Agriculture Engineer Technical Advisor

The Agriculture Engineer Technical Advisor (ATA) will work closely with the Business Development and Marketing Senior Manager (BDM) to identify business partners and co-design technical assistance.  Following the selection of the program’s partners, the ATA will contribute to the development of tailored Acceleration Plans for each agribusiness partner that will identify the gaps and determine the needs in terms of Technical Assistance (through volunteers and paid consultants) and/or where appropriate, funding through grants for production technology, equipment, and food safety and quality upgrades.

The ATA will work with horticulture, fruit and vegetable producers, providing essential agronomic advice utilizing good agricultural practices (GAP) necessary to increase yields and quality to meet the demands of exporters, local buyers and food processors who are working with production groups; provide day to day interaction with the production groups as an advisor and technical assistant to ensure that approved production practices are established and successfully fulfilled. The ATA will also interact with food manufacturers and contribute to assessing their operations and achieving adequate product quality and safety practices. In concert with the BDM and Chief of Party, manage at the field level the tasks and outputs requisite to the supply of product demanded by buyers. The main duties include but are not limited to the following:

Identification of partners and development of plans and necessary material

• Assist in selecting and identifying high potential business partners as prospective recipients for grants;

• Evaluate and determine the best options for processing of horticultural products, taking into consideration the partner’s resource capacity and required equipment and technical specifications.
• Co-develop, with the BDM, Acceleration Plans for partners that fit the needs and gaps of each one, ensuring the program’s gender requirements are taken into consideration;
• Develop scopes of work (SOWs) for agriculture experts (volunteers and paid consultants) based on identified needs;
• Draft and tailor training materials and organizing trainings relevant to horticulture stakeholders engaged in LINQ activities. 

Provide necessary technical assistance and follow-up

• Develop and provide agronomic training and technical assistance to ensure adequate and efficient interventions are being provided;
• Identify appropriate training and technical assistance for small scale processing businesses;
• Address any troubleshooting quality problems horticultural processors are facing with the final products;
• Work “hands on” with beneficiaries by transferring new agronomic technology (information and equipment) and ensuring that existing agronomic technology is being implemented correctly;
• Facilitate the day to day communication between producers and production groups and the LINQ project team;
• Based on available resources, ensure that producers have up to date and applicable agronomic technology so they will be profitable;
• Coordinate with the BDM to ensure sufficient expertise is being provided to the producers in greatest need;
• Work with the demonstration farms on crop trials when applicable;
• Take a lead role in setting out field trials at producer and producer group farms;
• Ensure that fruits and vegetables meet conditions requisite for targeted markets, i.e. grades and standards;
• Ensure horticulture programmatic activities are within scope of the project, align with best practices, and work toward achieving sustainable results.

Reporting and data collection

• Communicate daily with the BDM regarding current activities, situational reality and future activities planned;
• Ensure that partner-focused baseline surveys, progress reports, and data collection are accurate and timely;
• Work closely with and contribute to Monitoring and Evaluation Team to ensure indicator data is collected accurately, documented and collected according to guidelines set forth in the PMEP;
• Contribute to the projects Communications, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Component;
• Demonstrate the highest degree of integrity throughout all activities, and raise any concerns with implementation quality immediately with the COP.
• Other duties as requested.