Agribusiness  Advisor- Horticulture/Crop (Contingent to donor funding)

SNV is a global development partner, deeply rooted in the countries where we operate. We are driven by a vision of a better world: a world where, across every society, all people live with dignity and have equitable opportunities to thrive sustainably. To make this vision a reality, we need transformations in vital agri-food, energy, and water systems. SNV contributes by strengthening capacities and catalyzing partnerships in these sectors. We help strengthen institutions and effective governance, reduce gender inequalities and barriers to social inclusion, and enable adaptation and mitigation to the climate and biodiversity crises. Building on 60 years of experience, we support our partners with our technical and process expertise and methodological rigor. We do this in more than 20 countries in Africa and Asia with a team of approximately 1,600 colleagues. By being adaptable and tailoring our approaches to these different contexts, we can contribute to impact at scale, resulting in more equitable lives for all. 

Our core values of people-centeredness and respect, equity and equality, and diversity and inclusion are fundamental to who we are and what we do. This is reflected in our vision, mission, and strategy, which set out our aspirations and commitments as our compass towards 2030. 

For more information on our operations in Ethiopia and SNV, generally visit our website: www.snv.org 

Program background 

SNV Ethiopia is recruiting an experienced Agribusiness Advisor—Horticulture/Crop for an anticipated flagship program. The program aims to secure 800,000 dignified and fulfilling job opportunities for rural young women.  The program will embrace a market system approach in high-potential value chains (horticulture, poultry, dairy, and complementary value chains), grounded in seven regional clusters. It will deliberately integrate Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) transformative approaches and safeguarding mechanisms across all program interventions and facilitate young women's empowerment to secure jobs through initiatives that address market and socio-economic barriers and location-specific gendered root causes. 

SNV will implement the program jointly with five other Ethiopian and international NGOs that will deliver their work in specific clusters. Together, these clusters will integrate technical expertise, and they will support the program’s ecosystem to achieve longer-term system change for young women and men's employment in agribusiness. 

Role of the Agribusiness Advisor—Horticulture/Crop

This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about creating entrepreneurial opportunities for young women in the agricultural sector and addressing systemic barriers to young women's empowerment. We are looking for a strong professional with considerable experience in agribusiness focusing, particularly for rural young women, MSEs in the horticulture/crop sector. 

Reporting to the Deputy Program Manager, Technical Lead, the position will provide technical leadership to facilitate market system/value chain development with a focus on horticulture and other crop value chains.  The position will lead market analysis and identification and development of business opportunities in the sector. S/he is expected to establish partnerships with key stakeholders of the sector in the country for effective collaboration. S/he will identify innovative solutions and services to increase young women's engagement and benefit from the sector. S/he will ensure that the project interventions are performed as planned to bring the desired impact through monitoring, evaluation, research, and documenting lessons learnt.

In this role, you will work with consortium partners of the program, young women and men, the community, the public and private sector, and civil societies. You will develop positive relationships with young people, networks of agri-preneurs, and programmplementing partners, so that our work is driven by the voices of young agri-preneurs, with a special focus on the needs of young women, and you will create innovative ways for young people to engage in the program.

• Lead design and analysis of the horticulture/crop sector to identify agribusiness opportunities for rural young women. Work closely with partner organizations to identify and analyse agribusinesses and market system constraints and propose market-based solutions to address these constraints 
• Based on the analysis, design market-based intervention strategies for the respective clusters based on the context
• Ensure implementation of the value chain/market system interventions, including market development, market linkages, market intelligence, and direct business development support for sustainable markets. 
• Facilitate  young women-led horticulture/crop-related business linkages among private sectors, cooperatives, unions and farmers groups that contribute to  increasing   production, income and employment 
• Map existing youth-led MSEs and develop a strategy to enable them to grow their business and employ more young women
• Provide technical support for implementing partners, private sector actors and other stakeholders through a systematic coaching and mentoring approach 
• Facilitate the strengthening of horticulture/crop value chains by introducing and promoting new technologies, productivity improvement training, value addition and engagement of the private sector in the provision of embedded services  
• Ensure that implementation of the project activities for horticulture/crop value chains according to approved plans 
• Ensure strong communication of value chain and agricultural marketing concepts and procedures with partners and other stakeholders with a focus on horticulture 
• Manage the selected value chains  multi-stakeholder meetings’ preparation, documentation and facilitation and share the meeting proceedings with relevant stakeholders; 
• Ensure the selected value-chains  multi-stakeholder platform meetings contribute to providing  strategic guidance and solving  challenges in the input and output marketing system
• Build and maintain strong networks with stakeholders and other projects and programs  in the horticulture  sector
• Support the annual reviews, midterm assessments and final evaluations and progress report preparations

Education and Experience

• Master’s in a relevant field (agriculture Development, horticulture, Agribusiness, agricultural marketing, agricultural economics, and related fields) with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience
• Specialization in value chain development, preferably with experience in the horticulture/crop sector 
• Sound knowledge of marketing of agricultural commodities and market systems analysis 
• Adequate experience in facilitating and supporting youth employment   
• Good experience in advisory and capacity building of smallholder producers in technologies and husbandry practices and horticulture markets,  
• Knowledge of local, national and international horticulture/crop trade systems and market linkages for the advantage of the poor in practice  
• Familiar with horticulture sector policies and national strategies, functioning of government/public sector, private sector and farmers organizations 
• Good experience in facilitating stakeholder forums, business and market linkages, working with sectoral associations and strengthening of cooperatives  
• Knowledge and experience with participatory techniques, coaching, networking, learning, alliance building and team building 
• Experience in the area of strategy development and partnership development   
• knowledge of gender and climate concepts and mainstreaming in value chain selection and implementation     
• Excellent oral and written communication skills  

Additional skills:

• Strong networking, partnership and interpersonal skills
• Ability to travel frequently to the operational areas
• Strong reputation and network with government and private sector actors in agriculture and agribusiness, with extensive knowledge of political economy.
• Solid understanding of young woman agri-preneurship specificities in the Ethiopian context
• Experience in collaborative and adaptive monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

Contract Type: National - Full time

This position will be based on Donor Funding and approval confirmation.

Expected start date:  February/March 2025

Duty Station:  Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Contract Duration: Two years with the possibility of extension based on performance. 

How to Apply? 
If you believe that your credentials meet the outlined profile, we invite you to apply by uploading your CV and a letter of motivation before/on January 12th, 2025. 

Please submit your application only via Smart Recruiters. All information will be kept in the strictest confidentiality. 
If your experience and skills match the position's requirements, we will contact you to advise on the next steps in the recruitment process.

Working at SNV  
SNV offers a challenging work environment, opportunities to lead and innovate, and a commitment to growing your skills in a fulfilling and diverse environment. Our staff benefit from and contribute to, an internal and global network of experts.

At SNV, inclusivity is at the heart of our ethos. We celebrate the diversity of our workforce and uphold a policy of non-discrimination based on factors such as disability status, religion, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, and more.

Vetting
SNV carries out rigorous background and reference checks concerning possible safeguarding incidents for all candidates applying for national and internationally determined positions. As SNV participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, all reference checks include a request to past employers to fill in a questionnaire regarding Misconduct (sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment), the “Statement of Conduct". This Statement of Conduct adopts the definitions used in the Scheme.  

SNV is an equal opportunities employer and female candidates are encouraged to apply.

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