The posting
Job Title: Regional Agriculture Officer (4 Vacancies)
Department/Group: Technical
Reporting To: Lead Agriculture Development
Years of Experience: 2-3 Years
Location: Regional (Multiple Districts)- Arua, Kyenjojo, Ntungamu, Mbale
Travel Required: 80%
Job description
About Raising The Village
At Raising The Village (RTV), we are dedicated to eradicating ultra-poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a dynamic, rapidly growing international development organization, we’ve assembled a team of over 350+ passionate individuals in Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Tanzania, alongside an additional 15+ professionals in North America. Together, we are committed to elevating communities out of ultra-poverty by implementing innovative solutions and leveraging advanced data analytics to drive impact.
To date, our holistic approach has positively impacted over 1,000,000 lives since 2012, and we’re poised to achieve even greater milestones, aiming to assist 1 million individuals annually by 2027. Our growth and success are fueled by the invaluable support of global partners who share our vision of sustainable change. Learn more about our impactful programs at www.raisingthevillage.org
Job Summary
The Regional Agriculture Officer provides technical leadership and coordination for Agriculture extension work - including cropping and livestock - across multiple districts within their region, as part of RTV's core methodology. The role has a strong training and cascade-capacity-building focus: coordinating harmonization trainings for Government Extension Officers through identified Master Trainers, building the agricultural capacity of RTV implementation staff, and running virtual harmonization trainings on the full agriculture methodology for extension staff region-wide.
The Regional Agriculture Officer works closely with the Venn team to identify and assess Agriculture extension needs, with Procurement on the development and management of input/seed contracts, and with program staff, local authorities, Master Trainers and Government Extension partners to ensure Agriculture interventions are technically sound and consistently applied. The incumbent technically supports the design of regional adaptive clusters, introduces relevant agriculture innovations, oversees agricultural project pilots, and strengthens teams in maintaining standard demonstration gardens as reference models across the region.
Main Responsibilities
Program Design and Innovation
● Support the Venn team to design and plan Agriculture extension activities across the region.
● Provide new insights on agricultural program innovations, especially in the context of climate resilience.
● Review project designs and ensure agricultural components are realistic and feasible for communities across the region, based on availability, soil, water, etc., and provide feedback where required.
● Technically support the design of regional adaptive clusters, tailoring RTV's methodology to local district context.
● Introduce relevant agriculture innovations across the region's clusters.
Technical Support
● Assist in identifying new methods of planting, fertilizing, harvesting and storing crops to achieve optimum land usage and yield;
● Identify micro-organisms, insects, parasites and weeds harmful to crops and advise on control measures;
● Examine topographical, physical and soil characteristics to determine the most effective crop yield potential;
● Provide technical support on emerging agriculture issues, from planting to organic fertilization, pesticide use and post-harvest management;
● Work with RTV staff and government officers to follow up on community and household gardens with concerns or emerging agricultural issues;
● Support the project team in identifying seeds to be passed on to the next beneficiary;
● Work with Procurement officers to guide seed specifications and verification.
Training, Capacity Building & Harmonisation
● Conduct Harmonisation Trainings for Government Extension Officers through identified Master Trainers, ensuring consistent, region-wide application of RTV's agriculture methodology.
● Conduct Capacity Building of Implementation staff (Project Assistants, Project Officers, etc.) in agricultural practices across the region.
● Conduct refresher training as needed for RTV staff and local government extension officers, including but not limited to:
o RTV methodology on land preparation (community gardens, nursery beds, household gardens, compost pits, etc.);
o RTV methodology on post-harvest management and seed pass-on;
o Application of natural forms of fertilization;
o Natural forms of pesticide use.
● Conduct practical trainings and refreshers with selected Community Champions in each cluster of operation.
● Develop and update training materials for RTV staff, extension officers and Community Champions, including in local languages.
● Develop guides and 1-pagers for community members' use in local languages.
Project Management & Pilot Oversight
● 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;
● Oversee agricultural project pilots from idea to implementation to evaluation, such as keyhole gardens and backyard gardens;
● Strengthen teams in ensuring standard demonstration gardens are established and maintained within their region, as reference models for champions and communities;
● Plan, execute and update a regional monthly work plan;
● Conduct data collection on key metrics, including yield, germination and trained Community Champions;
● Support the Venn team with agricultural reporting and analysis, providing feedback and recommendations;
● Create and introduce new ideas, initiatives and pilot projects, taking them from idea to implementation and evaluation.
Administration and Coordination
● Attend district, regional and staff meetings in person and/or virtually to discuss key agricultural issues, areas of success and areas needing improvement, and to brainstorm solutions and next steps;
● Complete weekly financial requests, submissions and reconciliations to the District Head;
● Take photographs to share and for the data repository;
● Other requirements as might be required by the direct supervisor and/or management.
Qualification, Skills and Experiences
● University Degree of Science in Agriculture in both animal and crop husbandry, Agricultural Production, Agribusiness Management, Agricultural Technology or related fields;
● A postgraduate diploma in the related field shall be an added advantage.
● Minimum 3-5 years of work experience in the agricultural field, including experience coordinating or training across multiple sites/districts;
● Experience in community development programming;
● Understanding of organic pesticide use for treatment and prevention measures;
● Understanding of soil management and crop and pest management;
● Demonstrated ability to design and deliver trainings to multiple stakeholder groups - RTV staff, Government Extension Officers and community trainees - including virtual training delivery;
● Strong facilitation skills with expertise in relaying information from a scientific/technical level to individuals with varying levels of literacy and understanding;
● 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 the region;
● Proficient in Microsoft Suite;
● Energetic and physically able to hike on high terrain, with 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.
We encourage women, people with disabilities and minority groups to apply for this position. RTV is committed to equal opportunities and diversity of perspective at the workplace.
Disclaimer: Raising the Village DOES NOT charge any kind of FEE(s) at whichever stage of the recruitment process.
