Market Research Analyst - Fixed term up to September 30,2021

 I.              About TechnoServe

TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. We are a nonprofit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hardworking men and women in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs and wealth for their families and communities.

 II.             Project Background

TechnoServe is partnering with the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) to develop a roadmap to market-led strategy for horticulture Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) and Farmer Production Clusters (FPC) in Ethiopia. The ATA has prioritized five horticultural commodities across 17 geographic clusters in 4 regions. This includes avocado, mango, banana, onion, and tomato, each with their own target market channels and value chain challenges for domestic, regional, and global markets. The road to market strategy will guide relevant government actors to effectively support the commercialization of these geographically specific value chains and will be based on rigorous market analysis and data-driven insights.

The roadmap to market-led strategy will assess geographically specific market opportunities, identify the business case for investing in horticultural ACCs/FPCs, recommend program interventions to address market system constraints, and develop a strategy to increase coordination and collaboration between government partners and the private sector. The Market Research Analyst will work closely with the Project Manager and TechnoServe’s Strategic Initiatives Team to gather and synthesize local market insights for the successful development of this strategy. In particular, the Market Research Analyst will lead market assessment activities through quantitative data collection and qualitative interviews to validate insights and ensure the applicability and successful implementation of the road to market strategy.

TechnoServe seeks an experienced Market Research Analyst with prior experience analyzing value chains and an ability to synthesize insights to strengthen smallholder farmer market systems. A successful candidate will be able to collect qualitative and quantitative market data and research in ATA’s ACC geographies. The Analyst will have strong stakeholder management skills, analytical thinking, practical experience conducting market research and data collection on the ground from key market actors, and the ability to effectively synthesize this information for external stakeholders.

 III.           Duties and Responsibilities

·         Lead stakeholder engagement at the regional, zonal, woreda, and kebele level with ATA and MoA and other relevant government counterparts

·         Conduct interviews with buyers across prioritized horticulture value chains to identify potential market anchors for the ACCs/FPCs, their demand volume and quality requirements, and challenges/opportunities to increase sourcing from small-scale farmers, including:

o   Domestic end buyers e.g. wholesalers, retailers, institutions, and agro-processors;

o   Cooperatives and cooperative unions within the ACCs;

o   Horticulture commercial farms, agro-processors, and exporters, and

o   Brokers, traders, and intermediaries that transport produce to market.

·         Lead market research data collection for the avocado, mango, banana, tomato, and onion value chains to develop cost production and pricing benchmark standards e.g. farm gate prices, aggregation costs, labor costs, and packaging costs

·         Summarize buyer demand, locations, volume, and quality requirements to:

o   Identify high value opportunities and target market channels for each crop to integrate small-scale producers effectively with markets

o   Identify and begin facilitating potential market linkages with reliable offtakers

o   Recommend cost optimization areas to strengthen each value chain and increase competitiveness

·         Leverage the stakeholder relationships and market insights generated by the market research consultations to support the establishment of a horticulture-specific multi-stakeholder platform with both private sector and government actors to ensure the ACCs/FPCs can flexibly respond to economic and market opportunities

·         Support the Project Manager to assess the enabling environment for the horticulture sub-sector to grow, including policy regulations on competition, tax, trade, and infrastructure, to identify policy constraints in the successful implementation of the road to market strategy

·         Degree qualifications in business, agribusiness, economics, rural development, or other relevant field of study required; Master’s degree preferred but not required

·         At least 5 years of professional work experience working/advising on horticulture or other agricultural crops, particularly for small-scale men and women farmers

·         Experience conducting market research and stakeholder consultations, through a combination of quantitative data collection surveys and qualitative interviews

·         Experience managing multi-stakeholder relationships with the private sector and the Ethiopian government

·         Demonstrated analytic capabilities and experience carrying out similar projects successfully

·         Experience living and working in rural, agricultural areas of Ethiopia and working with government officials in these areas

·         Fluency in Amharic, Oromiffa, and English, with excellent English writing skills

·         High fluency in business software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), including formatting

·         Ability to frequently travel to Oromia, and SNNPR for market data collection and research, according to TechnoServe’s COVID-19 travel policy

  Preferred Qualifications and Capabilities

·         Prior experience engaging and building relationships with market actors in the Ethiopian agriculture/horticulture market system, including cooperatives and smallholder farmer anchor buyers.

·         An understanding of the key challenges of Ethiopia’s agriculture/horticulture market system. Relevant knowledge areas include integrated smallholder farmer value chains, market linkages based on production and demand, input supply chains, post-harvest technologies, value addition, organic certification, and cooperative development. Prior experience working in the avocado, mango, banana, tomato, and onion value chains is a plus.

·         Experience working with the Ministry of Agriculture Horticulture Directorate, Ministry of Trade, Agricultural Transformation Agency’s Agricultural Commercialization Clusters, Integrated Shallow Groundwater Irrigation Development Project, the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, etc. at the federal or regional level

 Attributes

·         Strong interpersonal and excellent oral and written communication skills, including conducting interviews and developing presentations

·         Curious problem solver with a learning mindset; structured thinker with high attention to detail and work quality

·         Highly organized, ability to structure research and data gathering into clear questions and collect/analyze data; ability to identify, synthesize, and structure strategic conclusions from data

·         Reliable and independent self-starter, with a track record of delivering high quality products on time