Agriculture Officer job at RAISING THE VILLAGE

Deadline: Expired

POSITION: Agriculture Officer (2 Vacancies)

LOCATION: Kitagwenda and Rakai

EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Full-time

Job Description

The Agriculture Officer will ensure effective planning and design and successful implementation and supervision of Agriculture extension interventions, including cropping and livestock in Raising The Village’s partner communities in the East, as part of our core methodology. This will involve working with our Planning, Evaluation, and Learning (PEAL) team to identify and assess the key needs of Agriculture extension, working with the Procurement team for the development and management of contracts in accordance with project budgets and timelines, and collaborating with program staff, local authorities, and communities to support Agriculture extension interventions. The incumbent in this role will have a strong understanding of composting, organic pesticides, soil, and crop management. The incumbent should also be able to advise partner communities on health, nutrition and feeding, hygiene, breeding and care of animals. During the implementation of the project’s activities, the Agriculture Technical Officer will be required to provide feedback to relevant partners and the local authorities with the aim of improving the overall quality of Agriculture interventions.

Roles & Responsibilities

Program Design and innovation
- Support the PEAL team to design and plan activities on Agriculture extension for the East
- Provide new insights on agricultural program innovations, especially in the context of climate resilience in the East.
- Review project designs and ensure agricultural components are realistic and feasible to the respective communities based on availability, soil, water, etc., and provide feedback where required.
Technical Support
- Assist in identifying new methods of planting, fertilizing, harvesting and storing of crops to achieve optimum land usage and yield;
- Identify micro-organisms and insects, parasites, and weeds harmful to crops and advise on control measures;
- Examine topographical, physical, and soil characteristics to determine its most effective crop yield potential;
- Provide technical support regarding emerging issues and points of concern in the areas of agriculture, from planting to the use of organic fertilization and pesticide to post-harvest management;
- Work with RTV staff and government officers to conduct follow-ups on community and household gardens where there are concerns and/or emerging agricultural issues;
- Support the project team to identify the seeds to be passed on to the next beneficiary;
- Provide support on all agricultural pilot initiatives from idea to implementation to evaluation, such as keyhole gardens, backyard gardens, etc.;
- Work with procurement officers to guide on seed specifications and verification.
Facilitation and Training
- Conduct refresher training as needed for RTV staff and local government extension officers in the East, including but not limited to:
  - RTV methodology on land preparation (community gardens, nursery beds, and household gardens, compost pits, etc.);
  - RTV methodology on post-harvest management and seed pass-on;
  - Application of natural forms of fertilization;
  - Natural forms of pesticide use;
- Conduct practical training and refresher training with selected Community Agricultural Trainees (CATs) in each cluster of operation. Trainings are to focus on but not be limited to:
  - RTV methodology on land preparation (community gardens, nursery beds, and household gardens, compost pits, etc.);
  - RTV methodology on post-harvest management and seed pass-on;
  - Application of natural forms of fertilization;
  - Natural forms of pesticide use;
- Develop and update training materials for RTV staff and extension officers;
- Develop and update training materials for CATs in local languages;
- Develop guides and a 1-pager for community members to use in local languages.
Project Management
- Identify key issues and risks for clusters and provide mitigations and solutions while maintaining a risk log;
- Ensure successful planting, germination, and harvests across clusters based on organizational targets;
- Plan, execute, and update monthly work plan;
- Create and introduce new ideas and initiatives/pilot projects, taking them from idea to implementation and evaluation
- Support the Planning, Evaluation, and Learning team with agricultural reporting and analysis, providing feedback and recommendations;
- Conduct data collection on key metrics, including yield, germination, and trained community agricultural trainees;
Administration and Coordination:
- Attend district and staff meetings in person and/or virtually to discuss key agricultural issues, areas of success, and areas in need of improvement to brainstorm possible solutions and next steps;
- Complete weekly financial requests, submissions, and reconciliations to the District Head;
- Take photographs to share and for data repository;
- Other requirements might be required by their direct supervisor and/or management.

Requirements and Experience

University Degree of Science in Agriculture in both animal and crop husbandry, community development or related fields;
Minimum 3 years of work experience in the agricultural field;
Experience in community development programming;
Understanding of organic pesticide use for treatment and prevention measures;
Understanding of soil management and crop and pest management;
Strong facilitation skills with expertise in relaying information from a scientific/technical level to individuals with varying levels of literacy and understanding abilities;
Organizes workload effectively while remaining aware of changing priorities and competing deadlines;
Accurately completes multiple tasks to meet deadlines while taking into consideration special assignments, frequent interruptions, available resources, and multiple reporting relationships;
Strong training & facilitation skills;
Strong communication skills, both verbal and written English;
Fluent in local languages where RTV works in either the Midwest or Southwest region.
Proficient in Microsoft Suite;
Energetic and physically able to hike on high terrain, ability to travel 80% of the time;
Can work independently but is also a strong team player;
Able to think outside of the box to provide plausible solutions to issues and challenges;