Agronomist at Syngenta

Job Summary

The Project agronomist will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day implementation of all sorghum production (among other value chains), aggregation and marketing activities in the interventional areas with guidance from the Agricultural Services Operations Lead. He/she will work to ensure that field-based activities related to rural agri-entrepreneurs empowerment, service delivery, small holder farmers extension support, input and output requirements for sorghum production, field data collection, monitoring, evaluation, and learning is appropriately delivered. He/she will be the focal person for the farmers production hubs and act as the liaison between the project implementation team at SFEA, the implementing partners and stakeholders at the county level.

The Project Agronomist will report to the Agricultural Services Operations Lead with close collaboration with the project consortium member organizations.

Primary location: Homa Bay County with travel to other project areas

Key Roles And Responsibilities.

• Provide support in the overall oversight of the interventional activities at the county level in relation to entrepreneurs and farmers recruitment and empowerment, sorghum production, aggregation, and marketing/supply to EAML.
• Oversee production activities including planting and harvesting schedules, input access, farmers training, demo site establishment, coordinate extension services with partners, and ensure overall coordination of farmers production.
• Work closely with the county agricultural officers to enable them to have a better insight of the project and SFEAs Farmers’ hub model and identify leverage opportunities to further support the program.
• Regularly provide information and feedback on progress of implementation work within the interventional area, the PWDs involvement and empowerment.
• Facilitate valuable partnerships with main stakeholders and ensure that the value chain actors communicate plans and take actions relevant to the development and success of the project
• Follow up, track project activities, and address any bottlenecks with other implementation partners to ensure timely execution of project activities.
• Develop communication messages that are intricately linked to Farmer hub model and the objectives of the project
• Work closely with BDS provider to engage the Farmers’ hubs, PWDs, implementing partners and other stakeholders for the purposes of synergies in delivery of project outcomes
• Organize peer learning sessions, experience sharing and scale up of Farmers’ hub activities within the interventional areas

Qualifications

• Degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Agriculture Education and Extension or related courses.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in agricultural production, farmers assistance and rural development.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in Sorghum production and farmer groups coordination towards production.
• Ability to ride a motor bike with more than 2-year experience and a valid riding license.
• Excellent command of Swahili and English.
• Excellent report writing and communication skills.
• Dedicated and highly motivated professional, with a strong spirit for teamwork and sense of initiative.