Riad Saidu Koroma
About Candidate
December 1st 2019 to Date: AGRICULTURE VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (AVDP)/MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FORESTRY (MAF)/IFAD
The Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (AVDP) will be implemented over six years with the overall goal of improving livelihoods, food security and climate resilience of rural farming households. The project’s development objective is to increase incomes for smallholder farmers through the promotion of agriculture as a business. The AVDP will target an estimated 43,000 direct beneficiaries and their families, thereby reaching a total of 260,000 people. The project will be financed by IFAD, the Adaption Fund, and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the private sector, the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and beneficiaries.
The goal of AVDP is livelihoods and climate change resilience of rural farming households in Sierra Leone improved, while the project development objective (PDO) is to promote agriculture as a business for enhanced incomes and reduced rural poverty, among 42,985 rural households. This PIM has provided the key indicators to measure project performance by the midterm review (MTR) and completion.
Location: Portloko
Position: Senior Agronomist/Regional Team Leader, North West Region.
Under the direct supervision of the Project Technical Direct, the Senior Agronomist will be responsible for the identification and the implementation of works pertaining to agronomic activities. The senior Agronomist will work with all unit heads to help drive the implementation of the AVDP AWPB. The incumbent will work in close collaboration with Crops, Extension and ACT-T within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in executing his/her duties.
Some of the specific duties of the Senior Agronomist are as follows:
· Provide and coordinate technical support, supervise and train staff, farmers and farmer organizations on recommended agricultural practices, applications of appropriate methods and technologies for cash and food crops in line with project development plans.
· Support preparation of agricultural assessment to set baselines and develop innovative implementation and monitoring systems in liaison with partner institutions, technical staff, farmers and the Service Providers in coherence with the log frame and other indicators as identified in the monitoring and evaluation system.
· Conduct multi-stakeholder consultations to identify all irrigated agriculture enterprise options including their sustainability costs, benefits and risks, within a livelihoods framework.
· Provide and coordinate the adoption of guidelines and strategies for sustainable irrigated farming systems through value chain approach.
· Develop and coordinate the adoption of guidelines and manuals on irrigated crop, crop calendars, enterprise choices, cropping patterns, soil fertility management;
· Incubate agricultural innovations, scale up pilots, build knowledge and participatory learning systems to ensure dissemination of technologies and best practices through guided practice (farmer field schools extension approach, training needs, etc.).
