Farmer Connector at WARC Group

About the Job

• Great candidates want to make an impact, and they don’t shy away from challenges! Our Trading Hub Program – the heart of the Warc business model – needs you to join the team on the ground; represent us in the communities, and most importantly, be the first contact point for our farmers.
• You will foster trust between Warc and the farmers, and between the farmers themselves.
• The Trading Hub Program is focused on women economic empowerment by making women farmers the Leads of Trading Hubs in their communities who sell inputs, facilitate knowledge transfer and aggregate produce.
• This role is specifically for a Farmer Connector to be based in Tumu, Upper West Region of Ghana.
• The work area expands to three potential districts of Sissala East, Sissala West, and Wa East.
• You will work directly with our Trading Hubs Program Manager and be responsible for helping grow our farmer network and managing up Trading Hub Leads, among others supporting in inventory management, administration and sales.
• You’ll spend your days mainly on the field, with the farmers on their fields and in their communities, but with regular check-ins with our Program Manager.
• You’ll become an important part of the communities where farmers will reach out to you for technical advice and guidance.

The main responsibilities of the Farmer Connector include:

• Build long-term relationships
• Manage all relationships with Trading Hub Leads– be the first point of contact for them
• Develop and maintain trust amongst farmers and farmer groups and with Warc
• Offer innovative agricultural extension services and products (on-the-job training will be provided)
• Follow Warc’s extension methodology and adapt it to farmers with different years of experience
• Facilitate weekly farmer training seasons with farmer groups
• Work with the Program Manager on community entry and new farmer acquisition
• Support the input delivery to farmers
• Work as part of a team
• Ensure a constant and clear communication with the Program Manager, especially about any challenges and problems
• Support monitoring, evaluation and learning efforts
• Ensure a consistent reporting of daily activities
• Support data collection for monitoring and impact measurement activities
• Monitor farmers’ fields and report crop's status

About you

• Warc is excited to have a driven, talented, and hardworking person join our team.
• We can teach many of the technical skills, but it is very important for the person to have a strong interest in technology, agriculture, and rural development in order to succeed in this role. A suitable candidate will have the following characteristics:

Required Skills:

• Willingness to work in a start-up environment – the ability to see what problem needs to be solved, and being the one to make it happen
• A relevant college or university degree in agriculture, social work, communication, rural development, psychology or similar
• Belief in business approaches to development and supporting the growth of farmers (essential!)
• Good interpersonal communication skills and social skills – can deliver specific communication about the company, establish trust and feedback loops
• Confident in front of groups and in new environments – can facilitate group meetings and develop relationship
• Team player and willing to learn
• Speaks fluent English and Twi (other languages from Northern Ghana is a bonus – especially Sissala)
• Flexibility and ability to work without constant supervision - The drive, confidence, and creativity to get the job done
• Willingness and availability to live in remote areas (Tumu)

Nice-to-have skills:

• Have a license to operate a motorcycle in Ghana (or willingness to learn operating a motorbike quickly)
• Experience or interest in working in a highly cross-cultural environment
• Have 1-2 years of experience working in the Upper West or other Northern Regions of Ghana