Inclusive Market Development Specialist - Create Project

With 75 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, inspired by our Christian faith.

Come join our 31,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!

Employee Contract Type:

Local - Fixed Term Employee (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Field-based Research and Analysis: Situation Analysis and Value Chain Analyses

• Undertake a Situation Analysis: meet with local businesses, particularly those involved in agriculture, forestry, food processing and production, trade, government officials, NGOs and representatives from other development projects, financial services providers (bank staff)
• Document findings in Situation Analysis Report
• Identify local economic opportunities and constraints
• Identify a long list of potential products of interested by community/producers.
• Work with community to prioritize products, based on selection criteria
• Facilitate and conduct participatory value chain analysis with producer research teams.
• Identify market actors, Map value chains with producers, conduct research interviews with market actors at local, regional and national markets
• Analyze interview data to identify risks and opportunities within each selected value chain.
• Communicate value chain analysis findings to producers and stakeholders in the region

Facilitation: Producer Groups and Training

• Work with producers to form functional producer groups
• Facilitate (organize) and/or train producer groups in 5 key skill sets: 1. Group Management, 2. Financial Literacy, 3. Basic Market Skills, 4. Innovation and 5. NRM and production skills.  Where the Market Facilitator does not have existing skills/experience, external trainer will be brought in to ensure producer groups receive high-quality training.,    
• Based on findings from value chain analysis, organize technical training for producers to ensure they can produce products of quality and quantity that meet market requirements.
• Facilitate/organize ongoing training for producers in selected technical areas.  Training will need to be responsive to market requirements; production issues (disease, pests), weather; other agronomic concerns.

Facilitation of Action planning; Facilitation of Market linkages

• Facilitate producers in developing and implementing intervention plans based on the findings of the participatory value chain analysis
• Work with producer groups to identify practical solutions to meeting buyers’ requirements
• Facilitate Value Chain Stakeholder Network with local economic stakeholders to plan and implement chain-wide interventions

Networking and communication: Local and Regional Government, NGOs and Business Groups

• Identify market development opportunities that present through networks and relationships with other institutions and organizations
• Communicate useful contacts and opportunities to relevant producer groups, project staff and WV staff.
• Communicate market opportunities to producer groups, WV Staff, village workers, other NGOs and stakeholders.

Records and evaluation

• Collect and record initial baseline data in an organized fashion to enable evaluation of project impacts
• Conduct appraisals of impacts against baseline data for chosen market initiatives
• Record networks and contacts in a way that can be readily backed up, transferred and accessed.

Coaching and Mentoring

• Provide mentoring and coaching to producers and producer groups to build local capacity for understanding and connecting with markets
• Facilitate producer groups access to input sells and buyers. Facilitate interactions to ensure producers, understand sellers & buyers' quantity, quality, packaging, logistical and timing requirements.
• Facilitate and support (through coaching) negotiations between producer groups and buyers

KNOWLEDGE/QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE

• 5 years of progressive experience with facilitation, particularly facilitation of farmer groups
• 5 years of progressive experience in value chain analysis, market research and analysis or closely related role.
• Experience in business, networking and negotiation
• Excellent communication skills.  Experience with working with business people.  Experience with financial services in a development context
• Group facilitation and training experience
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, Economics, Business Administration, Commerce, Agricultural Economics and master’s degree in related field
• Strong understanding of commercial market operations and systems
• Knowledge of value chain analysis Knowledge of and ability to analyze the economics of primary production and agriculture
• Understanding of market development projects and methods
• Competent in use of Microsoft Office computer programs including Word, Excel & PowerPoint.
• Good command of Myanmar

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local Applicants Only