Lead, Agricultural Development

As part of RTV’s leadership team, the goal of Lead, Agricultural Development is to ensure that RTV’s programs in last-mile subsistence farming communities achieve its ultimate objective of increasing household incomes and earnings – through agricultural interventions that improve agricultural value and incomes and create sustainable economic opportunities. You are someone who has strong technical expertise in smallholder and subsistence farming context leadership. 

As the Lead of agricultural Development, you will be responsible and accountable for all agriculture-related program components, provide leadership and strategic direction to the agriculture teams across districts and regions, implement new innovations aligned with our mandate and strategic plans,  and ensure that the Implementation department embraces new technologies and innovations. 

This would require a combination of office time, field visits, and networking with partners. During field visits, the primary focus will be on giving field teams guidance, building their capacity, taking note of different ground realities, ensuring that teams implement according to the organization’s methodology, and taking corrective measures. This includes knowledge creation and mobilization,  ensuring adoption, and being accountable for agricultural outcomes will be important parts of the role. 

In a cross-collaborative setting, the Lead, Agricultural Development, will ensure effective program planning and design and successful implementation and supervision of Agriculture extension interventions, including cropping and livestock in Raising The Village’s partner communities, as part of our core methodology. This will involve working with our Planning, Evaluation, and Learning  (PEAL) team to identify and assess the key needs of Agriculture extension, supporting the  Procurement team in the development and management of contracts in accordance with project budgets and timelines, and collaborating with program staff, local authorities, and communities to support Agriculture extension interventions. The incumbent in this role will have strong managerial skills and an understanding of composting, organic pesticides, soil, and crop management. During the implementation of the project’s activities, the incumbent will be required to provide feedback to relevant partners and the local authorities with the aim of improving the overall quality of Agriculture interventions. 

Agriculture Program Implementation

• Provide strategic direction and leadership to the agriculture officers, agriculture representatives, and all staff members regarding agriculture extension services.
• Transfer technical information, research findings and modern agriculture practices to the teams in order to improve productivity and profitability of the farming enterprise.
• Supervise Agriculture extension interventions in strict adherence to the set regulations and standards.
• Give structure and ensure systems strengthening for the agriculture department.
• Ensure knowledge creation and dissemination in the agriculture department.
• Conduct periodic Refresher training for the Implementation team on different agriculture components.

Program Design and Innovation

• Support the PEAL team in designing and planning activities for the extension of agriculture.
• Provide new insights on agricultural program innovations, especially in the context of climate-smart agriculture.
• Review project designs and ensure agricultural components are realistic and feasible to the respective communities based on availability, soil, water, etc., and provide feedback where required.
• Sign off all agricultural interventions in project designs and approve all crop varieties
• Initiate new Agriculture innovations in line with our programmatic objectives

Procurement and Contract Management

• Provide technical support in evaluating bids in accordance with RTV policies and procedures, project technical requirements, budgets, timelines, and any other critical factors.
• Give the procurement team support in preparation of all contracts to be awarded to vendors of goods and services related to the Agriculture Extension component of the project.
• Support in reviewing technical reports from the various contractors and provide recommendations to the Country Manager as to whether the delivered inputs meet the required standards and quality.
• Guide Agriculture officers/Assistants to carry out seed verification, review their seed verification reports and sign off seed procurement in view of these reports.
• Participate in evaluation exercises for vendors and give technical guidance.

Coordination and Collaboration 

• Co-ordinate and network with the relevant Local Governments, Agriculture research institutions, seed producing/multiplication companies, Ministry of Agriculture, Rwanda Agricultural Board as well as build relationships with other agencies, NGOs and CBOs working in the Project areas and providing technical support and assistance to Agriculture Extension interventions.
• Coordinate Local government extension workers at the sector level to review and harmonize on different community training manuals.

Monitoring and Reporting

• Provide regular reports on Agriculture Extension Interventions and program progress against work plan and program activities.
• Maintain an up-to-date activity tracking tool for all Agriculture extension-related activities.

Team Management and Leadership

• Supervise the Agriculture officers/Assistants
• Team capacity building and mentorship for the Implementation team
• Participate in leadership meetings and strategic planning processes, and work cross-departmentally to create and mobilize agricultural knowledge to relevant stakeholders.

• University Degree in Agriculture Science in both crop and animal husbandry.
• Additional Qualification in Project Planning and Management is desirable.
• At least eight years of experience with a non-profit, non-governmental organization, local governments or Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
• Excellent experience with Microsoft Excel, including the use of formulas and pivot tables, and strong skills with Microsoft Word.
• Excellent English communication skills.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and make decisions independently.
• Flexible, able to cope with stressful situations and frustrations.
• Willingness to travel to remote areas in Uganda.
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to be a strong team player.
• Present professional conduct and exercise professional judgment.
• High levels of honesty and integrity.
• Respectful of RTV’s code of ethics.
• Able to manage personal schedule to not interfere with professional work, especially when preparing for long journeys.
• Successful team leadership experience for at least 8 years.