Agriculture Advisor - ACE

Job Profile

1. Required qualifications, competences and experience

Qualifications

• masters/MSc in an area that is related to the project/programme objectives, with a focus on Agriculture and Value chain analysis and development.

Professional experience

• at least 5 years’ professional experience in consulting firms or in business, especially with a focus on agricultural development, agribusiness and/or value chains and agricultural supply chains.
• Several years of consulting experience in the field of sustainable agriculture on the topics of supply chains. Experience and knowledge of the local sector is desirable.
• Experience in project management, preferably in Lebanon or the region. Knowledge of networks and cooperatives in the agri-food sector, as well as relevant government structures, is an advantage.
• Experience in the management and implementation of service packages or components in international cooperation is an advantage.

Other knowledge, additional competences

• very good working knowledge of ITC technologies (related software, phone, fax, email, the internet) and computer applications (e.g., MS Office)
• fluent written and oral knowledge of English and Arabic
• willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding measures are agreed with management

2. Responsibilities

The agricultural advisor is responsible for:

• Supporting need assessments and research in the Chouf and Beqaa regions.
• Providing strategic as well as substantive advice to project team on critical dates related to crops, milk, or other agricultural seasons that affects the planning of project activities.
• Helping in the outreach to stakeholders (NGOs, CBOs, Youth Groups, Women Groups, MSMEs, farmers cooperatives…).
• Providing suggestions and support to remove the bottle necks facing specific value chains in Upper Chouf and West Beqaa.
• Working on the development of business plans for farmers’ cooperatives, and for MSMEs indicating core activities, required investment, identification of revenue streams, staffing requirements, and their capacity building needs.
• Helping in the collection of data linked to the Monitoring and Evaluation of the project.
• Implementing a wide range of daily operational aspects related to the project.
• Maintaining a professional, conflict and context-sensitive flow of communication between all involved institutions, actors and GIZ.
• Keeping good relations with stakeholders and alert team on any issues linked to project cycle management.
• Ensuring best practices of do-no-harm and context-sensitivity.

The professional advisor performs the following tasks:

3. Tasks

1. Advising the partner institution(s)

The agriculture advisor:

• assists and monitors the development and implementation of project/programme plans and activities in close consultation with counterparts
• contributes to preparing and implementing the coordination process, joint project/programme activities and work at the regional level in Lebanon
• deals with the design, preparation and implementation of workshops, seminars and other events on issues connected with the project/programme’s area of activity
• develops and organises quality assurance measures and suggests necessary changes, improvements and initiatives

2. Networking and cooperation

The agriculture advisor

• supports cooperation, regular contact and dialogue with partners, assists with PR work and cooperates with local communities, relevant organisations, non-governmental agencies and individuals in the project/programme environment and with other projects to improve and maintain good working relationships
• communicates local interests and efforts, forwards these and encourages sharing ideas and information for the benefit of the project/programme

3. Knowledge management

The agriculture advisor

• ensures knowledge transfer to project/programme information
• develops ready-to-use strategies and technical concepts, including guidelines, manuals and procedures
• draws up reports and presentation documents
• analyses collected data and draft critical reports
• prepares appropriate input for various project/programme reports including annual reports, and contributes to the other reports required by the programme manager and GIZ Head Office
• assists with research activities and studies on political issues which benefit joint programmes.

4. Coordination tasks

The agriculture advisory

• assists with general project planning and develops project concepts including preparation, organisation and moderation of planning exercises and their implementation, management, monitoring, quality management, evaluation, communication and documentation.
• coordinates relevant project activities at local level in consultation with the manager and in cooperation with the partners, both as regards implementation and preparing organisational aspects.
• compiles the relevant information for joint activities and assignments
• handles order management on behalf of GIZ (e.g. offer preparation, impact monitoring, project progress review, reporting).
• acts as focal point for local farmers, farmers groups, MSMEs, and municipalities. 
• supports the design and planning of grants and assists in the management and implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• provides professional feedback on project proposals and other technical products developed by ACE partners
• assists partners/subcontractor in outreach and help in following up on their implementation of project activities on site.
• reacts to challenges during implementation in an adequate and solution-oriented way.

Project Description: Project aims to utilise good agricultural practices (GAP) as a way of supporting selected agricultural associations in adapting their production systems to market conditions that have changed due to the crisis. The hypothesis is that agricultural MSMEs will be able to increase their competitiveness, stabilise their revenue and safeguard jobs or create new ones through optimised cooperation, adapting their range of products and reducing their dependency on imports. Furthermore, the quantity of local agricultural products will increase, which in turn will contribute to food security.