Overview

Duty Station: Morogoro

Project: Farmer Market School/RIPAT Pilot Project

Duration: Two Years (renewable)

Qualified females are encouraged to apply as well as persons from minority communities              ADRA is an equal opportunity employer

Background: 

Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is a global humanitarian actor with the purpose of serving humanity, so all may live as God intended. Focused on promoting the wellbeing of a human being, the organization envisions Health, Livelihoods and Education as key aspects of human development and wellbeing.  At the center of them all is Livelihood. It is undeniable that changing climate conditions will increasingly put agriculture and the survival of those whose mainstay depends on it at risk. Moreover, rural smallholder farmers who subsist below the poverty line and other groups such as women-headed households, children, the elderly, the disabled and indigenous communities, are particularly vulnerable.

Smallholder farmers’ growing engagement with the market is a key precondition for increased income to farmer household and generally for agrarian economies. But most often farmers – especially smallholder farmers – remain at the fringes of the market. They are not included in the value chains for their commodities as conscious actors, but – if at all – they are perceived as merely an economic factor or ‘input suppliers’. Typically, farmers do not know much more about the value chains than the first link they meet, which is often the middleman – much hated and demonized by the farmers, who feel that they get too low prices for what they produce.

Agriculture is the dominant sector in Tanzanian economy; which accounts for around 24.5% of its GDP and employs almost 67% of labour force as of 2016 (CIA, 2017). Agricultural crops, livestock, and other outputs are also a key provider of employment and livelihoods for rural populations; therefore the sector has a huge bearing on poverty reduction strategies in Tanzania (National Bureau of Statistics, 2016). According to FAO (2018), eighty percent of the annual crop production by smallholder farmers is dedicated to food production, underlining the potential that improved agricultural productivity will alleviate poverty of Tanzanian family farms

ADRA through the Farmer Market School approach seeks to un-lock the stallholder farmer poverty and market limitations through facilitation of discovery learning activities which enable and motivate farmers to become central actors in the market and value chain engagement, thus achieving more from their efforts. The FMS approach is a bottom-up approach where farmers explore and discover markets for their produce and aim at producing in response to the market.  The Project will also empower farmers to use Rural Initiatives for Participatory Agricultural Transformation (RIPAT) to produce as a response to market demand

Based on the availability of funds, ADRA wishes to employ a Livelihood Specialist to spearhead its livelihood sector initiatives starting with the implementation of the FMS/RIPAT pilot project in Morogoro which is to be carried out in partnership with RECODA and Sokoine University of Agriculture. 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the overall supervision of the Programs Manager, the Livelihood Specialist (LS) will:

• Contribute to the promotion of the Farmer Market School/RIPAT pilot project aimed at empowering smallholder farmers especially women and marginal groups to get more from their produce.
• Identify, from the global, regional, and national good practices, livelihood adaptation measures that can be introduced through the project;
• Assess the existing livelihood practices in the target rural farming communities and the extent to which these practices (including support provided by various agencies and extensions workers) are effective elimination of rural/agriculture poverty.
• Identify existing livelihood assistance provided by both public and private agencies
• Formulate and implement projects that strengthen agricultural/rural extension and provide technical assistance in capacity development of Farmer Market Schools
• Prepare advocacy materials and documents to support the implementation of Farmer Market School interventions.
• Provide technical advice on design elements to strengthen and reform extension systems.
• Provide support in the organization and delivery of technical workshops, consultations, seminars, and training sessions on conceptual and practical aspects of extension services especially to do with Framer Market Schools.
• Contribute to and manage the learning agenda of ADRA in the implementation of FMS and other livelihood interventions in Tanzania.
• Maintain networks of collaboration with technical specialists to gather information and promote awareness of technical issues to improve FMS programs and extension systems and advisory services.
• Facilitate dialogues with livelihood actors including smallholder farmers and farmer groups, government extension staff, local leaders, civil society, research institutions, and other like-minded stakeholders.
• Be the technical person in the development of other livelihood programs for ADRA in Tanzania
• Lead and participate in proposal writing activities in livelihoods and related fields.  
• Perform other related duties as required

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Candidates should meet the following:

• Advanced University Degree in Agribusiness, Extension, Agriculture Sciences, Rural Development, or related field
• 5 plus years of relevant experience in planning, organization, and agribusiness, execution of agricultural/rural extension, rural development, or agriculture innovation programmes and activities related to the needs of rural smallholder farmers or poor communities.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English and Swahili.
• A good understanding of the social landscape of Tanzania is an added advantage

SELECTION CRITERIA

Candidates will be assessed against the following:

• Relevance of working experience
• Demonstrates the general management knowledge and skills  
• Essential knowledge of the agricultural livelihood sector
• Demonstrates the ability to manage projects and make reports
• Demonstrates the ability to plan, organize, and conduct technical meetings and training activities
• Master’s degree is preferable
• Demonstrates technical writing skills including the proposal writing.

Please note that all candidates should possess computer/word processing skills and should be capable of working with people of different backgrounds.

REMUNERATION

A competitive compensation and benefits package will be offered.