Job Description

With over 70 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places.

Come join our 34,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!

Employee Contract Type:

Job Description:

Market and Linkage Coordinator - EMERGE

The Role:

The Market Linkage coordinator- EMERGE will be responsible for enhancing market access for communities and project participants, facilitating partnerships among stakeholders and promoting sustainable economic opportunities, with an aim of improving livelihoods and building resilience in the face of ongoing challenges. S/he will lead in all intervention areas which are aimed at creating linkages and sustainable connections between producers, suppliers, off takers, processors, banks/MFIs and consumers in the agriculture, livestock and financial markets, thereby contributing to the sustainable market and economic development for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within the project areas. S/he will also lead the financial market linkages by ensuring all value chain actors and MSMEs access finance through banks/MFIs partnerships established.

Key Responsibilities:

Market Assessments and Analysis.

• Conduct comprehensive markets assessments to identify opportunities and challenges for local producers and businesses.
• Support and conduct assessments on the value chain focusing on agriculture, livestock.
• Spearhead market assessments on good and services for small and medium enterprises including financial market assessment to support access to finance linkages.
• Regularly analyze, update and report on market trends and demands to inform project strategies;

Linkage Development.

• Establish and strengthen linkages between producers and markets, including local, regional and international buyers.
• Value chain Market linkages: lead the implementation of market linkages portfolio including linkages of producers, off takers, distributors, suppliers and consumers to accelerate and enhance market access so that targeted value chains are effective and functional.
• Financial inclusion linkages: Spearhead implementation of the financial inclusion linkages by having value-based partnerships with banks, MFIs to support all actors across the targeted value chain. This will be in forms of loan revolving schemes or credit guarantee schemes. This will include supporting and building relationships with MSMEs, identify opportunities for growth from the market assessment and support them in business planning readiness to access finance from MFIs/banks to support growth of their enterprises. This will also include financial services product development which are demand driven and suit the target.
• Business to business forums: Spearhead B2B forums between all market linkages in both agriculture, livestock value chains and financial service providers. This will support in creating business, linkages and facilitating in negotiations, contracts, signing tripartite agreement within the market players for effective and formalized market linkages. This will also include facilitating co-creation forums at village level.
• Establish and maintain key relationships with counterparts at USAID, peer organizations, research and other institutions;

Capacity building.

• Provide training and support to local producers on market requirement, quality standards and business management practices.
• Empower communities to engage effectively with market systems and improve their negotiating power.
• Develop training modules for market linkage and capacity build relevant project teams to build the capacity of farmers, livestock keepers, sellers, MSEs etc. to fully understand the merits linkages, work with them to create new and/or diversified market linkages.
• Work with local market players to improve their competitiveness and increase their market space
• Strive to come up with new innovations and creativity to address the market linkage and financial access challenges across the project areas through piloting of new business models infirmed by assessments and co-creation forums;

Coordination, collaboration and integration.

• Develop and implement monitoring frameworks to assess the impact of market linkage activities on resilience
• Collect and analyze data to measure progress and identify areas for improvement.
• Prepare regular reports on market linkage activities, outcomes and challenges for project management and donor reporting
• Develop and share success stories and lessons learned to promote best practices.
• Work with the MEL department to develop tools and guidelines needed to measure market linkages outcomes including reporting. This will ensure measurement of market linkages effectiveness and areas of improvement i.e. adaptive learning and management
• Ensure appropriate and continued coordination and joint-planning with other USAID funded programs and promote private sector engagement in the area of agricultural value addition, inputs supplies and agricultural technology and share best practices;

Experiences and Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree, in Economics, Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, Project Management or related fields
• Minimum of 3-5 years’ experience in market development, value chain analysis or related areas preferably in the private, humanitarian or development context
• Proficient in data analysis and reporting, with strong analytical skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders effectively
• Experience working with micro and small businesses in conflict affected areas.
• Well experienced in creating and nurturing private public partnerships in Market systems field including financial services sector
• Proven track record in capacity building and training.
• Good understanding of the Market systems including financial markets ecosystems in conflict affected areas including implementing successful financial inclusion programs.
• English language proficiency, Somali dialect preferred.

Working Environment:

• The position is office based in Baidoa with frequent travel to field sites in Baidoa and Hudur and some travel to Mogadishu.

Skills Required

Follow us on social media