Background:

•   The Government of the Republic of Ghana has received funds from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to implement the Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (GASIP).
•   The Programme provides a framework for a long-term financing engagement for private sector-led, pro-poor agricultural value chain development in Ghana.
•   The objective of the programme is to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction in rural Ghana, ensuring that agribusinesses - including smallholders - increase their profitability and resilience to climate change.
•   The programme is national in scope and governed by a demand - and market- driven approach that will provide a basis for scaling up investments in pro-poor agricultural value chain development led by the private sector.
•   The strategic focus of GASIP will be on smallholder farmers, to make them more competitive by increasing their capacity to respond to market demand in terms of quality, price, time and volume thus contributing to METASIP objectives. At least 62,860 clients or direct beneficiaries will be targeted towards the end of project year 3 (PY3) and 86,400 clients by PY6  of which at least 50% will be women, 20% youth (15-24 years) and 30% young adults (25-34 years).

Components of Programme:
The Programme has three components:

Component 1:

•   Value Chain Development - is central to ensuring strong business linkages among actors in the entire value chains of commodities to ensure they meet market or consumer and industry demands.
•   It has three sub-components: Agribusiness linkage development; rural financial services and climate change resilience which needs to be mainstreamed in promoting value chains to reduce risks and enhance profitability and sustainable production systems.

Component 2:

•   Rural Value Chain Infrastructure - aimed at providing the enabling infrastructure to catalyze value chain development. It has two sub-components:
•   Productive Infrastructure and Facilities - aimed at encouraging investments in commercial infrastructure and facilities for the selected value chains and
•   Enabling Public Infrastructure - aimed to finance enabling public infrastructure for the growth and viability of selected value chains.

Component 3:

•   Knowledge Management, Policy Support and Coordination aimed at harnessing successful lessons for replication and providing an enabling environment for optimization of programme opportunities and benefits. The two Sub-components are Knowledge Management,
•   Harmonization and Policy Support - aims at creating an enabling environment for small holders to participate in profitable and climate change resilient agricultural value chains and Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Programme.
•   The Programme which is planned for six years is expected to commence in January 2015 under the responsibility of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
•   It builds on the achievements of some on-going and soon-to-complete projects such as Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) and Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTlMP).
•   GASIP will have a National Programme Coordination Unit in Accra and three Zonal Programme Offices (ZPO) in Kumasi, Tamale and Dodowa. The ZPCO shall be composed of (i) Zonal Programme Coordinator, (ii) a M&E Officer, (iii) a Zonal Accountant and (iv) a Zonal Infrastructure Officer,
•   To enhance implementation of the GASIP, MOFA intends to recruit a qualified person to fill the following position:
•   Value Chain and Agri-Business Manager

Reports to: Operations Manager
Directly Coordinates: Zonal Programme Coordinators

Role:

•   The Value Chain and Agri-business Manager will serve as the key technical lead for the programme.
•   He/she will supervise technical and field-based activities including value chain development, market linkages, private sector engagement and local partner capacity building support.

Specific Tasks:

•   Develop support programmes to strengthen chosen value chains and oversee the execution of support to value chains from technical service providers;
•   Provide technical guidance in the process for selecting value chain cluster drivers, evaluation of business proposals and finalization of cluster formation agreements among cluster actors;
•   Facilitate the promotion of commercially viable linkages among smallholder farmers, larger businesses, service providers, private financiers and development partners through contracted service providers,     .
•   Liaise with other development partners and projects to create leverage for GASIP and a coordinated approach;
•   Identify technical assistance needs for the development of market and value chain tools, training materials and facilitating the conduct of pro-poor market and value chain studies;
•   Promote access to credit by value chain operators and ensure that public and private infrastructure facilities provided under the programme is appropriately integrated to support value chain development;
•   Provide oversight and direction for the work of the Value Chain Specialists. Responsibilities include technical supervision of annual work planning process and development of program activities;
•   Supervise value chain assessments and oversee the value chain selection process. This includes developing scopes of work for any consultants who may be required to help carry out these assessments. Provide leadership and mentoring to the local technical team on analysing data from the assessments;
•   Design activities to increase smallholder agricultural production and market linkages that lead to increased profitability of on-farm enterprises. This includes the development and implementation of upgrading plans in targeted value chains with a focus on improving smallholder productivity and net revenues;
•   Provide specific Technical inputs in reviewing business proposals submitted to GASIP and make recommendations that will enhance the quality and sustainability of the GASIP funded businesses, both existing and new.

Performance Targets:

•   Complete the process necessary to initiate support to at least two value chains annually;
•   Ensure integration of gender, climate change, youth development, etc. into the Programme's VC promotion activities;
•   Ensure mainstreaming of climate change adaptation and environmental management into value chain development activities;
•   Provide technical input into quarterly and annual reports;
•   Ensure that Agricultural Economists realize all key tasks assigned to them by agreed deadlines

Common Considerations:

•   Remuneration: Competitive salary

Qualification Required & Experience

•   At least a Master's degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness or any other relevant field;
•   At least 10 years' experience in dealing with issues related to agribusiness and with smallholder farmers in a rural setting;
•   Experience in marketing and value chain research and/promotion in agricultural commodities in the West-African Sub-region
•   Considerable experience and involvement in projects that provide support to smallholder farmer groups;
•   Demonstrated capacity to develop contractual arrangements between & among value chain businesses;
•   Considerable experience in projects supporting the rollout of commercial finance to agribusiness;
•   Experience in research or other activities aimed at influencing policy to support agribusiness development

Competencies:

•   Ability to work as a member of a team of different specialists to work towards a common goal.
•   Demonstrable knowledge in pro-poor value chain development and participatory methods.
•   Ability to achieve pro-poor, gender sensitive and socially inclusive working results.

Location: Accra

How To Apply For The Job

Qualified and interested applicants should send application letters with copies of curriculum vitae, certificates and other relevant documentation to:

The National Programme Coordinator
Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Programme
Ministry of Food and Agriculture,
P.O.Box M.37, Accra, Ghana

Tel: 0544-094669 / 233244-233887

Email: procurement@gasip.org

•   Location: MOFA Projects Block,Procurement Office, 3rd Floor, in the premises of the Government Secretarial School,Cantonments, Accra.
•   Deadline for submission of Applications shall be on or before 15:00 hours GMT [i.e. 3.00pm local time) on 2nd May, 2017.
•   Applicants are to include direct contacts (reliable telephone, fax numbers and email address) in their applications in order to facilitate early and easy contact.
•   Only short listed applicants will be contacted.
•   Candidates can send both soft and hard copies.

Closing Date: 02 May, 2017