Senior Horticulture Manager

ACDI/VOCA:  Job Description
JOB TITLE:               Senior Horticulture Manager
LOCATION:              Beirut, Lebanon – with frequent travel throughout the country
 
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

Facilitate training and technical assistance to be carried out for partner staff members (Training of Trainers, or ToT) and greenhouse producers in production and post-harvest handling; to include seedling production, irrigation, harvest, integrated pest management (IPM), good agricultural practices (GAP), etc.

Assist Technical Advisor in providing technical assistance and training to fruit and vegetable producers across Lebanon in greenhouse production, harvest and post-harvest handling.

Assist the Technical Advisor in the construction and instillation of hydroponic systems within the demonstration greenhouses.

Follow-up with greenhouse fruit and vegetable producers on implementing GAP as well as hydroponic production techniques across Lebanon

Instruct Master Trainers and hydroponics greenhouse producers on the proper use of USAID-approved pesticides and fungicides.

Assist in drafting and adapting crop planning guides for trainers and producers.

Coordinate with the Business Development Services (BDS) Manager to facilitate transfer of record-keeping technical assistance and access to credit  for fruit and vegetable producers.

Coordinate with the Marketing Manager to facilitate transfer of market information and technical assistance, such as product and packaging specifications, harvest timing, etc.

Coordinate with the Capacity Building Manager in reaching out to the producers, identifying clusters and groups of farmers to work with, facilitate the provision of overall technical assistance to producers in conjunction with Master Trainers as well as carry our baseline sruveys and gather ba information for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).

Support the M&E Manager and the Grants Manager to monitor and document/report on the progress of selected fruit and vegetable producers.

Prepare weekly and quarterly reports detailing implementation progress and challenges.

 
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Degree in Agriculture and/or Agribusiness; Advanced degree in Horticulture.
Solid background with proven qualifications and practical experience (2-3 years) in working on agricultural production projects using a value chain approach.
Experience providing training to farmers.
Familiarity with export market and post-harvest requirements for cooling, packaging and transportation.
Good knowledge of safety requirement and regulations for working with hazardous materials.
Excellent analytical presentation skills.
Good communication skills and team building skills.
Strong knowledge in using software including Word and Excel.
Excellent Arabic and English language skills.