Summary
Date Posted: Friday, December 13 2024, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Organization details
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations on behalf of the German Government.
Implemented by GIZ, the Global Fund to Promote Innovations in Agriculture and Nutrition (i4Ag)” is part of Priority Area “Transformation of the Agriculture and Food Systems”. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), i4Ag promotes gender-sensitive and use-centered innovations. With co-financing from the European Union and the Dutch Government, i4Ag is financing the project Sustainable Agriculture for Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) in Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Zambia, Peru, Cameroon, Vietnam, DRC and Uganda.
Tropical agricultural commodities like palm oil, cocoa and coffee provide livelihoods for millions of smallholder farmers around the world and have contributed to rural development. However, the rise in their production over the last decades has also been linked to deforestation and forest degradation. As forests are critically important to mitigating climate change, maintaining biodiversity and providing ecosystem services, their sustainable management has become a global priority.
Against this backdrop, the European Commission (EC) has drafted a regulation on deforestation-free products. The European Union Regulation on Deforestation-free Commodities and Products (EUDR) requires the coffee sector to be deforestation-free; failure to comply with the regulation, or a lack of traceability, will effectively close the European market by December 2024.
To address these challenges in Uganda, EU and the Dutch government have commissioned GIZ to improve the protection of forest while supporting local communities in accessing markets and increasing their incomes.
GIZ Uganda is recruiting a Rural Development Advisor for SME development in the Coffee value chain to support small and medium enterprises including coffee farmer cooperatives and associations to ensure compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Number of vacancies: 1
Sector: NGO
Industry: Civil society

Knowledge, skills and competences
• Familiarity with the concept of due diligence, transparency, and traceability in agricultural value chains.
• Strong network with institutions working on agricultural commodities.
• Ability to communicate complex topics to be understood by different audiences.
• Pro-active attitude, flexibility, and intercultural competence.

Responsibilities
A. Key Responsibilities
The Rural Development Advisor will be responsible for:
• Regulatory Guidance: Provide comprehensive guidance on EUDR requirements, helping SMEs and cooperatives understand necessary regulations and compliance processes.
• Training and Capacity Building: Develop and deliver training to enhance understanding of EUDR compliance among stakeholders, focusing on documentation, registration, and reporting requirements.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Facilitate communication and collaboration between SMEs, cooperatives, and relevant regulatory bodies to promote compliance and share best practices.
• Best Practices Promotion: Identify and promote best practices in compliance and sustainability for SMEs within the coffee marketing sector.

B. Specific Tasks
The Rural Development Advisor performs the following tasks:
1. Knowledge and advisory services
• Strengthen the capacities (management, leadership, governance, financial management and service development) of producer cooperatives and SMEs engaged in coffee marketing as well as supporting their readiness to negotiate with partners.
• Technical advice to SMEs and cooperatives for the development of bankable projects to be proposed to the private sector and financial institutions for ensuring the professionalization of stakeholders in the value chain.
• Linking SMEs and cooperatives with financial institutions to facilitate their access to credit and savings
• Identify and adjust resources, toolkits, and guides that aid SMEs and cooperatives in navigating EUDR compliance.
• Strengthen capacities of cooperatives to use traceability and geolocation tools for efficiency and effectiveness in data capture, management, and monitoring compliance.
• Forster linkages for SME’s and cooperatives with networks and sector associations for business continuity.
2. Partnership management and coordination
• Cooperate and maintain regular contact with relevant parties from local government, civil society, research institutes and the private sector
• Participate and contribute to relevant processes, fora, events and meetings on the national and sub-national level.
• Support the planning and implementation of study tours, visiting delegations, exchange visits, missions and other official events as required.
3. Project management and coordination
• Support to develop an adapted Theory of Change, overall workplan and annual workplans.
• Support the preparation of terms of reference for service contracts or financing agreements in line with GIZ rules and regulations and supervise contracted third parties.
• Coordinate the implementation of project activities with members of the implementing team, partners and contracted third parties.
• Provide monitoring data and contextual knowledge to contribute to reporting and public and internal communication.
• Support the organization of internal and external events and meetings.

Other Duties/Additional Tasks
• Perform other duties and tasks at the request of management.
Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Development, Agriculture Economics or similar experience in the fields of SME and Agriculture Cooperatives Development.

Details of experience
• 5 years of progressive professional experience in Business Development, capacitating private sector actors and government institutions, of which at least 5 years in a comparable position.
• Proven experience working in or in close cooperation with private sector cooperatives and associations.
• Experience working for or in cooperation with the private sector in agricultural supply chains, particularly in the coffee sector.

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure
Interested in applying for this job? Click here to submit your application now.
• Applications and CVs should be in one document and a maximum of 5 pages only and sent electronically, quoting the position and reference number.
• Please include name and contact of three references. One official reference from your current workplace is a MUST.
• Eligible candidates are encouraged to apply to the Head of Human Resources until 11:59pm on Sunday 29th December 2024.

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