Job Location: Upper West/Northern Ghana
WHO ARE YOU
Passionate and motivated. Driven, with an entrepreneurial spirit. Resourceful, innovative, forward-thinking and committed. At Degas, we embrace these qualities, so if this sounds like you then please read on!
WHO ARE WE?
We are a startup dedicated to increasing 600 million smallholder farmers’ income in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 70% of the working population is employed in the agriculture sector – smallholder farmers. We believe there is no development in Africa without the development of farmers. We provide a full package for such farmers to enable productive & lucrative farming while visualizing their potential with technology. Our journey has just begun, and we aim to triple the income of 30 million farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
THE ROLE / RESPONSIBILITIES
The Field Officer will be part of a growing team, offering specialized support in collaboration-building and delivering implementation support to members through the Regenerative Agriculture programme development. The short-term focus is:
- Implementing regenerative Agriculture on the field (no-till farming, cover crops intercropping etc.)
- Applying biochar on the farm fields from its production
- Expand to 10,000 acres of scattered regenerative agriculture farms across northern Ghana
- Support the Regenerative Agriculture Manager, in the development and establishment of the programme, field coordination and ensuring member support in scaling regenerative activities on the ground.
- Assist in identifying geographies and specific sectors to pilot and test the Regenerative Agriculture programme.
- Educate smallholder farmers about regenerative agricultural practices.
- Setup regen. ag. Farms, recruit agents, farmers and distribute inputs. Conduct hands-on training sessions for farmers.
- Collect data on soil health, crop yields and biodiversity while monitoring the progress of regenerative agriculture practices in the field and document changes over time.
- Provide ongoing support and technical advice to farmers, involving frequent field visits while supporting the Regenerative Agriculture Manager.
- Work with local communities and stakeholders to promote the adoption of regenerative agriculture. This may include organizing community meetings and conducting workshops.
- Prepare regular reports on project activities, outcomes, and farmer engagement for the organization and potential donors.
- Collaborate with NGOs, government agencies, and other organizations working in the area of sustainable agriculture.
- Communicates with the management and cross-functional international teams in Ghana and Japan etc. to drive the Regenerative Agriculture vision, define requirements, draw roadmaps and deliver results that are aligned with our mission
- Facilitate discussions amongst these pilot project members and farmers to ensure the pilot projects deliver relevant and meaningful feedback on implementation to inform programme establishment.
- Translate the learnings from the field to knowledge that can be shared within the Implementation Workstream and cross-pollinate across other pilot projects.
STRATEGY & SUPPORT
- Assist with the delivery of an organization-wide integrated approach to regenerative agriculture.
- Assist in building programme communications, in partnership with the Degas team.
- Support webinars and events by capturing and translating learnings into meaningful improvements for the regenerative agriculture programme.
- Provide administrative assistance when needed for the organization of meetings with workstreams and external stakeholders (invitations, agenda setting, minute taking).
CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS
- +3 years’ experience in project coordination and stakeholder management.
- Background in agriculture and/or agronomy and regenerative agriculture and biochar (preferred)
- Proven ability in knowledge translation and transfer.
- Strong communication skills and English proficiency.
- Understanding of or experience in training and farmer engagement.
- Experience working with global teams.
- Highly motivated, hands-on and proactive 'can-do' attitude.
- Knowledge and experience in sustainability and the agri-food industry.
- Minimum bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline.
- Experience working in member organizations is an asset