Agricultural Advisor, Amhara Region

Term of Employment:   Project-One year with possibility of extension

Duty Station(s):              Bahir Dar

Required Number:        One

Salary & Benefits:          Competitive

Application Deadline:   May 8, 2016

BACKGROUND:

The Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has been established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify and address systemic bottlenecks to Ethiopia’s agricultural development. The Agency does this through problem-solving, implementation support, and capacity building of stakeholders involved in implementation of interventions that address the systemic bottlenecks. The Agency reports to a Transformation Council chaired by the Prime Minister and whose co-chair is the Minister of Agriculture. 

The programmatic focus of the Agency responds to a core set of needs identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Transformation Council. Within the Agency, issues are divided into four different groups:  Production and Productivity which includes Inputs and Crop Protection, Livestock, Research and Extension, Mechanization, Rural Finance & Agro-Processing Value Addition; Agribusiness and Markets including Market Services, Market Infrastructure, Commercial & Contract Farming, Domestic and Export Market Development, and Cooperatives Development; Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Agricultural Growthincluding Sustainable Irrigation & Watershed Management, Sustainable Land Management, Gender Equality and Nutrition, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, and Planning and MLE; and Enhanced Implementation Capacity which includes ICT, Private Sector, and Organizational and Human Capacity. Across the programs, the ATA engages public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models.

Our Culture

We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results.  Our culture is one where talented, dedicated and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great team work to achieve excellent results. 

At ATA, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector.  We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training.  We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our employees with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals. 

POSITION SUMMARY:

Across the programs, the ATA engages public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models.

The Transformation Agenda aims to leverage the Agricultural Commercialization Cluster (ACC) initiative as an “anchor” deliverable, by integrating together all relevant geographical interventions from other program areas for maximum impact at the local level. As such, ACC acts as a mechanism for aligning various donor and government interventions, and for engaging smallholder farmers in a coordinated manner by providing them with a structured mechanism to integrate their input, needs and aspirations into the planning process. Accordingly, the four ACC focus regions are Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray. Each ACC region has prioritized key clusters for piloting and learning.

ACC governance structures at all levels have been formed to guide and coordinate the operational linkages between relevant federal and regional stakeholders working around priority commodities. To this end, Regional Cluster Secretariats have been established and staffed with appointed Secretariat Leads by the relevant regional government and key experts.

The Agricultural Advisor will be placed within the Regional Bureau of Agriculture to advice management and staff of the Bureau around the planned transformational agenda deliverables. The Agricultural Advisor is required to provide technical and analytical support to the Regional Bureau of Agriculture in the area of agricultural transformation agenda and its implementation in the region.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Create awareness with in the Regional Agricultural Bureau on the agricultural Transformational Agendas and support relevant teams to contextualize implementation of the deliverables with in the region

• Provide extensive analytical support and technical advice for the management and staff of the Regional Bureau of Agriculture on technical challenges and opportunities related to the TADs implementation

• Support on strategic planning and addressing of systemic issues to internalize the transformation agenda deliverables and enhance its implementation

• Advice on system development and designing of implementation arrangements including setting up a unit to extradite the implementation of the transformation agenda

• Provide support on performance management, report writing and documentation/ contextualization of best practices as well as innovative ideas for scaling up

• Provide coaching and capacity building to staff and the management around the agricultural transformation agendas

• Provide analytical support and advice on problems and potentials to enhance market oriented production, market development and agro-processing in the region

• Closely work with the regional ACC coordination secretariat to facilitate the implementation of the agricultural transformation agenda in the region

• Provide technical advice on how to integrate gender, climate and other cross cutting issues in the implementation of the transformation agenda deliverables as well as in the general works of the Bureau of Agriculture

• Is accountable to the Regional BoA head, and submits regular monthly, quarterly and annual plans and reports on achievements to the head of the BoA and ATA regional Director and hold bi-monthly meetings with the later to align on activities

• Minimum Masters in the field of rural development or agricultural sciences particularly in Agricultural Extension/ Economics/ Marketing or related fields, PhD is preferred

• Minimum of 15 years of sound and holistic work experience on agricultural production, extension, rural development, agricultural marketing and agro-processing related area at national and regional levels; experience related to works of agricultural transformation is highly desirable

• Demonstrated experience in the area of value chain analysis particularly related to major commodities produced in the region

• Must have working experience at technical and management level with at least five years in technical support/ advisory services and leadership position

• Experience of working in the region would be an added advantage, especially related to agricultural production/ productivity, extension, marketing and natural resource management

• Practical knowledge and clear understanding of value chains of major agricultural commodities produced in the region, with hands on experience in market linkage and value chains development initiatives

• Ability to analyze problems and provide contextualized technical support in the area of agricultural production, marketing and value addition

• In‐depth knowledge of agricultural production/productivity and marketing issues at national and regional level

• Familiarity with the national and regional agricultural policies and strategies as well as issues, challenges and opportunities for agricultural transformation in the region

• Must be up to date with emerging issues/challenges in relation to agricultural transformation in the country, particularly in the context of the region

• Possess good project management skills and demonstrated knowledge on planning, monitoring and evaluation

• Demonstrated experience in mainstreaming gender, climate and other cross cutting issues

• Familiarity with common software programs (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) is a must

• Excellent interpersonal skills including good command of written and oral presentation skills as well as training and coaching skills

• Fluency in English and Amharic is a must

Closing date: May 08, 2016