Commodity Sourcing Manager

DepartmentFarmer Services

Learn About Farmerline

Do you want to improve millions of lives and leave a lasting legacy at the same time? Do you want to use your talents and skills to make a difference and not just a living? Do you want to help feed the world now and in the future? Farmerline works to reinvent how the world thinks and invests in the lives of small-scale farmers. We are working to help farmers produce and sell food. We are bold and systemic thinkers but operate lean and nimble. Since 2013, Farmerline has directly helped farmers to improve their productivity and profit in Ghana and also provided technical support to other organizations to do the same. Farmerline started its operations serving 800 farmers in the Ashanti Region of Ghana with information via mobile information services. We have supported many organizations with our tools and knowledge to improve the way they work with farmers. Over the past 9 years, Farmerline and its partnership network has profiled and served over 1million farmers and digitized over 1,000,000 acres of farmland across 16 countries in Africa. 

Farmerline is the fastest growing Agtech company in Africa with a recent pre-Series A funding of $14 million led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank and nine other global investors. 

We are a learning organization and you will have the chance to apply your ideas and creativity to solve problems every day.  If you work well in a dynamic collaborative culture, set high standards, and meet challenges with determination and a sense of humour, you’ll thrive at Farmerline. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity and encourage applications from all candidates. We believe that diverse perspectives help our teams to create innovative solutions and understand our global clients’ needs. In alignment with our values, we are committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse global workforce without discrimination. 

 

Field

Details

Job Title

Commodity Sourcing Manager

Department 

Farmer Services

Incumbent Supervisor

Country Manager

Suggested start date

Immediately

Length of assignment

Permanent

Role Overview

Providing market access for smallholders  is fundamental to Farmerline’s interventions to smallholder farmers. In helping smallholder farmers make lasting profits, you'll oversee the purchase of quality commodities, update our inventory strategy, and liaise with suppliers to ensure the stability of our supply chain. 

 

The role of the Head of Commodity Sourcing is to lead on sourcing and sales of commodities. The head would work with other members of the Farmerline team to generate revenue for the business through commodity sales across various channels and ensuring proper documentation of all operations. The key deliverables would be to ensure market access opportunities for commodities produced by smallholder farmers. Importantly, the manager would lead in securing fair prices for smallholder farmers in Farmerline’s network

Ultimately, he/she should be able to effectively navigate market risks to help the business reach its commodity goals.

Responsibilities 

  • Identify, profile and build a detailed national database of commodity suppliers (outgrower businesses, aggregators, nucleus farmers, coops and farmer groups) ahead of supplies.
  • Engage suppliers to aggregate farm produce at the right time while ensuring high quality and reducing post harvest losses.
  • Leverage the Mergdata platform to predict yield, food quality and track produce sourcing.
  • Provide global contract expertise for sourcing of commodities.(maize, soybean etc)
  • Facilitate fair, timely and transparent payments to all farmers/coops supplying to the micro-entrepreneurs and agribusinesses in Farmerline’s network.
  • Work with other team members to build the capacity of suppliers to consistently supply commodities while increasing their business profitability.
  • Integrate successful parts of the market access model into Farmerline’s operations and partnerships across Africa.
  • Lead in aggregating and communicating market price information from major markets to key stakeholders especially farmers in our network.
  • Work with management to devise online and offline marketing strategies best suited for crop marketing goals and objectives
  • Help build and maintain a strong and consistent brand through a wide range of online and offline marketing activities.
  • Study market trends and identify any risks with the  sourcing and procuring of commodities. Devise means to maximize commodity buying efficiency and minimize risks.
  • Leverage knowledge and experience in local and global commodity prices/pricing to negotiate local and international purchase orders.
  • Plans all crop marketing operations to ensure timely delivery of all purchase orders received in the required quality and quantities.
  • Stay abreast with key market trends and intelligence with the ability to seek new business opportunities and formulate strategies to capitalize on growing the business
  • Coordinates the procurement of all off-taking and market-related logistics including storage and transportation.
  • Develop impactful, cost effective and scalable market access models for all major crops produced in Ivory Coast.
  • Collaborates with other units to ensure all farmers receive adequate training, agro-inputs and prompt digital payments
  • Preserve and promote company standards by building a strong and self-sufficient commodity supply base.

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Agricultural science, Agribusiness, Supply Chain Management or related courses.
  • Knowledge of the systemic challenges in agriculture value chains in Ivory Coast, a passion for creating lasting solutions to them and ability to navigate farming communities.
  • Project management skills and the ability to create and stick to timeliness.
  • 4-5 years of working experience in crop marketing/crop sourcing in Ivory Coast with experience cashew, among other major crops in Ivory Coast. 
  • Strong research and field  experience in  coffee is required
  • Proven experience in the use of mobile technology to facilitate market access. 
  • Strong business analysis, planning and financial management skills
  • Excellent oral communication, writing and presentation skills.
  • Ability to speak  multiple languages across Ivory Coast is an added advantage
  • Contract Negotiation and Business Development skills required

 


 

 

 

 

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