Agri-Business Specialist – Digital Green

Agriculture, Economics

Digital Green

Smallholder farmers are the heroes that produce much of the world’s food, and yet they’re often the poorest and most malnourished among us. At Digital Green, we believe that rural communities can lift themselves out of poverty, and that technology can accelerate their ability to do so. But technology alone is not enough – and neither are we. That’s why we join forces with governments, private agencies and, most importantly, rural communities themselves to co-create solutions that are of the community and for the community.

By integrating digital innovation with grassroots expertise, we are collectively changing the status quo. When farmers have the tools they need to learn from each other, they’re far more likely to integrate what they’ve learned into their farming practices – improving their own livelihoods and those of others in their community, in a manner that’s nutrition-sensitive, climate-resilient, and inclusive.

Digital Green began as a research project at Microsoft and became its first non-profit spin-off in 2008. We began by working with frontline extension workers, training them to produce and share videos featuring local farmers. This led to significant increases in information sharing, best-practice adoption rates and, above all, sustainable development at scale.

Rigorous data analysis and farmer feedback continually challenge our assumptions and identify new ways that technology coupled with local knowledge can push the needle on agriculture, food and nutrition security.

Since day one, our deeply committed, curious and collaborative team has been challenged and inspired. We’ve tried and failed and tried again, and have ultimately become leaders in using technology for global development. To date, we’ve worked with more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers – eighty percent of whom are women – in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. And we’re just getting started.

For more information please visit Digital Green – www.digitalgreen.org

About Digital Green

Job Summary

Reporting to Digital Green’s Program Director, the Agri-Business Specialist position will be responsible for supporting the design, development and implementation of products and services that Digital Green offers directly to farmer organizations .

At Digital Green, we started by bringing together a network of farmers using videos to exchange practices. Currently we are expanding our support to farmers through the direct to farmer organization (D2FO) approach that focuses on creating  access to information by leveraging data and digital solutions, access to finance and capacity building support.

This role will be responsible for managing the design, development, piloting and implementation of the D2FO products and services; in collaboration with Digital Green’s Technology/Product and Program Teams as well as Government partner organizations .

Key Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities of the Agri-Business Specialist will include, but is not limited to the following:

• Lead the design, development, pilot testing and implementation of product and services that Digital Green offers to  farmer organizations (FOs). FOs that Digital Green works with include: common interest groups (e.g., honey producers and youth groups), women self-help groups, multi-purpose cooperatives and commodity-specific cooperatives.
• Using the human-centered design approach, assess and identify the needs and priorities of FOs and propose viable solutions.
• Work closely with the Tech/Product Team in designing and field testing digital products that address the needs and priorities of FOs.
• In collaboration with  the Program Team, implement the tested and proven digital products as well as other products/services (e.g., access to finance, capacity development training) found appropriate to address the identified needs and priorities of FOs.
• Support and follow up the day to day implementation and scale up of the various FOs’ products and services offered by Digital Green.
• Collaborate  with government partners and other stakeholders (e.g., Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperative Promotion Office, Women & Children Affairs, Unions) at federal, regional, zonal and woreda levels on identification, design, testing and implementation of FOs’ products and services.
• Provide regular updates and produce and share periodic progress reports 

Compensation:

Digital Green is a great place to work and prides itself on a competitive and comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Digital Green is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by law

Qualification and Experience 

• M.Sc. Degree in Cooperative Management, Agri-Business , Agricultural Economics or relevant field of study
• Highly tech savvy; ICT training background or hands on experience in digital agriculture is required
• 8-10 years of experience in agricultural products design, development and implementation
• Proven track record in working with FOs
• Proficient in using various tools like microsoft office
• Experience in using tools like google drive,  confluence, jira, trello, miro is a plus

 Knowledge and Skills

• Coaching and training/facilitation skills
• Excellent command of written and spoken English
• Team player and has requisite social skills to build cordial relationships with internal / external stakeholders
• Strong work ethic and self-driven: displays the ability to take timely actions and effectively accomplish work results with limited supervision and guidance
• Willingness to take on challenging tasks/ assignments beyond immediate responsibility
• High level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
• Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment

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