Associate Program Officer – Post-Harvest Management and Delivery RE-GAIN

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Job Reference: APO/PHM/KE/04/2025

AGRA and its Work

AGRA is an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems. We do this by empowering the continent’s 33 million small-farming households to transform their agriculture from a struggle to survive to profitable businesses. The continent’s farmers regularly face challenges, and we aspire to provide uniquely African solutions that respond to their agricultural and environmental challenges, leading to increased harvests for reduced hunger and more income.

Working in alignment with the development priorities of our focus countries, we enable farmers to access improved and high-yielding seeds, gain knowledge on sustainable farming, and link to profitable markets.

In our work, we aspire to build the alliances, partnerships, and networks required to drive an inclusive agricultural transformation. We work with our partners to create an equitable youth-friendly environment that harnesses the youth dividend on the continent to drive growth and facilitate open employment opportunities for young women and men. We achieve our key objectives through a focus on the following four areas of intervention:

1. Policy and state capability – We support governments in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transformation.
2. Seed systems – We trigger higher productivity by increasing the availability and access to improved seeds by farmers, allowing them to increase their harvests for food security and better incomes.
3. Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irrigation.
4. Inclusive markets and trade – We work to increase the linkages between farmers and other market actors for a positive, sustained cycle of commercialization and reinvestment.
5. Youth, Gender, and Inclusiveness – We enable women and youth to contribute to and benefit from agriculture for their economic empowerment.

Implementing Our New Strategy Through People

People are the heart of our organization and remain the true drivers of our delivery and our impact.

We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the continent, combined with an inclusive and diverse workforce from over 24 nationalities. Our commitment to a call to action goes beyond ourselves as we arise to catalyze African Food Systems’ transformation by being Deeply collaborative, Executing Excellently, Sincerely Constructive, and Increasingly Entrepreneurial, aligned with our values of (I-RISE; Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship, and Equity).

The Program

The RE-GAIN program – Scaling solutions for food loss in Africa, aims to address the impacts of climate change on harvest and post-harvest food losses in seven African countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The program focuses on strengthening food security by supporting the innovative adaptation of the harvest and post-harvest value chain. It seeks to reduce food loss, improve food quality, enhance local capacity, and reduce climate risks through the wide-scale adoption of Food Loss-Reduction Solutions (FL-RS) among smallholder farmers. The program operates across three primary pathways: farmer-centric, supplier-centric, and institutional support

We are looking for people who are passionate about Africa to join our innovative, growing, and multidisciplinary team. Together, we can grow Africa’s food systems by improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Want to join us?

The Position

Associate Program Officer – Post-Harvest Management and Delivery RE-GAIN Job Reference: APO/PHM/KE/04/2025

The Associate Program Officer – Postharvest Management and Delivery will guide the implementation of extension services interventions, training, and capacity building, and support farmers on the use of climate-resilient Food Loss – Reduction Solutions (FL-RS) interventions of the RE-GAIN program in Kenya. The Associate program officer will further ensure the coordination of multiple actors in the harvest and postharvest management phases of value chains.

The ideal candidate will be responsible for leading the implementation of postharvest management interventions under the RE-GAIN program in Kenya. The role will focus on creating demand for post-harvest solutions by smallholder farmers, creating local capacity for adoption and marketing of food loss reduction solutions that would enable reducing food losses, improving food quality, and enhancing climate resilience among smallholder farmers by promoting the adoption of Food Loss-Reduction Solutions (FL-RS). The Program Officer will work closely with in-country partners, farmer organizations, extension service providers, government agencies, and the private sector to ensure effective and sustainable implementation of postharvest technology.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Grant Management & Compliance

• Support the programmatic, financial, and administrative management of grant activities, ensuring compliance with AGRA, GCF, and government regulations.
• Work closely with the finance team to track expenditures, prepare budget forecasts, and ensure efficient use of program funds.

Program Implementation & Technical Support

• Work with implementing partners to support the rollout of FL-RS interventions, ensuring they are climate-smart, cost-effective, and scalable for smallholder farmers.
• Provide technical assistance and guidance to farmers, cooperatives, extension agents, and agribusinesses on best practices in postharvest management.
• Mobilize smallholder farmers and key market players, create demand among smallholder farmers and their local institutions.
• Coordinate with innovators such as research institutions and technology providers to facilitate access to innovative postharvest solutions that reduce food loss.
• Promote harvesting best practices, cleaning and sorting produce, drying technologies, storage solutions, packaging and transportation, processing and value addition, pest and disease management, and smart monitoring and digital solutions.

Capacity Building & Stakeholder Engagement

• Design and implement training programs for extension service providers and smallholder farmers to enhance their knowledge and skills in climate-resilient postharvest technologies and practices
• Work with government bodies, development partners, and the private sector to create an enabling environment for increased adoption of food loss reduction technologies.
• Foster partnerships with local and regional stakeholders to scale up postharvest management solutions across Kenya.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL):

• Collaborate with the M&E team to track program performance, ensuring that interventions achieve their intended impact.
• Develop and maintain a knowledge management system that captures key learnings, success stories, and best practices for replication and scale-up.
• Contribute to the preparation of technical and financial reports, case studies, and impact assessments for internal and external stakeholders.

Green Climate Fund (GCF) Considerations:

• Ensure compliance with GCF environmental and social safeguards, particularly around gender equity, smallholder inclusion, and climate adaptation metrics.
• Track and report on climate resilience indicators, ensuring that postharvest interventions align with GCF’s adaptation and mitigation priorities.
• Facilitate stakeholder coordination to meet GCF’s rigorous reporting and accountability frameworks.

Key Qualifications and Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in agricultural extension and advisory services or a relevant field
• Experience in agricultural development projects in Kenya.
• Experience in grant management, financial reporting, and donor compliance, preferably with climate finance mechanisms like GCF.
• Strong ability to coordinate multiple stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector partners, and development organizations.
• Excellent skills in training, facilitation, and knowledge transfer to farmer organizations and extension providers.
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation, with the ability to track program impact and report on key indicators.
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of how climate change impacts agricultural systems.
• Must be familiar with climate-smart practices that enhance Food Loss reduction solutions against climatic shocks.
• Demonstrate the ability to roll out capacity building and extension services at the community level and devise and implement effective strategies for packaging, promotion, and farmer outreach to ensure the dissemination of best practices
• Demonstrate the ability to develop/design and lead the implementation of capacity-building activities that integrate FL-RS sustainability principles into Kenya’s agricultural transformation, equipping stakeholders with the knowledge and skills necessary for the effective achievement of the program goals.

If you believe you are the right candidate for this position, kindly submit your application with a detailed CV (including your e-mail and telephone contacts) to recruit@agra.org. Please quote the job reference number APO/PHM/KE/04/2025 in the subject line of the application e-mail.

Applications must be received on or before 22^nd April 2025. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For more information on AGRA, visit www.agra.org.

AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer