Job title: Project Manager – Dairy and Agriculture Research Manager
Company: Self Help Africa
Department: Programmes
Contract type: Two-year renewable contract, full time
Location: KALRO, Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya
Projects: • Sustainable Dairy Farming for Smallholder Farmers in Kenya: A Climate Smart Research for Development Project;
• Sustainable Intensification in Africa (SustInAfrica)
Project duration: 5 Years, 6 months
Commencement date: 01/02/2025
Reports to: Head of Programmes, Kenya SustInAfrica; Work Package (WP) 5 Coordinator SIA Project
Salary: Gross Annual Salary: KES 4,740,000
Benefits: 21 days annual leave, medical insurance and 10% employer pension contribution
Expected Travel: 70% County level travel 10% international travel to West and North Africa
Restrictions: 6 months’ probation, Two-year contract with possibility of extension

About Self Help Africa

Help Africa (SHA) is a dynamic international organisation based in Nairobi with its headquarters in Ireland and operations in 9 African countries across East, Southern and West Africa. In Kenya, SHA’s track record stretches over 15 years working with smallholder farmers, farmer associations, cooperatives, and small and medium size enterprises in the agribusiness sector to help them enhance their production, diversify their diet/ income/ agricultural activities so as to attract better prices for their products through value addition and improved marketing.

SHA’s approach to agricultural development is based on technical expertise, extensive experience of project implementation, and evidence of best practice from the wider development community. SHA also works to raise awareness of smallholder farmer issues and represent their interests at policy and institutional level. Currently, SHA works in more than 40 counties spread out in all the regions of Kenya.

You can read more about SHA on this link below: https://selfhelpafrica.org/ie/

About the projects

Self Help Africa considers agriculture as the key to reducing hunger poverty in rural areas and to driving growth that prioritises the poorest. It is fundamental to the sustainable food systems we promote, which are required to address chronic undernutrition and deliver healthy, safe, nutritious and affordable diets in rural and urban areas.

SHA is uniquely positioned to work with research institutes to help ensure that farmers’ problems are addressed by researchers and that smallholder farmers have the opportunity to access  promising research results and innovations.

SHA requires an Agriculture and Dairy Research Project Manager to support two critical research projects.

EU Horizon SustInAfrica

The overall goal of SustInAfrica is to empower West and North African smallholder farmers and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to facilitate sustainable intensification of African farming systems, and to develop and deploy a reference framework on best agricultural practices and technologies, based on a systems approach, and successfully verified for their efficacy to intensify primary production in a self-sufficient, sustainable and resilient manner. SustInAfrica works in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Tunisia, Egypt and has research partners in Finland, Germany, Italy and Portugal.

SHA leads Work Package 5 WP5: Sustainability, replicability, and exploitation of successful practices

to ensure the lasting impact of African-EU joint research WP5 will screen the methods, technologies, and solutions developed by SustInAfrica for climate resilience, impact on gender, nutrition and the environment, and the potential for replicability and scaling before developing exploitation strategies, which will include costed business plans for commercially viable technologies and extension strategies for Public Goods.

• OB5.1: Gain deep understanding of the potential impacts of the technologies implemented under SustInAfrica: Assess impact of methods, technologies and solutions developed by SustInAfrica on the environment, social and economic systems.

• OB5.2: Ensure the replicability of SustInAfrica: Assess the replicability and readiness for scaling of the methods, technologies and solutions developed by SustInAfrica.

• OB5.3: Ensure exploitation of SustInAfrica’s outcomes: Develop sustainable costed strategies, models and business plans for scaling-up/scaling-out of SustInAfrica methods, technologies and solutions through private and public investors.

Irish Embassy funded Dairy Kenya II Development Project

We believe that there is considerable potential to expand the dairy sector in Africa to meet demands for safe dairy produce and increasing the consumption of milk by children to reduce chronic nutrient deficiencies, while creating reliable incomes for smallholder dairy farmers, dairy cooperatives, and milk processors. SHA, as an INGO based in Ireland, is ideally placed to take advantage of Ireland’s world leading dairy knowledge and research base.

Increases in dairy production need to take in to account the long-term impact of climate change by ensuring that dairy breeds and fodder resources are resilient to future climates and reducing the methane footprint of the dairy sector.

The 5-year Dairy Kenya II project funded by the Irish Embassy through Teagasc will build on the work carried out as part of Dairy Kenya I with a focus on the following key objectives:

• Support KALRO in the delivery of its dairy research programme and increase its focus on low-cost resilient forage-based systems of production.
• Focus on a long-term dairy cattle breeding programme so as to evaluate dairy cattle breeds currently in the country and to develop a capacity at KALRO to be able to support the development of a breeding index (EBI) which can guide future breeding programmes.
• Support the expansion of the forage programme at KALRO so as to assess the agronomic characteristics of a number of forages over a number of Agro-ecological Zones.
• Support the establishment of a forage conservation program so as to provide the technology to help farms mitigate the impact of climate change.
• Establish and continue to operate a number of Demonstration Farms at KALRO, Baraka Agriculture College and at Development Pamoja and associated technology adaptation programme at Baraka Agriculture College (high rainfall region) and at Development Pamoja (low rainfall region).
• Continue to support KALRO to be more accessible and stakeholder focused by strengthening the innovation support unit through the establishment of a new specialist advisory service which will support extension officers working with Co-ops and with the county extension service.
• Establish a strong outreach/advisory programme with Dairy Co-ops on forage-based dairying using Discussion Group methodology.
• Address sustainability issues in relation to climate change mainly in terms of improved farm productivity and in how systems of production responded to climate shocks.
• Address gender issues in the context of role of women headed households and initiatives in support of women (e.g., women’s groups and farm enterprises under the control of women);
• Establish a strong Irish / Kenyan partnership of expertise focussed on climate smart forage based dairy production.

Job purpose
The purpose of this position is to contribute to key research activities.

Kenya

Manage and deliver the project activities, running through all activities from applied research, research translation, and demonstration of technologies, packaging, extension and dissemination of the research findings to smallholder dairy farmers as well as project PR. These will include:

1. Manage the development of a project implementation plan for Dairy Kenya II including;(i) scope statement; (ii) project milestones, goals, and key objectives: (iii) detailed resource plan; (iv) implementation timeline; (v) plan milestones; (vi) implementation plan KPI’s & metrics (performance measures); (vii) Roles and Responsibilities; (viii) communication plan; (ix) Risk analysis.
2. Work closely with KALRO management and staff on the planning and implementation of the activities supported by the project including:
3. Dairy animal breeding research and development of a Kenyan EBI.
4. Forage production and conservation systems research.
5. Development of the sustainable future dairy farm system model.
6. Supporting the KALRO Innovation Support Unit to disseminate information and provide training.
7. Establishment of a new “Extension Specialist Support Unit” to support extension officers working with farmers.
8. Work closely with the “Lead Dairy Specialist” in the new Extension Specialist Support Unit to:
9. Co-ordinate and publish frequent demo farm data from KALRO, Baraka and Development Pamoja.
10. Plan and deliver a programme of extension officer support activity and on-farm activity supported by the project.
11. Support individual co-ops to prepare and monitor tailored development plans for each co-op to develop a sustainable milk production system in their catchment area.
12. Work with Baraka and Development Pamoja to plan and monitor their project activities.

SustInAfrica (multi-country)

The researcher will contribute to the following deliverables:

1. D5.11 Technology Scores (readiness) Update.  Collect and clean 2024 harvest data from the field trials to calculate Gross Margin and Labour requirements to update the report.
2. D5.10 Exploitation Routes + D5.13 Exploitation Strategies: work with the Enterprise Advisor to develop exploitation strategies for the technologies and farming practices developed by the project that have proved successful.  
3. D5.14 Policy briefs: summarise all the research to data to produce short policy briefs for each of the technologies and farming practices
4. D5.15 Investor Briefs: produce short briefs on the investment potential of commercially viable technologies.
5. Provide support to other Work Packages   

Key Responsibilities

Kenya

• Lead and manage the project, including oversight of project quality and accountability.
• Ensure all project partners deliver their responsibilities.
• Lead project planning, monitoring and reporting of all project activity with all project partners in Kenya (KALRO, Baraka Development Pamoja) supported by Irish based partners (Greenfield, Teagasc).
• Establish and manage linkages between all project partners and all other organisations working with and supporting the project (co-ops, input and service suppliers, media etc).
• Provide inputs to program activities where required to ensure the quality of project outputs such as training materials, guides and manuals.
• Prepare the reports required for the project.
• Ensure efficient use and management of all project resources including transport.
• Facilitate effective teamwork, coordination and work planning among development partners.
• Report progress to the head of programmes (Senior Programme Manager and Private Sector Lead) and the donor / lead contractor as requested.
• Plan and monitor M&E, diversity, inclusion, logistics and communications aspects of the project.
•  Provide a lead point of contact for the project for project funders (Embassy of Ireland), lead contractor (Teagasc).
• Prepare regular (monthly) reports to project steering committee on all activities and facilitate meetings.
• Prepare quarterly activity and financial reports from all Kenyan based partners.
• Learning: Identify learning and best practise in the smallholder dairy sector. Develop of position papers, technical guidance, and other relevant technical documents.
• Leadership and compliance: The Project Manager is expected to be a role model for the organisation, applying and promoting best practice and provide guidance to staff and partners on SHA’s ethos, approaches, polices, systems and processes. 
• Other duties and tasks as assigned by the Kenya CD and HoP.

SustInAfrica Support the SustInAfrica team in the production of the deliverables listed above and relevant project milestones.

Key relationships

Internal

• Head of Programmes, Kenya
• SustInAfrica WP5 Coordinator
• Kenya Project Coordinators – Nutrition and Gender, Agriculture and NRM
• Kenya Trade and Enterprise Advisor
• Kenya M & E Officer
• Kenya Finance and Administration Team
• Regional Dairy Advisor and the Global Advisory and Research Team
• Programmes Coordinator (East Africa)

External

• Project Partners / Donor / Project Steering Committee
• County Governments and relevant County departments – Health, Cooperative, Nutrition, Agriculture, Trade, Social Services, Gender, etc
• Dairy Cooperatives
• Other development organizations/ stakeholders/ Cooperatives
• SustinAfrica research partners

Knowledge, Experience and Other Requirements

Essential

• The candidate should have a honours degree in Agriculture, Animal science/ Livestock production or Dairy production, International Development, Agricultural economics or any other related university degree.
• Extensive expertise, knowledge, and experience in dairy development programmes.
• Over 5 year experience of working on Dairy value chains.
• Must have proof of successful implementation of programmes in either Dairy value chain, Climate Smart Agriculture, Market Systems Development, integrated Food Security, Sustainable Agricultural and Livelihoods Programmes or other related fields.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex studies and findings in an accessible way for non-technical readers, including presentation of data in visually appealing ways, highly structured and rigorous summaries of findings and robust and accessible syntheses of key lessons.
• Experience implementing Dairy Research and Innovation projects will be an added advantage.
• A strong understanding of the role of gender in Kenyan dairy systems and understanding of gender roles and gender analysis in farming systems in Africa.
• A strong understanding of human nutrition issues in the dairy sector and Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture
• Good understanding of project cycle management approaches, monitoring and evaluation, and farmers’ capacity building.
• Willingness to learn new research methods and explore new areas of practice
• Experience in Dairy marketing strategy development and practice
• Budget management, monitoring, and implementation
• Has experience working with cooperative enterprise
• Has worked on system evaluations and/or design
• Must already have, and be able to retain, the legal right to work in Kenya and be available to travel in East, West and North Africa.

Preferred

• Experience in Animal nutrition
• Understanding of the climate change trends and predictions for East and West Africa and the implications for the production of crops, fodder and livestock.
  
  

Role compentencies

Essential

• Written and oral proficiency in English with good communication and presentation skills and excellent report writing skills.
• ICT skills: Strong skills in MS Word and Excel and experience of using data collection apps in the field and data analysis software is essential
• good agricultural economic analysis skills.
• Ability to work as part of team across different cultures, countries and languages.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision and take initiatives
• Available to travel in East, West and North Africa.
• Good negotiation skills and ability to develop effective partnerships and relationship
• High level of integrity and high standards of personal conduct
• Is self-driven and a creative problem solver
• Experience with project management Tools
• Conflict resolution
• Decision making
• Leadership: is capable of taking initiative, working independently and with a team
• Risk management

Preferred

• Additional experience of using Salesforce and dairy/ livestock sector specific software preferred.
• French language skills would be advantageous for this position.

Application Procedure:  

Fill and send the attached Self Help Africa application form and also send your cover letter and CV in a single document to the link provided on the website.

Email title must be same as the position you are applying for and the location of the position.
Job description is available for download here.

In the cover letter, please ensure to explain the following:

1. Why you are applying for the position
2. How do your skills and experiences meet the job’s specification
3. When will you be able to take up the position if successful.

The deadline for this application is 7^th January, 2025. You are advised to apply early, as applications will be treated on rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

All candidates offered a job with Self Help Africa will be expected to sign our Safeguarding Policies and Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.  Specific roles may require Police/DBS/ [relevant police authority] vetting.

Self Help Africa strives to be an equal opportunity employer.