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| Business Mentor STTA | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Afghanistan | Province | Balkh, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, |
| Categories | Business Development, | Type | Full Time |
| Post Date | 2022-04-05 | Close Date | 2022-04-17 |
| Vacancy No | 130 | Gender | male female |
| No Of Jobs | 1 | Contract Duration | Short-term (anticipated 30-90 days) |
| Education | Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Commerce or other relevant fields | Experience | At least 3 years of relevant experience in successfully providing practical support, consultancy and training to micro and small Afghan enterprises in all business management aspects and at all stages of development, preferably in the agricultural sector |
| Organization | Opportunities for you | Salary | As per Organization Salary Scale |
About Company
About Roots of Peace: Roots of Peace works in war-torn countries around the world to remove the remnants of war and restore the land to rebuild peaceful communities for generations to come. The organization’s methodology is rooted in a philosophy of providing market-driven solutions tailored to rural communities in war-torn lands, serving as a catalyst for industry-wide development. This approach has impacted over one million farmers and families. With the help of Roots of Peace, farmers are addressing key challenges to increased income by applying modern technology and farming techniques that result in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Croatia and Vietnam. In Afghanistan, Roots of Peace has facilitated the export of $445 million in fresh and dried fruits, nuts, and spices to new and existing overseas markets, provided training for nearly 200,000 Afghan farmers in a wide variety of horticultural skills, provided more than $100 million in machinery grants and created 14,500 full-time jobs in all areas of farm production and export. Roots of Peace is currently implementing the USAID-funded Agriculture Marketing Program (AMP) and the INL-funded Community Based Agriculture and Rural Development (CBARD) in Afghanistan. AMP Project Description: The Agriculture Marketing Program (AMP) is a three-year USAID-funded program that follows on the successes of the ten-year USAID Commercial Horticulture and Agricultural Marketing Program (CHAMP). The program works in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, focusing on increasing farm production and domestic sales through interventions aimed at farmers and agribusinesses. During the first two years of the program, AMP worked with leading Afghan processing and export firms to increase export volumes and values, introduce new agricultural products to the market, diversify export markets and increase value-added processing. The program's market-based, demand-driven approach focused on supporting private sector growth and sustainability, thereby creating demand for agricultural products that drive job growth in rural areas. Women are incorporated into all areas of program implementation. In its final fiscal year of implementation, AMP has pivoted to an approach that addresses food security challenges precipitated by the emerging economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. This approach comprises three key strategies: Connecting Farmers to Domestic Markets Increasing Value-Add of Agriculture Products, Extending Shelf Life of Products Support for Remote Rural Areas Activities include: Increasing farm productivity and food security through Farmer Field Schools and other activities aimed at building farm capacity. Expanding the number of agricultural products through value addition and product diversification, such as processed jams and sulfur dried apricots. Linking farmers with traders and traders with buyers in domestic markets, such as through domestic food expos and B2B meetings. Building the capacity of agribusinesses to maximize output and quality for domestic markets. Supporting initiatives such as improved post-harvest handling infrastructure for traders, including packing houses, cold storage, and improved packaging. Addressing important supply chain and trade impediments that restrict the sale of high value agriculture products. Providing opportunities for female-owned food processing and import suppliers through export facilitation and activities aimed at business support. AMP works primarily with private sector agribusinesses, farm producers and other USAID-funded agricultural programs. Specific attention is given to support the participation of women and youth in AMP activities.
Job Description
Description of Role:
Business Mentor(s) will provide management consulting, business coaching and business mentoring support to one or more Afghan agribusinesses. They will use their knowledge and experience by providing advice, counsel, network contacts and business know-how, together with ongoing personal support and encouragement to assist the agribusiness to improve their management and operations. Each agribusiness will set their own objectives for the business mentoring, which may include increasing employment, sales, profit, productivity or product quality.
The Busineess Mentor(s) may be required to focus on various areas of the businesses, including, but not limited to:
- Business planning
- Marketing/branding
- Sales
- HR
- Logsitics
- Procurement
- Finance/Accounting
- Processing (including storage, inventorying, packaging, labeling, etc.)
- Product development
S/he will work very closely with one or more businesses, analyze challenges and opportunities, and devise strategies to address the specific goals of each intervention. The Business Mentors will be partnered with specific agribusinesses, based on their skills and experience, and will closely work with the client’s senior management and/or operational personnel.
Scope of Work:
The Business Mentor(s) will undertake tasks as highlighted below:
- Undertake an initial meeting with the agribusiness to discuss the objectives of the business mentoring process, and ensure that the Business Mentor and agribusiness feel that they are well-matched
- Work with the agribusiness to identify and reflect on specific goals and actions needed to successfully manage and operate the business.
- Mentor, coach and train agribusinesses on all aspect of business and operations management on a regular basis. This includes: identifying capacity building needs and producing sound needs assessments, producing action plans to address the identified gaps/needs, providing support in preparing, producing and finalizing business plans, and providing practical training and coaching in all topics of business management (accounting, sales and marketing, financing, planning, etc.) as well as practical solutions to address barriers to growth at all stages of development.
- Support agribusinesses to identify and access sources of market information, training and personal development
- Connect agribusinesses up and down the value chain by identifying relevant stakeholders, suppliers etc. and creating sustainable commercial relationships between the parties.
- Support agribusinesses to access finance by identifying financing needs and by identifying the most appropriate financing mechanism/vehicle.
- Assist the individual business owner to improve his/her personal capacity and business acumen
- Support the agribusiness to apply for AMP grants/incentives
- Provide short reports to AMP and the agribusiness to document the mentoring relationship – goals, objectives, support provided, outcomes, challenges encountered, recommendations, etc.
- Any other activities of a similar nature, requested by supervisor and/or management personnel.
Deliverables:
- Client assessment reports (identifying goals, objectives, challenges and solutions)
- Weekly progress reports
- Final report on progress and achievements
Job Requirement
Education:
- Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Commerce or other relevant fields. A proven and successful entrepreneurial experience of at least 5 years could be accepted as an equivalent to a degree.
Knowledge & Experience:
- At least 3 years of relevant experience in successfully providing practical support, consultancy and training to micro and small Afghan enterprises in all business management aspects and at all stages of development, preferably in the agricultural sector.
- Experience working with international development projects, or experience of working overseas, ideally in a development environment, would be an advantage.
Skills & Competencies:
- Strong desire to help others to grow and develop.
- Good business management, analytical and problem solving skills
- Initiative to understand challenges faced by micro / small enterprises, and identify clear, pragmatic solutions
- Ability to collect and analyze data
- Ability to manage a large and complex workload, with limited supervision
- Motivation, flexibility and capacity to work under pressure to short deadlines, and strong sense of personal initiative.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including presentation skills in local and English languages
- Attention to detail; ability to prepare accurate, well-formatted and professionally looking documents.
- Fluency in English, and Pashto or Persian/Dari.
- Ability to travel on regular basis and work in remote rural areas
Level of Effort
The Level of Effort for this assignment is anticipated to be between 30-90 days.
Location
Work will be undertaken from the ROP offices or facilities of AMP-supported agribusiness in Kabul, Herat, Balkh, Kandahar, or Nangarhar. The Consultant must clarify his desired province in his application.
Business Mentor(s) should provide their own computers for this assignment.
AMP will not pay for any local transportation or travel expense should the Business Mentor(s) choose to work in a province other than their current residence.
Reporting
Reporting will be directly to the Digital Marketing Specialist
Submission Guideline
Qualified applicants are encouraged to send their Applications with clearly mentioning the job title and duty station of the vacancy in the subject line. Please send your Cover Letter and CV into one combined file. Applicantions without mentiong the duty station in the subject line will not be considered.