Title: Agriculture Technology Specialist, Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre, Zambia

Reports to: Program Manager and the Director – ATDC (dotted line)

Location: Zambia

Travel: 20% travel, locally and internationally

Partners: The University of Zambia and TechnoServe

The University of Zambia: www.unza.zm
TechnoServe Inc.: www.technoserve.org

I. Program Description:

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have funded a three-year project which will provide technical support to two Agriculture Technology Demonstration Centers (ATDC) in Mozambique and Zambia. The goal of the project is to improve the effectiveness of the Chinese funded ATDC’s as technology and innovation hubs, making them key contributors to country led, inclusive agricultural transformation.

The project includes two core components; the first will support the ATDC leadership and staff to build their management capacity and strengthen organizational functions and the second component will enhance the ATDC’s capacity to identify, demonstrate, and pilot transformative technologies in key value chains. In Zambia, the focus will be on the indigenous poultry (free range or village chicken) value chain which was selected after a study was conducted on behalf of the ATDC. The project involves significant stakeholder engagement of value chain actors including the private sector, NGOs and Government ministries and institutions with the University of Zambia (UNZA) playing a significant role as the primary partner.

II. Position Description:

The Agriculture Technology Specialist is a three-year project funded position. The position will be housed at the ATDC with the first year’s employment through TechnoServe. To align with the goal of ensuring sustainability of the center, the subsequent years of employment will be through University of Zambia with the vision of continuing beyond the life of the project.

The Agriculture Technology Specialist will be responsible for the introduction of the four-step ATDC Technology Transfer Model for the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre program in Zambia.

The Agriculture Technology Specialist’s role is:

§  To identify, test, and evaluate improved technologies and models;

§  To support the ATDCs to engage with local research institutes, private sector companies, and NGO projects to identify, test, and evaluate existing technology solutions which might be a good fit with SHF needs;

§  To develop and disseminate training-of-trainers (TOTs) programs and materials on selected technologies;

§  To support capacitation of ATDC to implement ATDC Technology Transfer Model (TTM) process, including the development of various frameworks and tools;

§  To engage in dissemination of results from the TTM to relevant stakeholders; and

§  To support development of communications regarding results of technology demonstrations and broader ATDC communication needs.

Specific core responsibilities include:

§  Be part of the design of the Industry Strategic Plan (ISP) for indigenous poultry and manage its implementation;

§  Identify relevant technologies to demonstrate and pilot for the indigenous poultry sector;

§  Conduct and manage the smallholder farmer needs assessment; develop data-sets and facilitate the poultry assessment on behalf of ATDC;

§  Develop training materials and participate in the training of farmers taking part in the Project;

§  Monitor and evaluate the success of demonstration plots and assist to determine the technologies which will be piloted;

§  Monitor and evaluate the success of the poultry pilot which will contribute to the strategy to scale-up implementation;

§  Assist the Program Manager in the implementation of program strategy and activities in accordance with overall programmatic practices (donor relations, communications and visibility, special projects, reporting); and

§  Assist in the effective monitoring and evaluation of program activities including monitoring farmer demonstration and pilot plots.

III. Skills & Experience

Qualifications & experience

§  Zambian citizen or right to work in Zambia;

§  Degree in agricultural science with a specification in animal husbandry or related discipline, Masters preferred;

§  5 years of experience working in the agriculture sector, preferably in the private sector

§  Proven experience working in the poultry value chain with knowledge in poultry production and preferably directly with indigenous (free range) poultry;

§  Strong knowledge of general agribusiness in Zambia and working with small-holder farmers (SHFs);

§  Strategy development and implementation, and development of strategic partnerships is an added advantage; and

§  Previous experience working in a multi-cultural environment; knowledge of Chinese culture / language is an added advantage.

Competencies

§  Results oriented, with proven track record of working to achieve business targets;

§  Strong analytical skills, including quantitative;

§  Demonstrated capacity to produce high quality reports in English;

§  Proven ability to create buy-in and build consensus among colleagues and stakeholders;

§  Strong skills in business software (Excel, PowerPoint etc.);

§  Strong interpersonal and communications skills in a multi-cultural environment;

§  Ability to develop well-written, cohesive analyses and reports; and

§  Written and spoken fluency in English.

To Apply: Please submit your application (by email only) to with zambia-recruiting@tns.org the position title placed in the subject line. Please include (1) cover letter describing your interest, (2) curriculum vitae, (3) salary history, and (4) telephone contacts of three professional referees. Please include all requirements in one document. Applications will be treated confidentially..

Deadline for applications is 5th June 2018.

Note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No phone calls please

TechnoServe is an equal opportunity employer.