Market Systems and Cooperative Officer at Nuru Nigeria

Nuru Nigeria is a locally Led NGO with affiliates in the US, Kenya, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso. Nuru equips local leaders with tools and knowledge to lead their communities out of extreme poverty by integrating impact programs that address the most prevalent and fundamental challenges of extreme poverty around four areas of need: Hunger, Inability to Cope with Financial Shocks, Preventable Disease and Death, Lack of Access to Quality Education for Children.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Market Systems and Cooperative Officer

Location: Yola, Adamawa
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary

• The Market Systems and Cooperative Officer at Nuru Nigeria will be responsible for assisting the Market System and Business Development Specialist in analysing market systems, identifying opportunities, and implementing strategies to improve the business environment for smallholder farmer’s cooperatives, entrepreneurs, and local enterprises.
• The Officer will work closely with stakeholders, including the Farmer Association, Farmer Organisations, local businesses, government agencies, and other NGOs, to promote sustainable farmer’s organization, providing market linkages, increase market effectiveness, and enhance income-generating activities.

Responsibilities
Market Systems Analysis:

• Conduct thorough market assessments, mapping key actors, value chains, and market opportunities.
• Analyse market trends, supply and demand dynamics, and other relevant factors affecting farmers, local businesses and community-driven aggregations for profitability.
• Identify market constraints, challenges, and opportunities for growth and development.
• Develop comprehensive reports and recommendations based on market analysis finding

Cooperative Development:

• Provide guidance and support to cooperative members on business development, management, and governance.
• Assist cooperatives in financial planning, budgeting and accounting
• Monitor financial performance and provide advice on financial management practices
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders, including government agencies NGOs financial institutions and community members
• Collaborate with various entities to support cooperative initiatives and market development
• Identify training needs for cooperative members and provide or facilitate training programs
• Forster skill development and knowledge enhancement among cooperatives members with the impact team.
• Mediate and resolve conflict within cooperatives or between farmer’s association and farmer’s organization
• Address issues related to governance, leadership and internal disputes.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting:

• Support the development of robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track the progress and impact of Nuru Nigeria’s market development initiatives.
• Collate and analyze data on critical market information, market dynamics, market trends and impact indicators in a timely manner for informed decision-making.
• Identify lessons learned and best practices to inform future program design and implementation.
• Develop and implement systems for monitoring and evaluating the performance of farmers’ organization cooperatives
• Assess the impact of market and cooperative development programs
• Prepare reports on market trends, cooperative performance and program outcomes
• Prepare regular progress reports and contribute to program reporting requirements.
• And any other duties as assigned by the line manager.

Qualifications and Job Requirements

• HND or Bachelor's in Business Administration, Economics, Agricultural Economics, Cooperative studies or a related field.
• Minimum of 4 years of professional experience in Cooperative support and administration as well as experience in marketing development
• Strong understanding of agricultural cooperative management structure.
• Knowledge of market-based approaches, including value chain development, access to finance, and enterprise development.
• Excellent analytical skills, including collecting, analysing, and interpreting complex data.

Application Closing Date
28th February, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Non-discriminatory Employment Clause

• Applicants will not be discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity, colour, gender, religion, socio-economic status, age, disability or health status.
• The management of Nuru Nigeria reserves the right to verify all of the applicant's information and conduct background checks on shortlisted candidates including reaching out to his/her previous employer.
• Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.