Agribusiness Officer at BRAC Tanzania

The WFP (World Food Programme) has awarded BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania with a Smallholder Sorghum and Sunflower Development Project locally named Vijana Kilimo Biashara (VKB) to be implemented in Simiyu region addressing the challenges facing the smallholder farmers in sorghum and sunflower value chains. Specifically, the project will be implemented in 2 districts of Meatu and Maswa (Simiyu). The project anticipates reaching 15,000 people including young people and adult farmers.

BRAC International is seeking applications from competent, dynamic and self- motivated individuals to fill the following position in BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania

Position (01): Agribusiness Officer

Job Location: Maswa

Purpose of this job:

The Agribusiness Officer will lead and oversee all agribusiness components of the Vijana Kilimo Biashara Project (VKB). This position aims to ensure that agribusiness development activities align with the project’s objectives of enhancing youth and women engagement, increasing incomes, and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. The Agribusiness Officer will be instrumental in linking farmers to markets, enhancing value addition, and building the capacity of farmer groups to operate as competitive agribusiness entities.

Responsibilities:

Technical and Implementation Support:

• Provide strategic direction for the agribusiness components of the VKB Project, ensuring alignment with project goals and stakeholder expectations.
• Identify and implement innovative agribusiness models to enhance the competitiveness of project beneficiaries in the sorghum and sunflower value chains.
• Facilitate market access by linking farmers and farmer groups to local, national, and international buyers.
• Support value addition initiatives, including processing, packaging, and branding, to improve the marketability of sorghum and sunflower products.
• Work closely with private sector actors, farmer organizations, and agribusiness service providers to strengthen value chain linkages.
• Design and implement training programs for farmer groups on business planning, financial literacy, marketing, and cooperative management.
• Develop tools and materials to improve record keeping and decision-making among farmer groups.
• Create tailored business plans to support the growth and success of small, medium, and micro agribusinesses.
• Coordinate the aggregation of produce from smallholder farmers to ensure consistent supply volumes for market demand.
• Establish and strengthen aggregation centers to streamline collection, sorting, and distribution processes.
• Collaborate with farmer groups to improve quality control and storage practices at aggregation points.
• Build partnerships with government agencies, financial institutions, NGOs, and other stakeholders to support project implementation.
• Represent the VKB Project in forums, workshops, and meetings related to agribusiness development.
• Collaborate with the M&E team to track progress on agribusiness activities and assess their impact on project outcomes.
• Prepare and submit regular progress reports, including success stories, challenges, and lessons learned.
• Promote the adoption of innovative technologies and practices that enhance productivity and profitability.
• Ensure that agribusiness initiatives are environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.

Safeguarding Responsibilities:

• Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment and exploitation to achieve the programme’s goals on safeguarding implementation
• Act as a key source of support,  guidance  and  expertise  on  safeguarding  for establishing a safe working environment
• Practice, promote and endorse the issues of  safeguarding  policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action
• Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place and encourage others to do the same

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, or a related field. A Master’s degree is an added advantage.

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Strong understanding of gender issues in agriculture and rural development.
• Experience in gender training and capacity-building initiatives.
• Proficiency  in data collection,  analysis,  and  reporting  with  a  focus  on  gender- disaggregated data.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

• At least 5 years of experience in agribusiness development, value chain analysis, or market linkages, agricultural financing, preferably in projects targeting youth and women.

Employment type: Contractual

Salary: Negotiable

If you feel you are the right match for the above-mentioned position, please follow the application instructions accordingly: