Multiple Positions – Good Nature Jobs

Good Nature is a legume seed company founded to profitably move farmers out of poverty and into the middle class. We believe that the future of agriculture in Africa is disaggregated, with smallholders as the most powerful producers for local, regional, and global markets. We have designed our systems to be personal yet scalable. We have overseen consistent annual growth in our supply chain (currently at 4,720 small-scale seed producers and more than 10,000 small-scale commodity farmers), production, grower income (now 300% of baseline) and company revenue, as our growers learn and become more efficient.

We are now at a point of inflection: expanding beyond Zambia, adding new product lines and revenue streams, and strengthening our services to both growers and customers with investments in technology and integrated market access for customers of Good Nature Seed. Therefore, we are recruiting for the following positions below;

1. Seed Research and Production Specialist (x1)

Description of SeZIL:

We are looking for self-motivated individuals interested in working on an international team of researchers focused on improving agricultural outcomes for smallholder farmers.

Seeds for Zambian Incomes and Livelihoods (SeZIL) is a three year project co-sponsored by the German Investment Corporation (DEG) and KWS SAAT (https://www.kws.com/corp/en/).  SeZIL will empower Zambian smallholder farmers through improved access to diverse crop varieties, the hands-on training needed to evaluate them, and long-term improvements to their ability to produce those that best fit their needs. Project partners GNA, KWS, and the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute will work together to address knowledge about and access to varietal diversity and improved cereal-legume cropping systems. Activities will be organized around GNA’s well-regarded seed outgrower system, which will form the backbone of a testing network dedicated to comprehensively testing seeds from Zambian and international breeders.

Responsibilities:

• Design, create, and maintain trial fields for crop variety evaluation and agronomic research
• Collect, organize, and analyze phenotypic data from the field and laboratories to support trialing research
• Assist with routine trialing functions, including determining plant maturity, harvesting samples, assessing qualities, controlling pollination, and farmer-participatory evaluations
• Assist Project Manager to collect and organize data from a 1,000 farmer testing network
• Train smallholder farmers in relevant technologies related to varietal testing
• Provide reports detailing relevant characteristics of diverse varieties, including performance in culinary tests

Preferred Experience, Skills, and Training:

• Master’s degree in agriculture, agronomy, crop science or a related field is required, Masters is adequate Doctorate not necessary
• Two or more years of work experience in applied plant science is required
• Extensive experience designing and facilitating trainings is required
• Expertise in database use and electronic data capture is required
• Experience working on a previous plant breeding program or in a seed company is a must
• Experience in farmer-participatory action research is preferred
• Experience working with maize, sorghum, and/or legumes is strongly preferred
• Knowledge of applied plant research, experimental design, and statistical analysis is required
• Demonstrated ability to be innovative, self-motivated, and flexible is required

It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all persons, regardless of age, race, religion, gender, marital status, or disability.

2. Testing Network Coordinator (x3)

Description of SeZIL:

We are looking for self-motivated individuals interested in working on an international team of researchers focused on improving agricultural outcomes for smallholder farmers.

Seeds for Zambian Incomes and Livelihoods (SeZIL) is a three year project co-sponsored by the German Investment Corporation (DEG) and KWS SAAT (https://www.kws.com/corp/en/).  SeZIL will empower Zambian smallholder farmers through improved access to diverse crop varieties, the hands-on training needed to evaluate them, and long-term improvements to their ability to produce those that best fit their needs. Project partners GNA, KWS, and the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute will work together to address knowledge about and access to varietal diversity and improved cereal-legume cropping systems. Activities will be organized around GNA’s well-regarded seed outgrower system, which will form the backbone of a testing network dedicated to comprehensively testing seeds from Zambian and international breeders.

Responsibilities:

• Organize and coordinate maize, sorghum and legume variety tests among hundreds of smallholder farmers in a highly farmer-participatory manner
• Interact with Private Extension Agents to coordinate the delivery of agricultural inputs
• Plan localized trainings and workshops to build the capacity of smallholder farmers
• Train smallholder farmers in relevant technologies related to varietal testing
• Travel to remote locations to visually assess and document agronomic practices among the testing network
• Participate with project staff in the collection and organization of agronomic data

Preferred Experience, Skills, and Training:

• Bachelor’s degree in agriculture or a related field, is required
• Two or more years of work experience in event planning, capacity development, and/or agriculture is required
• Extensive experience designing and facilitating trainings is required
• Experience working on a previous capacity development project is preferred
• Experience in farmer-participatory action research is preferred
• Experience working in the agricultural sector is preferred
• Expertise in interpersonal communication is preferred
• Knowledge of experimental design and statistical analysis is strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to be organized, empathic, and self-motivated is required

It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all persons, regardless of age, race, religion, gender, marital status, or disability.

3. Specialized Seed Production Coordinator (x1)

Description of SeZIL:

We are looking for self-motivated individuals interested in working on an international team of researchers focused on improving agricultural outcomes for smallholder farmers.

Seeds for Zambian Incomes and Livelihoods (SeZIL) is a three year project co-sponsored by the German Investment Corporation (DEG) and KWS SAAT (https://www.kws.com/corp/en/).  SeZIL will empower Zambian smallholder farmers through improved access to diverse crop varieties, the hands-on training needed to evaluate them, and long-term improvements to their ability to produce those that best fit their needs. Project partners GNA, KWS, and the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute will work together to address knowledge about and access to varietal diversity and improved cereal-legume cropping systems. Activities will be organized around GNA’s well-regarded seed outgrower system, which will form the backbone of a testing network dedicated to comprehensively testing seeds from Zambian and international breeders.

Responsibilities:

• Organize and coordinate the seed production training and pilot cereal seed production of a group of 60 smallholder farmers
• Assure sufficient availability of basic/foundation seed
• Interact with Private Extension agents to coordinate the delivery of agricultural inputs
• Train smallholder farmers in relevant technologies related to varietal testing
• Plan localized trainings and workshops to build the capacity of smallholder farmers
• Travel to remote locations to visually assess and document agronomic practices among the seed producers
• Assist project staff in the collection and organization of agronomic data

Preferred Experience, Skills, and Training:

• Bachelor’s in Agricultural Sciences or related field is required
• Two or more years of work experience in agriculture is required
• Extensive experience designing and facilitating trainings is required
• Experience working on a previous plant breeding program  or for a seed company is strongly preferred
• Experience working with maize, sorghum, and/or legumes is strongly preferred
• Knowledge of applied plant research, experimental design, and statistical analysis is strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to be organized, empathic, and self-motivated is required

It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all persons, regardless of age, race, religion, gender, marital status, or disability.

4. Administrative Assistant (x1)

Description of SeZIL:

We are looking for self-motivated individuals interested in working on an international team of researchers focused on improving agricultural outcomes for smallholder farmers.

Seeds for Zambian Incomes and Livelihoods (SeZIL) is a three year project co-sponsored by the German Investment Corporation (DEG) and KWS SAAT (https://www.kws.com/corp/en/).  SeZIL will empower Zambian smallholder farmers through improved access to diverse crop varieties, the hands-on training needed to evaluate them, and long-term improvements to their ability to produce those that best fit their needs. Project partners GNA, KWS, and the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute will work together to address knowledge about and access to varietal diversity and improved cereal-legume cropping systems. Activities will be organized around GNA’s well-regarded seed outgrower system, which will form the backbone of a testing network dedicated to comprehensively testing seeds from Zambian and international breeders.

Responsibilities:

• Support the project coordinator in all administrative tasks
• Support and empower project staff
• Interact with project stakeholders, organize office space, and encourage a warm working environment
• Procure and manage external service providers and facilitate necessary documentation
• Proactively procure office supplies and project materials
• Track project expenses and support the creation of financial reports

Preferred Experience, Skills, and Training:

• Two or more years of work experience in an administrative function is required
• Experience working on capacity development projects is required
• Experience working on agriculture projects is preferred
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially with Excel, is required
• Excellent communication skills

It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all persons, regardless of age, race, religion, gender, marital status, or disability.

APPLICATION PROCESS

• Please send your curriculum vitae, letter of interest (telling us why you are the best candidate) and certified copies of your qualifications to [email protected]
• All documents should be sent in PFF format and completed application must clearly mention on top the position applied for and must reach to above address before, July 9, 2021 17:00 Hours (CAT)

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