Cooperatives Strengthening Officer

Qualifications

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• Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Management, Agricultural marketing, Rural Development, or any agricultural related degree obtained from a reputable Institution
  
• At least five (5) years’ experience working with cooperatives and rural micro-to-small scale businesses providing either business development services, training and/or technical assistance
  
• At least five (5) years’ experience in managing market-led value chain development projects and market systems development
  
• Working knowledge of identifying opportunities for value addition and market access at the producer and aggregator level
  
• Experience in working with financial institutions to improve farmers’ access to financial services
  

Cooperative & young women entrepreneurial Capacity Building

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• Conduct Cluster cooperative Institutional Diagnostics/assessments on governance, digital readiness & safeguarding, gender, youth and disability inclusion.
  
• Design and deliver training programs on cooperative governance, financial literacy, record-keeping, and business management.
  
• Identify women and youth led entrepreneurial initiatives that emerge because of enhanced collaboration within the project communities and guide them into clustering around a common interest Provide the selected entrepreneurial groups & cooperatives with tailor-made training to improve their business skills, governance, financial sustainability, accountability and client focus and support them into participating in developing business plans
  
• Identify a range of relevant financial services products for the cooperatives & entrepreneurial groups, assess groups’ constraints to access each product and broker access to finance and investment between the entrepreneurial groups and various financing structures
  
• Monitor implementation of the young women business enterprises and report the performance of each entrepreneurial initiatives as per the set milestones
  
• Establish and maintain effective links with all key project stakeholders (e.g. district authorities and other development organizations) to strengthen collaboration with the project on agribusiness related issues Identify areas for synergy with other aBi Development funded interventions within the project site to complement project interventions and address issues beyond the project’s scope
  

Market Linkages and Value Chain Integration

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• Facilitate partnerships between young women traders, cooperatives, agro-processors, retailers, and exporters
  
• Support cooperatives in accessing certifications & formal markets
  
• Build capacity of cooperatives on coffee quality improvement & handling.
  
• Train cooperatives on digital platforms for market information (e.g., e-commerce, price tracking).
  
• Support piloting warehouse receipt system engagements at selected cooperative