Agriculture Officer at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development (FMARD)

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in partnership with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) of the United Nations is desirous of using part of the Credit to engage the services of individuals for the FGN / IFAD-VCDP (VCDP AF1) for the management and implementation of the programme in the nine (9) participating states of Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kogi, Nassrawa, Taraba, Niger and Ogun.

Consequently, Expression of Interest (EOI) is hereby solicited from suitably qualified and interested candidates to participate in the FGN / IFAD Value Chain Development Programme (YCDP AF1) within the capacity below:

Job Title: Agriculture Officer

Location: Abuja
Report: Directly to the Agricultural Production Advisor.

Background
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) is implementing a three- year IFAD-assisted Value Chain Development Programme Additional Financing (VCDP AFi), as a follow-up to the successful six (6) - year Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), in nine (9) participating states (Anambra, Benue, Ebonyl, Enugu, Kogi, Nasarawa, Taraba, Niger and Ogun). The Programme’s goal is: “Rural Poverty reduced, food security increased and accelerated economic growth achieved.” The VCDP, which was approved for an IFAD loan of USD744 million in 2012, aimed to directly improve the livelihood of approximately 17,480 households (15,000 small holder farmers, i,68o processors and 800 traders) and to benefit indirectly approximately 22,000 households.

In 2018, IFAI) approved an Additional Financing (AF1) of IJSD 89.1 million to: (i) expand VCDP activities to three (3) new states - Enugu, Kogi and Nasarawa - and to a total of 57 meal Government Areas (LOAs) from 30 LGAs at the Mid-term Review (MTR) of VCDP, in the entire nine states; and (ii) support the mainstreaming of issues that were not considered at the design of VCDP, consistent with national and IFAI) policies; climate-smart agricultural practices; conflict mitigation as the conflict increases between farmers and herdsmen for land resources; nutrition and financial inclusion.

The VCDP -AF1 focuses on enhancing the productivity and profitability of smallholder farmers (who cultivate not more than 5ha of land under rice/cassava) and small/medium-scale agro-processors (with processing capacity of an average of 2MT/day for cassava and 4MT/day for rice) by improving their access to markets, and capacity to increase yield as well as add value to locally produced raw materials through improved processing and packaging. The programme is being implemented through three mutually reinforcing components; Agricultural Market Development, Small holder Productivity Enhancement and Programme Management and Coordination.

Details of the Contract

• Two-year contract, renewable based on satisfactory performance acceptable to FGN and IFAD.

Details

• The Agricultural Officer (AO) will work under the direct supervision of the Agricultural Production Advisor (APA)

Main Responsibility

• The Agriculture Officer will be assisting the Agricultural Production Advisor in the overall management of the activities related to productivity improvement of smallholder farmers, in close collaboration with the State Agricultural Production Officer.

Specific Duties

• Work directly under the Agricultural Production Advisor (APA) with the Extension Service providers in training farmers in various aspects of crop varieties, agronomic practices, climate resilience, post-harvest and market orientation technologies.
• Assist in promoting and disseminating sustainable Agricultural practices through the Farmer Field Business School (FFBS) approach and on-the- spot extension visits under the guidance and Coordination of the APA. Assist the Programme’s Community seed producers to establish seed multiplication systems comprising farms and seed cleaning and conditioning centres (Seed- laboratories).
• Assist in setting up the overall distribution scheme of certified seeds/stems of improved varieties, fertilizers and herbicides as well as of equipment at State and LGA levels.
• Assist in the collation of State progress reports and contribute to the drafting of periodic project progress reports with the Agricultural Production Advisor (APA).
• Provide guidance to NGO/Service providers hired to implement the activities.
• Oversee the overall process of selection of target Farmers Organizations and beneficiaries in close collaboration with the Rural Institutions and Gender Mainstreaming Officer.
• Carry out any other functions assigned him/her by the Agricultural Production Advisor (APA).

Qualification and Work Experience

• First Degree in Agricultural Science, Agricultural Production, Agronomy, Crop Science, Horticulture.
• A minimum of 5 years post-qualification experience in addition to at least years in the implementation of productivity enhancement projects using participatory approaches in Extension services and gender msinstreasning.
• Proven experience and record in the field of project implementation of productivity projects.
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English language. Must be computer literate and conversant with the use simple computer packages.
• Good knowledge/experience of rural development challenges and dynamics.
• Note: Qualified and experienced women are encouraged to apply.

Application Closing Date
12Noon; 4th May, 2021.