Potato Specialist, Cameroon 25 views0 applications 170 views

Job Description

The Potato Specialist will be responsible for coordinating and managing field work and training with partners in the Potato Development Value Chain project in the Adamawa region, Cameroon. The position will be based in Ngaoundéré with frequent travel to the field.

The Potato Specialist will report to the Principal Investigator (PI) of the project based in Yaoundé, while also coordinating responsibilities and activities with the project team across intervention areas. The Potato Specialist will act as field coordinator to (i) implement field and training activities to strengthen farmers’ seed and ware potato production capacities in Adamawa, and (ii) coordinate agronomic activities across the project.

The Potato Specialist will be responsible for coordinating the trialling of innovative and agro-ecological farming methods, such as new disease resistant and high yielding varieties, high quality seed, small-scale mechanization, integrated pest and disease management, and innovative irrigation methods with support from the project PI and project team, and in direct collaboration with project partners.

The principal responsibility of the position is to undertake capacity building of trainers, farmers and extension staff. In follow-up to the training of trainers, the Potato Specialist will oversee the training of farmers through the implementation of Farmer Field School (FFS) and Farmer Run Field School (FRFS) systems with innovation farms and demonstration plots in close collaboration with the partners’ regional coordinators and extension staff.

Key responsibilities:

• Manage day-to-day partnerships with the participating Agricultural Training Centres, Regional Coordinators of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Farmer Cooperatives.
• Coordinate and support planning and delivery of capacity building for ware potato production and seed multiplication programs with focus on community-based lead farmers, extension, and agro-dealers.
• Participate in identification, designing, monitoring and evaluation of potato innovation farms.
• Coordinate and monitor demonstration and training sites managed by training centres.
• Provide training of trainers and supervision to assure quality of FFS and FRFS.
• Support extension to document and collect data from demonstration plots to inform and improve delivery of project interventions.
• Support field work of consultants.
• Oversee the implementation of innovative agronomic practices through on-farm trials across the project.
• Work closely with the monitoring and evaluation team to coordinate, plan and execute monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Support seed system development.
• Support the participatory variety evaluation and release.
• Backstop the multiplication and distribution of newly released varieties.

• Develop and maintain good working relationship with stakeholders.
• Write project reports and other publications.
• Develop training tools and other communication materials.
• Perform any other duty as assigned by the PI.

Requirements

• Minimum Agricultural engineer degree ( Ingénieur Agronome ); 5 years post-secondary);
• A minimum of three years’ experience in implementing agronomy and seed-systems related interventions.
• Fluent in French and good working knowledge of English required.
• Technical knowledge of potato agronomy and pathology.
• Ability to work in an international agricultural research centre, interacting with its staff and partners in a variety of institutional and ecological settings.
• Proven experience with working independently in the field with farmers, farmer groups and extension workers.
• Demonstrated expertise to design and carry out agronomic activities.
• Proven experience in preparation and timely submission of publications (reports, training manuals, extension documents, etc.).
• Excellent French-English communication skills.
• Good computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Statistical analysis software, Web browsers, Smart-phone applications).
• Willingness to travel frequently and work under field condition