Nuru Nigeria is a local NGO with affiliates in the US, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Ghanaand Ethiopia. Our mission is to build resilience corridors of farmer-owned and farmer-led agribusinesses and profitable rural livelihoods in 12 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of northern Nigeria proximate to conflict-vulnerable areas by 2030. Nuru Nigeria prioritises the smallholder farmers it serves and works to cultivate lasting meaningful choices through a community led, community driven and community sustained livelihood programs across the agriculture value chain.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Program Officer
Locations: Toungo, Adamawa and Borno
Employment Type: Full-time
Job Summary
The Program Officer will provide technical support to the field team in key programmatic areas such as agricultural productivity and sustainability, Horticulture, and financial inclusion.
She/he will provide technical expertise in resilient agriculture with a special focus on climate-smart agricultural production, agricultural extension, agribusiness & value chain development, and smallholder farmer financial inclusion.
She/he must have extensive experience in smallholder agricultural intervention, farmer training, and extension services.
Job Responsibilities
Design and implement strategies to enhance agricultural productivity through sustainable practices and conducting training of trainers (ToT) to community structures
Support the project coordinator to coordinate and implement all Nuru impact & agricultural program activities in the intervention communities with a focus on achieving Nuru’s vision and strategic objectives
Facilitate and guide farmers on appropriate cropping patterns, and farming techniques through the establishment of demo plots to promote the adoption of good agricultural practices and savings & loan activities to promote social cohesion and increase income.
Directly responsible for managing assigned Nuru intervention communities and integrating Nuru organization within the assigned communities ensuring organizational acceptance by the communities.
Facilitate the establishment of farmer associations and provide support in their transitioning into well-structured farmer's organizations.
Directly responsible for providing the technical content on all agricultural extension training materials, training curriculums, and financial inclusion training materials.
Deliver one-on-one extension services to farmers and provide other on-farm extension advisory support services to the farmers.
Establish and maintain successful relationships with Market actors, implementing partners, community leaders, and other key stakeholders within implementation field sites.
Prepare high-quality monthly Activity Progress Reports and ensure they are submitted on time, document and share lessons learned, success stories as well as the general situation and community updates and feedback
Exemplify the servant leadership philosophy of Nuru Nigeria and work with other team members to build an organizational culture of service and a farmer-first principle.
Foster organizational development through strict adherence to Nuru’s values and principles ensuring accountability and high performance at all times.
Perform any other duties as required by and instructed by the Project Coordinator
Job Requirements & Qualifications
Minimum of Bachelor’s Degree or its equivalent (MSc is an added advantage) in general agriculture, animal husbandry, agricultural economics, agriculture extension, rural livelihoods, etc.
Minimum of 3 years working experience in relevant fields with a local or international NGO
Experienced and exposure to field operations in both emergency and recovery programs
Experience in agricultural extension services
Experience working with farmer associations/ groups or village savings and loan clubs
Experience and comfortable working in rural areas and with rural people, who have low literacy level
Sustainable agriculture production and natural resource management knowledge
Proficient in computer skills (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, Google Drive & Applications, Internet, etc.)
Excellent presentation skills, and capacity to deliver appropriate and relevant training to a target audience
Very good communication, analytical, and reporting skills
Ability to work in a cross-cultural, cross-functional environment and across departments
High motivation for improvement and ability to deliver in a challenging environment
Excellent Written and spoken English Language
Proficient in local languages such as Hausa, Bura or Chamba.
Applicants will not be discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity, colour, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, age, disability or health status.
The management of Nuru Nigeria reserves the right to verify all of the applicant's information and conduct background checks on shortlisted candidates including reaching out to his/her previous employer.
Please note that only suitable and qualified candidates will be shortlisted.