Africa Climate Careers Network's Climate Job Board

Discover emerging career opportunities in the climate and clean energy sectors

Consultant Agronomist (IvC)

Farmerline

Farmerline

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Posted on Apr 25, 2024

Learn About Farmerline

Farmerline is dedicated to reimagining how the world thinks about and invests in the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. Our mission is to create lasting profits for farmers everywhere. We approach challenges with bold and systemic thinking while maintaining a lean and nimble operation.

Farmerline was founded in 2013, has been a fast growing Agtech company in Africa. The company has raised over $20 million since incorporation. Farmerline’s digital marketplace combines logistics, field agents, farm resources and agribusiness partnerships to support African farmers. We have reached 1.7M farmers by deploying our tools and services through 3,000+ partners across 48 countries.

Impact assessments show that averagely we increase yield by ~2X and $306 increase in net income. Our technology platform Mergdata is licensed or white labelled to development partners, global food traders and governments who use its customisable tools to improve the lives of farmers around the world

We foster a learning organization where you will have the opportunity to apply your ideas and creativity to solve problems on a daily basis. If you are drawn to a dynamic, collaborative culture, set high standards, and tackle challenges with determination and to make a positive impact on millions of lives, Farmerline is the perfect environment for you to thrive.

Field

Details

Job Title

Consultant Agronomist

Department and Location

Impact & Learning, IvC

Incumbent Supervisor

Impact & Learning Lead

Suggested start date

Immediately

Length of assignment

Short Term Contract


Role Overview

We are seeking the expertise of a skilled and experienced Agronomist to play a pivotal role in providing technical knowledge to Farmerline’s customers, staff, and other partners in achieving our mission of creating lasting profit for farmers. The Consultant will drive the most impactful agricultural practices that lead to high productivity for farmers and provide backstopping to our farm services.

For this, we are recruiting an experienced agricultural professional for technical agronomic advisory support such as leading farmer education programs and product trials within various value chains in La Cote d’Ivoire. The role also requires the specialist to have high extension experience, research, and be keen on behavior change to increase farmer adoption of best sustainable farm management practices.

Responsibilities

Training

  • Conduct Train the Trainer sessions for selected field officers on sustainable farming practices in the Cocoa, Rice, Maize, Soybean, and Cashew value chains
  • Equip and train at most 10 selected field officers also known as Farmerline Ambassadors
  • Oversee the implementation of farmer workshops in rural communities
  • Supervise and coach farmers in applying GAPs and climate-smart agriculture practices on their farms through occasional farm visits
  • Ensure data collection is accurate, timely, and adheres to the experimental design.

Content Development & Planning

  • Develop and update farmer and agent training materials
  • Review, modify, and tailor existing content to meet local requirements and farmer needs.
  • Translate existing content into French for further recording to local languages
  • Identify suitable locations within the soybean, rice, and maize fields for the crop-cutting experiment for farmer group representatives, out-growers, and commercial farmers.
  • Develop a plan for rolling out activities

Technical Expertise

  • Provide technical expertise to the Input and Crop Business Units to deliver services to customers in La Cote d’Ivoire
  • Supervise field officers to ensure efficient delivery of agronomic content during farmer workshops.
  • Conduct assessments to gauge field officers' knowledge levels and measure progress.
  • Provide technical backstopping to the Call Center team in administering advisory services to farmers


Documentation and Reporting

  • Technical Assistance on business meetings and proposal writing where needed
  • Document the entire process, including methods used, challenges faced, and solutions implemented.
  • Prepare a detailed final report highlighting key findings, analysis results, and recommendations for future crop cultivation

Required Qualifications

  • Minimum 5+ years of work experience in agronomy, agricultural extension, and research in La Cote d’Ivoire
  • Master's degree in Agronomy, Agribusiness, Agricultural Science, or a related field preferred
  • Strong research experience with experiments to compare different treatments for testing new agro-input products with a logical experimentation plan
  • Extensive crop production experience in cereals, legumes, cash crops, and tubers predominant in West Africa (specifically; soybean, maize, cocoa, cashew, sorghum, rice, and vegetables) is required
  • Excellent oral communication, writing, and presentation skills.
  • Proficient in English and French languages
  • Proven experience in the use of mobile technology to drive farmer success is desired
  • CV must be in English