Agronomist at Olam International Limited

Olam International is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed and fibre to over 19,800 customers worldwide. Our value chain spans over 60 countries and includes farming, processing and distribution operations, as well as a sourcing network of 4.8 million farmers. Through our purpose to 'Re-imagine Global Agriculture and Food Systems', Olam aims to address the many challenges involved in meeting the needs of a growing global population, while achieving positive impact for farming communities, our planet and all our stakeholders. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, Olam currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary listed companies in terms of market capitalisation on SGX-ST.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Agronomist

Location: Ilorin, Kwara
Job Type: Full-time

Overview of Position

• With IFP’s foray into Soy crushing and increasing requirement of crop, it is imperative to find pathways to grow Soybean production in the surrounding areas of the facility with objective to source a large part of the Soybean requirement for crushing from the catchment area (Kwara & Niger states).
• The position of Agri-Extension PM would be thus responsible to develop programs for small-holder farmers to get into SB production and drive improvement in agronomic practices to increase yield & farmer profitability, enabling crop growth.
• The position will also focus on developing & operating out-grower programs to secure supply of crop required by the business. To achieve this objective, the person is expected to secure donor funding for the agri-extension work from NGOs, global developmental agencies and Nigeria’s domestic schemes.

Key Responsibilities

• Mobilize farmer groups to get into & increase Soybean production.
• Develop a package of best agronomic practices for Soybean cropping and advise/ train the growers to adopt the same to ensure increased yield & productivity.
• Conducting detailed cost of production studies and find avenues for increasing farmer profitability
• Monitoring of weather & other developments to update production estimates and assess the impact of various scenarios on yields.
• Input distribution and credit accounting, if needed
• Build and sustain a reliable Soybean out-grower base in the catchment areas (Kwara & Niger) and ensure a sustainable supply of high-quality produce for IFP’s Soy crush facility.
• Quality seed production throughout-growers for the participating farmers
• Build an operational team to run the farming out-grower program - Scheduling operations as well as resources and monitor the activities in the field to achieve production and buyback targets.
• Acquire funding for the Soybean Agri-extension through multi-lateral agencies and stake holder management (International donor organizations/ Developmental agencies, social/ community organizations, Nigerian governmental agencies & Statutory bodies and internal departments)

Key Performance Indicators

• Improved productivity and increased production volumes for farmers
• Management of out-grower program and volume of buyback from the farmers
• Donor funding from Global developmental agencies/ NGOs and through domestic schemes in Nigeria to sponsor farmer programs

Academic Qualification

• Master’s Degree in Agriculture

Work Experience and Competencies Required:

• Must have expertise in Soybean cropping and 7 – 10 years of experience in managing farmer / out-grower / contract farming and agricultural extension services
• Proven experience in obtaining donor funding from NGOs and multi-lateral agencies
• Understanding of seed production, crop management and buyback of produce
• Knowledge on agro-climate, soil fertility, disease & pest control

Skills Required:

• Competence in managing external stakeholders and interactions with multi-lateral agencies
• High level execution capabilities, decision-making and critical thinking skills
• Resourcefulness to work with limited resources and capability to build/ manage a team from ground-up.
• Willingness to work in adverse field condition and manage the program in remote locations

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.