Project Associate, Sustainability Operations at Olam Nigeria Limited

Job Description

• Help develop and deliver Training of Trainers programmes to Olam Agri field staff on key sustainability topics (e.g., regenerative agricultural practices, food security & nutrition, gender awareness, human rights, environmental protection, etc.)
• Support and enable successful sustainability project implementation through field-level activity coordination, on-site monitoring and focus group discussions with participating communities, and periodic in-person field-level project implementation, as needed.
• Develop a deep understanding of Olam Agri’s policies related to sustainability, especially the Olam Agri Supplier Code, and provide training to BUs to ensure understanding and compliance. Contribute to the development of supplemental learning material to support policy implementation.
• Through community consultation and field-level stakeholder engagement, identify locally-relevant opportunities to improve farmer incomes, enhance soil health and mitigate climate change. Ideas/opportunities could include:
  • affordable income-generating activities for farmers and communities to supplement income from their primary crop, with an emphasis on opportunities for women and youth
  • low-tech and high-tech solutions to improve soil health and/or scale up good agricultural practices, reduce post-harvest loss and introduce regenerative agricultural practices.
  • Landscape-level alliances to protect biodiversity, watersheds and forests
• Carry out data analysis and develop data insights from various sustainability projects
• Other duties as assigned or directed to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

Requirements

• A university degree / bachelor’s level qualification in agronomy, development studies, gender studies, agriculture, or other relevant social sciences can apply
• 2-3 years of relevant or related work experience
• Experience in implementing projects and trainings in rural settings, preferred if experience is in relevant Olam Agri crops
• Professional proficiency in English is required. Other languages are an asset.
• Mastery of the Microsoft Office suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint
• Good research skills (both quantitative and qualitative) and basic data analysis skills

Competencies

• An understanding agronomy and rural economics related to Olam Agri’s key crops and geographies, and a keen interest in the smallholder farmer livelihoods
• Critical thinking skills, organisational skills, and the ability to effectively rollout projects and work autonomously
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills
• Ability to train and inspire field staff and smallholder farmers
• Teamwork and interpersonal skills, with a proactive, solution-oriented and innovative mindset
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Desire to learn and to seek out own learning opportunities to expand knowledge and develop skills