Job Details

Job Description

This position is contingent on donor funding.

About Agova
Agova is a women-owned, women-led, impact-driven consulting firm born and based out of Zambia and serving clients across Southern Africa. Agova supports MSMEs to thrive in a way that has a positive social and environmental impact, specifically businesses in the climate-resilient agriculture and green economy sectors. Agova works with public and private sector players to incubate and grow MSMEs and develop gold-standard insights on ‘what works’ to propel the MSME sector to thrive and innovate.To date, Agova has supported 8,300 MSMEs and over 300,000+ farmers across Southern Africa with business growth services.

The Program
As part of its’ strategy in Zambia, the Embassy of Sweden is exploring Programme ideas that can contribute to achieving the strategy result: “Increased productivity and competitiveness of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural sector,”. This initiative aims to boost enterprise development and employment creation for the rural poor including, women, and youth. The anticipated five-year Market System Development (MSD) programme, includes a 12-month inception phase. The inception phase shall include a comprehensive sub-sector selection analysis, in-depth Market System Analysis (MSA), thorough environmental analysis and gender analysis.

The Position
The Lead – Agriculture Inputs & Technology will play a critical role in designing, implementing, and overseeing interventions that improve agricultural productivity, competitiveness, and profitability of MSMEs across various agricultural value chains. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership on input systems, technology adoption, and capacity-building activities tailored to the needs of smallholder farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities
TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

• Develop and lead the implementation of strategies to enhance agricultural productivity and competitiveness among MSMEs.
• Provide technical guidance on the selection, adoption, and scaling of innovative agricultural inputs (e.g., seeds, fertilizers, pesticides) and technologies (e.g., mechanization, irrigation, digital tools).
• Promote climate-smart agriculture and sustainable farming practices to improve resilience and productivity.

PROJECT DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION

• Design and implement interventions aimed at enhancing agricultural production systems for targeted MSMEs, particularly rural women and youth-led enterprises.
• Oversee field assessments, feasibility studies, and piloting of innovative agricultural technologies.
• Design and oversee the implementation of training and capacity building programs to enhance the technical capacity of MSMEs, focusing on production optimization, input use efficiency, & technology adoption.
• Design and oversee the implementation of interventions to provide mentorship and technical assistance to MSMEs to improve their access to quality inputs, modern farming practices, and relevant technologies.
• Facilitate market linkages between MSMEs and relevant input suppliers, agribusinesses, and financial institutions.
• Identify barriers to market access and work with stakeholders to co-create solutions that enhance value chain efficiency.
• Promote inclusive business models that support women, youth, and other marginalized groups.
• Collaborate with project partners, agribusinesses, research institutions, and government agencies to drive technology transfer and knowledge dissemination.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Oversee the programme’s team and collaboration with partners.
  Assist team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Alongside the Team Leader, provide mentorship on Market Systems Development, support team capacity strengthening, and build a culture of collaboration and learning across program staff and partners.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-ones and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
  Hire, orient, and lead team members as necessary.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Agriculture, Agronomy, Crop Science, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum of 7+ years of experience working in agricultural production, input systems, technology adoption, and MSME support.
• Expertise in agricultural technologies, mechanization, climate-smart practices, digital agriculture, and value chain development.
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement agricultural projects, particularly those aimed at supporting MSMEs and smallholder farmers’ production systems.
• Proven experience in integrating gender-sensitive and youth-focused approaches in agricultural development.
• Strong networking skills with the ability to build relationships with donors, agribusinesses, government agencies, and community organizations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex information to diverse audiences.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and strategic thinking abilities.
• Experience working with donor-funded programs and public-private partnerships.
• Familiarity with Zambian agricultural systems, policies, and market dynamics.
• Experience in designing market-based solutions to enhance the competitiveness of MSMEs in the agricultural sector.