Vacancy Announcement
ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY
Position: Senior Transformation Agenda Specialist - Inputs Marketing (Re-advert)
Term of Employment: One year with possibility of extension
Duty Station(s): Addis Ababa
Required Number: One
Salary & Benefits: Competitive
Application Deadline: December 08, 2019
BACKGROUND:
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) is a strategy and delivery-oriented government agency created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of the country’s agriculture sector. The ATA envisions that, by 2025, smallholder farmers are commercialized with greater incomes, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability, contributing to Ethiopia’s achievement of middle-income country status.
The agency focuses on two primary national approaches to catalyze agricultural transformation. First, we support the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoA), its affiliate institutions, and other partners to identify and address systemic bottlenecks within an Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Second, we support Regional Governments to accelerate development of high-priority commodity value chains in clearly defined geographic clusters, through the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) Initiative.
Our major activities include conducting strategic and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support, coordinating platforms to better integrate partners and projects, and designing and directly leading a number of implementation projects. Our headquarters are in Addis Ababa, and we have regional offices in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray regional offices, allowing us to work closely with a wide range of public, private and development sector partners across the country.
Our Culture
We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results. Our culture is one where talented, dedicated and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great team work to achieve excellent results.
At ATA, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector. We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training. We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our employees with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Senior Transformation Agenda Specialist (STAS) being based in the MOA Delivery Unit (DU) in the Inputs and Crop Protection Program focusing on agricultural input marketing will primarily be responsible for providing local grounding and technical content support to the director of the Program in mapping out and strengthening the agricultural inputs marketing systems from producers to end markets. The STAS will assist and work closely with the MoA, Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), Regional Bureaus of Agriculture (RBA), (Regional Bureaus of Trade (RBoT) in engaging with other key stakeholders including logistic enterprises and transporters, farmers’ cooperatives, farmers’ cooperative unions, Farm Service Centers, traders, wholesalers, retailers and other actors. The primary aim will be to increase the production and productivity of the crops sector through the creation of enabling environment for ease of market transactions, decrease market dysfunctions, and ultimately increase small-holder farmer income while also addressing the issues related to the price and health issues of end consumers.
The STAS will be involved in supporting the MOA input directorate on effective input supply gap analysis and demand estimation and possible interventions in inputs marketing and distribution. The STAS recruit will also work closely with other technical staff in the DU team and partners at the regional level in order to create synergies and maximize outputs and outcomes at regional level. Along this line, s/he will guide and provide support on implementation plans and strategies for value addition and access to markets of seed, fertilizer, pesticides and other agricultural chemicals efficiently to the small holder farmers. The STAS will work closely with relevant teams in ATA such as RFS, Cooperative, Marketing, etc. towards fulfilling the objectives of creating a full-fledged distribution of the most critical inputs for crop productivity.
The ideal STAS would possess a passion for improving the lives of small-holder farmers, a deep familiarity with Ethiopia’s agricultural system and extensive knowledge of production, agricultural marketing preferably input marketing and input producers. S/he would likewise possess the entrepreneurial ability to visualize transformation, to mobilize stakeholders across system, to be innovative and to drive practical change on the ground. S/he will also possess as strong interest in pursuing a career in the public sector and in continuing to share the analytical, content and leadership/management learning’s gained through the position with future colleagues within the public sector.
This position will officially report to the Transformation Agenda Advisor Markets I, of the Delivery Unit. The STAS will be hired by the ATA on a government contract, towards the ATA’s intention of building public sector capability.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES: