Fellow - Output Market and Trade Systems Analysis for African Geographies

TechnoServe Fellow - Evaluate output market and trade systems across African geographies

Location: Remote, with travel to 3 geographies (e.g., Kenya, Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo)

Timing: Approximately four months

Languages: English (written and spoken)

Fellowship: This is a fellowship and is pro bono. Travel-related expenses will be covered such as flights, housing, and per diem.

Background

A recent evaluation of investments found that output markets and access to finance need special attention to ensure that farmers can increase their agricultural incomes while contributing to more resilient food systems. The focus on food crop value chains means that most of its priority commodities are low margin and weakly differentiated, making it difficult both for farmers to invest in improved inputs and produce a surplus profitably, and for agribusinesses and other private sector actors to invest in supply chain development. Efficient and predictable markets with appropriate incentives that promote inclusion are essential ingredients for a resilient food system that delivers living income to smallholder farmers as well as safe and nutritious food to consumers. Therefore, the structure of the markets as well as the behavior or business models of the actors in those markets will determine the performance and resilience of the entire sector.

The group that evaluated investments is unsatisfied with the performance of recent efforts to build competitive, inclusive, and resilient output market and trade systems, calling for a review and rethinking of the approach, partners, and delivery models. The pressing need to make progress toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, especially, ending poverty and ending hunger, fuels the sense of urgency in the search for effective delivery models that can accelerate the transformation of food market systems to ensure that they are competitive, inclusive, resilient, and predictable.

In response to these needs, TechnoServe recently undertook a study in partnership to evaluate the output market and trade systems across four geographies: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Rwanda, and Mozambique. Based on the findings of the study, the group has requested that TechnoServe complete similar analyses across additional geographies.

Objectives, Framework and Approach

Project Objective

Over a period of four months, the Fellow will assess the main delivery models that are used to develop output market and trade systems for increased farmers’ income and food security. The main goal for this assignment is to compare existing and potential delivery models for strengthening output markets and trade systems with quantified potential/projection of impact. On the basis of this, the group seeks a list of impact investment funds with the investment appetite, skills, and investment profile to invest in farmer-sourcing businesses and their target countries. Then, the team will recommend best practices for creating effective technical assistance that can attract more impact investments in food crop value chains. Finally, the Fellow would model an investment plan with cost estimates, suggested high-impact partners, and entry points for the group as part of a re-aligned strategy.

Activities and Workplan

TechnoServe will use its strategic approach to problem-solving to frame this complex problem and develop a clear strategy for the group with specific programmatic outcomes at the end.

1. Assess landscape and identify solutions: The team will spend time with partners meeting with the relevant actors to understand their current incentive structures, the historical and current challenges, and the structural changes or investments required to overcome them. We will also identify and interview investors, aggregators, warehouse operators, processors, and service providers to inform our understanding their incentives, and the types of needs we need to prioritize.
2. Develop strategy: countries, sectors, partners: Any strategy needs to make choices around how to achieve this in practice, which should be primarily driven by the intrinsic attractiveness of mechanisms for the various key actors. Within this activity, the team will meet with potential investors, off-takers, and industry stakeholders to understand their appetite to invest in the various mechanisms and what support they require to create a successful business case. We will also have conversations with the team about how to adjust the existing portfolio in terms of building on existing relationships and/or forging new ones.
3. Detail investment plan and impact plan: We will develop a top-down estimate of the cost to create the priority mechanisms based on reasonable benchmarks developed in earlier activities. We will also identify areas with high potential for external co-investment based on TechnoServe’s knowledge and experience with donors of different nature. This analysis, together with the findings from the updated strategy, will be rolled up into a summary investment/impact case for the group and potential impact investors.
4. Develop roadmap: We now have all the inputs required to craft the roadmap that will guide the group in the implementation of its updated delivery models. This will include:
   1. Timeline of mechanisms with corresponding targets and annual investment
   2. Scale, investment and impact projections
   3. Project management responsibilities and action plan
   4. Next steps for partnership conversations

The results from our work will be presented to the group across four workshops during the project.

Team

The Fellow will work with the TechnoServe staff in New York, TechnoServe agriculture teams in country offices, and Partner staff. Contact with TechnoServe field staff and Partner teams will be critical to align efforts, connect stakeholders, and prioritize investments.

External technical consultants will be recruited to provide targeted support with interpretation of technical data (e.g. nutrition data) and development of technical assumptions (e.g. for the farmer business case model).

The Fellow will perform interviews with farmers, suppliers, processors, exporters, industry associations, and trade associations. The Fellow will analyze data inputs from across these sources, create an analytical model and produce an overview of the critical areas for investment. Finally, the Fellow will triangulate and synthesize this data to create an accurate picture of the opportunity to redirect the group’s roadmap for investment going forward.

Deliverables

Based upon the activities above, the Fellow will deliver the following in English:

Deliverable	Description	Indicative Timing
1. Kick Off and Defining Objectives	Kick-off presentation with stakeholders to understand work to date, success, challenges, and broad underlying objectives of the strategy; align on lessons from prior work	Week 2
2. Country 1: findings	Conduct workshop to share findings from Country 1 research	Week 6
3. Country 2: findings	Conduct workshop to share findings from Country 2 research	Week 10
4. Country 3: findings	Conduct workshop to share findings from Country 3 research	Week 14
4. Final Deliverable and Strategy (Including resources, Partners)	Present final strategy with vision, targets, KPIs, detailed design for focus mechanisms, investment, income and nutritional outcomes, and tangible next steps / implementation plan	Week 16

Skills and Requirements

• Demonstrated ability to effectively service clients/partners in the private sector
• Professional experience in developing countries
• Proven analytical and modeling skills
• Demonstrated leadership skills, teamwork and relationship building
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong computer skills, including MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Able to work independently, flexibly and responsively
• Able to adapt to changing working conditions
• Professional level of spoken and written English

IMPORTANT NOTE: To apply, you will complete the general TechnoServe Fellows Program application. If we determine that your experience and availability match this particular project, we will alert you of that. If not, you may be placed in the general pool of Fellow candidates and considered for other projects. Please see below for details on the general TechnoServe Fellows Program application.

TechnoServe Fellows Program

TechnoServe is seeking qualified candidates to join our Fellows Program. Fellows take part in field-based projects ranging from 3 to 12 months in which they engage with entrepreneurs, industry experts, TechnoServe field staff, and other stakeholders. Please note, we review Fellow applications for our general candidate database on a rolling basis, and encourage qualified, enthusiastic candidates – especially those with French and/or Portuguese fluency – to apply.

While no two projects are exactly alike, typical Fellow roles often involve:

• Assessing and identifying opportunities for markets, value chains, and industries
• Crafting business and funding strategies in partnership with TechnoServe clients
• Strengthening the operations and/or organizational capacity of TechnoServe clients
• Designing innovative TechnoServe projects and proposals
• Evaluating program impact

Other, less frequent projects include researching and writing communications materials, developing training curricula, and designing strategic research for our clients and partners.

Review our detailed sample project descriptions to understand the skills and capabilities most often required. View our Fellows FAQ page for more information.

This application is designed to give you the opportunity to tell us about your experience, skills, interests, and motivation to become a Fellow. We will use the information you provide to determine if a potential project match exists. Please complete the questions as accurately as possible to give yourself the best chance for consideration.

To be eligible for the Fellows Program, you must:

• Have successfully completed your undergraduate studies at an accredited four-year program.
• Have at least two to three years of professional, full-time work experience.
• Be available to volunteer for a minimum of ten weeks on the ground.

When completing the application, please keep in mind:

• You cannot change your responses once your application has been submitted. Please send an email to fellows@tns.org if your dates of availability or other required information changes.
• You must attach a PDF document containing the responses to two essay questions before submitting your application. The essay questions will be provided within the application.
• Your application will be reviewed within two weeks of submission. You will be contacted if your background is found to be a potential match with a Fellow role.

Please send questions about the Fellows Program or the application form to fellows@tns.org.