliable partners in public-private sector partnerships and the positive spinoffs of Business Champions providing employment opportunities for young women and men.

Provide technical support to Business Service Suppliers and Agribusiness Cluster Coaches for youth Inclusion:

• Provide required technical support for capacity building of Agribusiness Cluster (ABC) coaches and other trainers to enable them to reach increased number of young people.
• Support ABC capacity strengthening programs for youth inclusion.
• Participate pro-actively in the industry team, respond to and seek advice from the 2SCALE management to improve youth inclusion theme knowledge, forward-looking strategizing within the industry, and priority-setting within existing and new PPPs.

Youth Inclusion thematic knowledge development, reporting and communication:

• Document lessons learned, good practices on youth and Business Champion engagement / linkages; document case studies on concrete youth inclusion examples in 2SCALE Partnerships (PPPs) where more young people (male and female) are excelling.; formulate youth inclusion annual learning agenda and make recommendations for improvements as the program evolves.
• As well, development and disseminate relevant documentation on effective contributions to youth employment to local stakeholders including national governments that influence positive spinoffs to an enabling environment for youth-led enterprises, in line with 2SCALE broader knowledge and learning agenda.
• Write and submit timely activity reports, as well as other Youth Inclusion Thematic technical reports, notes; ensure coordination of M&E of youth inclusion activities in the assigned countries and contribute inputs in partnership development.
• The Youth Inclusion Specialist(s) may implement other tasks that the 2SCALE management deems necessary for the success of the program.

Supervision and Team Collaboration:

• The Youth Inclusion Specialist(s) are supervised by and reports to the 2SCALE Youth Inclusive Business Specialist and work closely with 2SCALE Country Team Leader and in close collaboration with all 2SCALE colleagues in designated countries.
• S / he will also collaborate closely with Partnership Facilitators and Thematic Specialists based in-country and in other 2SCALE focus countries.

Qualifications

• Master's degree / Bachelor's degree in Development Studies, Business Studies, Economics Studies, Agricultural Sciences, Agribusiness, or Agricultural Economics.
• Women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply
• At least 5 years work experience in youth employment and entrepreneurship in agro-processing and gender mainstreaming.
• Experience working with underprivileged out of school, underemployed and unemployed young women, and men in Africa.
• Prior 5 years working in private sector development and engagement, youth savings, financial services and lending schemes will be an added advantage.
• A good understanding of the cultural barriers affecting young women efficacy and agency in developing countries.
• Practical knowledge and knowhow of implementing employability and entrepreneurship programs with actors and stakeholders such as TVETs and other national government agencies.
• Strong interpersonal, leadership, planning and coordination skills.
• Project management cycle knowhow is an added advantage.
• Strong communication (written and oral), presentation and report writing skills.
• Fluency in English is mandatory, Fluency in French is an asset