Senior Aquaculture Advisor

Agriterra Vietnam is looking for a:

Senior National Aquaculture Advisor

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(monthly gross salary range $1.700 - $2.300)

Based in Can Tho City with frequent travel to other provinces in the Mekong Delta
(National fulltime advisor contract)

Agriterra is an agri-agency founded in 1997 by Dutch farmer organisations and cooperatives. It is organized with a head office in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and has a network of 15 country offices spread over Africa and Asia, employing approximately 170 staff members. In Vietnam, Agriterra was registered as an INGO in 2017 and is currently active in seventeen provinces (from North to South of Vietnam) including the Mekong River Delta, Central Highland, Central Coastal, and Northern regions. The country team focuses on the value chain of rice, coffee, tea, horticulture, and aquaculture sectors.

As an international specialist in cooperative development, we work by using a three-track approach. We make cooperatives bankable and create real farmer-led businesses. We improve extension services to members and enhance farmer-government dialogues. We use Agripool, our knowledge broker agency which is a unique pool of hundreds of agricultural experts from the Netherlands and other countries.

The Mekong River Delta (MRD) of Vietnam is widely recognized as the most productive region for brackish and freshwater aquaculture and fisheries due to its favorable environmental conditions, vast water surface area, and abundant fishery resources. However, the aquaculture sector in MRD is seen as going through significant challenges leading to immediate negative effects on smallholder farmers that need to and can be addressed with Dutch expertise.

By the end of 2022, the entire region had 2,615 agricultural cooperatives and 20 unions of agricultural cooperatives, accounting for 13.26 percent of the total number of agricultural cooperatives in the country. Agricultural cooperatives in the Mekong Delta region focus heavily on two areas: farming (rice, fruit) and aquaculture (shrimp, fish), accounting for about 65.5 percent of the total number of agricultural cooperatives in the region. An estimated 90 percent of small shrimp farming households engaged in local shrimp cooperatives.

To support the development and strengthening of aquaculture cooperatives in MRD, Agriterra developed a three-year project to make the selected aquaculture cooperatives in MRD inclusive and bankable (the MACIB Mekong project). The project is funded by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and officially inaugurated on March 15, 2024.

MACIB project is aimed at making aquaculture cooperatives organizationally and financially independent and more inclusive. There are numerous improvement areas for cooperative performance which Agriterra will tackle as part of this project. Particularly Agriterra will focus on the following:

1. Professionalizing aquaculture cooperatives so that they can play a relevant role in the development of the aquaculture supply chain.
2. Service provision to the member farmers and support cooperatives in guiding their members in sustainable aquaculture production.
3. Strengthen the inclusiveness of underrepresented women and youth as well as focus on climate-smart cooperatives.
4. Lobby and advocacy and sector collaboration.

To form a qualified project execution team for the MACIB Mekong project, Agriterra is looking for an experienced and dynamic national candidate to be a senior aquaculture advisor, based in Can Tho city (home-based until the branch office in Can Tho city is set up) with travel to the cooperatives mainly in Mekong Delta.

Position of Senior Aquaculture Advisor

The senior aquaculture advisor supports and advises farmer-led aquaculture businesses (farmers' cooperatives and farmers-owned/led companies, as well as farmer federations called clients) in sound operational management.

Focus areas

• Provide technical and management services to support the profitable commercial aquaculture activities of Agriterra clients in the MRD.
• Provide advice on transparent business-geared governance of member-based clients aiming at increased internal capitalization.
• Keep track of the progress of the client's financial and commercial development and monitor the risks monthly.
• Facilitate the preparation and realization of peer-to-peer advisory missions based on the client's requests for advice.
• Train and coach employees and managers of the farmer-led company on a range of topics covering financial management, business planning, governance, value chains, climate clever agriculture practices, and other matters.
• Take up a leading role in the internal training and capacity building of Agriterra prospective trainers in the field of his/her expertise, as a master trainer.
• Provide support to the MACIB project’s manager in management, design, planning, implementation, reporting, and the workforce of externally funded projects/ trajectories.
• Establish a strong base for Agriterra’s activities in the Mekong Delta and contribute actively to the goals of Agriterra’s Asia team in Vietnam.

Expected results

• Contribute to establishing 05 aquaculture cooperative client projects in the Mekong Delta, with external funding and partnership with aquaculture businesses (feed and seafood processors)
• Contribute to achieving key project results (1,000 farmers supported; 260,000 EURO working capital mobilized; 300 female farmers and 100 youth supported) at the proposed milestone.
• Result-driven aquaculture business advice featuring tailor-made financial, business, and governance support that fulfills Agriterra-specific aims while at the same time meeting the demand of the clients.
• Advice on the improvement of the clients’ (agribusiness) internal organization, position on the market, and growth ambition.
• Increase the number of farmer organisations in Agriterra’s portfolio having a potential healthy agri-business, having access to loan capital and/or financial services, and/or having a sustainable and effective service provision system to members.
• Client satisfaction, as well as satisfied parties in the business sector, investors, financial institutions, and development organizations.  

Qualifications and experience

• A master's degree in relevant fields e.g., Environmental economics; Development economics; Aquaculture, Agri-business, Entrepreneurship, or another related field. 
• At least 5 years of relevant working experience at an international organisation(s) in project management position; work experience in the private sector in the aquaculture business is a credit.
• At least 2 years of work experience supporting aquaculture projects in the Mekong River Delta.
• Have profound knowledge of one or more agriculture, aquaculture value chains, and the functioning of agricultural/aquaculture cooperatives.
• Understanding of and experience in aquaculture projects, cooperations, advisory services, financial project management, PMEL, donor reporting, and/or business development.
• Good oral and written communication skills (English and other languages where relevant). Good computer skills in MS applications (MS Office). 
• Willing to travel to other provinces. 

Competencies 

• Skills: interpersonal, organizing, coaching, communication, personnel, and project management skills. 
• Personal qualities (traits): initiative, problem-solver, team player, decisive, helicopter view, motivator. 
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision.

Contract Duration

The selected candidate will be offered initially a two-year employment contract with two months’ probation time and the possibility of extension subject to the availability of funds. The position gives the selected candidate many opportunities for career development within the organization if the growth of the program will develop as expected.

How to apply

Please send your application letter and CV, together with an indication of your current salary and compensation package, to [email protected] by 1^st April 2024.

For more information on Agriterra, please refer to our website: www.agriterra.org

Please be advised that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

We do not appreciate third-party mediation based on this advertisement.