General: Winrock International is a nonprofit organization
that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the
disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources.
Position Title: Project Manager, Kenya Smallholder
Solar Irrigation Project
Unit: Water, Energy & Infrastructure
Reports To: US-based
Home Office Coordinator
Position Summary: Winrock International is seeking a full-time
professional with a background in renewable energy and/or agriculture to
coordinate the DuPont/Winrock Kenya Smallholder Solar Irrigation Project, to be
implemented in targeted counties in Kenya.
The Project Manager will be based in
DuPont’s Nairobi corporate office and will travel to field sites regularly.
The position is full-time for one
year and may be extended depending on availability of funds.
The Smallholder Solar Irrigation
Project is led by Winrock, in partnership with DuPont Kenya and Amiran Kenya
Ltd., and supported by Chase Bank and Equity Bank.
The Project aims to increase
commercial sales of photovoltaic irrigation pumps to smallholder farmers who
could significantly increase their incomes in one of two ways:
1) by eliminating the on-going cost
and difficulty of acquiring petrol/diesel fuel for water pumping; or
2) by being able to convert from
rain-fed to irrigated farming in areas where it is not feasible to pump water
using treadle pumps.
The Project’s objectives are to:
1.
Assess solar water pumps (SWPs)
currently available in Kenya and identify high-quality models suitable for a
range of smallholder farmer needs;
2.
Conduct successful demonstrations of
solar water pumps in target counties;
3.
Document the costs and benefits to
farmers who purchase SWPs, to verify the payback time and increased revenue
from improved crops;
4.
Enhance the capacity of value chain
stakeholders, including farmers and farmers’ groups, borehole drillers, SWP
suppliers, and USAID Feed the Future initiatives, to install, operate and
maintain SWPs, and utilize the pumped water to increase production and income;
5.
Improve access to financing, in
collaboration with financial institutions and DuPont, to address the barrier of
the relatively high upfront cost of SWPs; and Achieve commercial sales of at
least 500 SWPs to farmers targeted by the project, over a two year period.
The Kenya Smallholder Solar
Irrigation Project is funded by USAID as part of the Renewable Energy Leader
with Associates (RELWA) program (www.RELWA.org), which aims to scale up access
to and adoption of renewable energy (RE) globally, through the provision of
technical assistance and project implementation.
The RELWA shares the goals of USAID’s
Powering Ag initiative (www.powering.org), which focuses on increasing farmer
access to RE technologies which can improve agricultural productivity,
sustainability, and income
Responsibilities:
Serve as Manager of the Kenya
Smallholder Solar Irrigation Project.
Marketing and Sales of Solar Pumps and
Horticultural Products
- Establish working relationships with existing
agriculture initiatives that can help the Project target farmers who could
benefit from SWPs. Examples include USAID/Winrock’s Kenya Yes Youth Can
Western project; the USAID Kenya Horticultural Competitiveness Project;
the USAID Kenya Agriculture Value Chain Enterprises (KAVES) initiative;
the One Acre Fund; ICS; and national Agricultural Training Centers.
- Set up demonstrations of SWPs in target
counties which overlap with USAID Feed the Future counties, likely to
include Machakos, Makueni, and Kakamega.
Capacity Building
- Working with Winrock’s US-based solar pumping
expert, coordinate trainings for farmers, pump retailers and technicians,
and greenhouse/drip kit retailers (including Amiran and SunCulture) to
demonstrate how to properly size, install and use solar water pumps.
- Train extension workers, agronomists, and
managers from USAID Feed the Future projects (KAVES, YYC) and other
agricultural initiatives on integrating solar irrigation into their
agricultural value chain projects.
- Coordinate trainings for micro-finance and
bank officers, including Chase Bank and Equity Bank, in carrying out due
diligence on loan requests for SWPs, and understanding how solar pumping
might be linked with other agricultural loans.
- Assist lenders with screening tools to
identify farmers who are good candidates for purchasing a SWP.
Micro-Finance
- Assist farmers’ groups to link farmers to
sources of financing for SWPs, including Equity Bank, Chase Bank, and the
four youth-managed Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) in
Western Kenya, which are receiving capacity building training from the
Kenya Yes Youth Can Western project.
- Work with the USAID Financial Inclusion for
Rural Enterprises (FIRM) initiative to develop SWP loan products suitable
to be included under USAID DCA guarantee.
Project Management
- Review results of initial assessments and
incorporate the recommendations into a detailed workplan for the project
(assessment of market demand for SWPs, and assessment of SWP availability
in Kenya).
- Coordinate communications with key project
partners including DuPont, Pannar Seeds, Pioneer Seeds, Amiran, Starke
Ayers, SWP suppliers, lending institutions, USAID Feed the Future staff,
and farmer organizations such as the One Acre Fund.
- Work closely with Winrock US-based technical
staff and home office staff to plan work, regularly monitor project
progress and results, and submit required USAID reports.
- Identify any problems with design of the
Project, partnership issues, or other implementation challenges, and
recommend to the Home Office Coordinator changes needed to resolve them.
The applicant will also be required
to:
- Represent Winrock and at meetings and
conferences as needed.
- Oversee project activities to ensure smooth
management and timely implementation.
- Address and proactively identify problems and
challenges.
- Closely follow the implementation plan and
monitor each deliverable.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Excellent written and spoken English and
Swahili
- Minimum five years’ experience, including
project management/rural development projects
- The ideal candidate will have both non-profit
and private sector experience working on agriculture and/or renewable
energy
- Demonstrated track record of effectively
coordinating stakeholders and project partners from a broad range of
backgrounds and experiences
- Enthusiasm for networking and cooperating with
other projects
- Excellent management, communication, and
organization skills
- Strong analytic and writing skills
- Experience in the agricultural or renewable
energy field, or similar fields
- Excellent computer skills (word-processing,
spreadsheets, power-point, and databases)
- Comfortable in high-level representational
role as well as interacting with villagers
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree
preferred.
- Preferred disciplines include project
management, agriculture, renewable energy, or rural development.
Questions for Written Response:
All candidates must prepare a written
response (no more than 1 page total) to both questions below.
Please attach the response to the
application.
Applications received without a
response to both questions below will not be considered.
1. This Project has an ambitious
target of sales of 500 SWPs, and aims to generate momentum for pump sales to
continue to expand after the project is over. What do you see as the most
likely barriers to reaching these goals, and how would you recommend overcoming
them?
2. What do you see as the keys to
maintaining a positive and results-oriented public-private partnership between
Winrock, DuPont and local SWP suppliers throughout this project?
Salary & Benefits: The salary will be commensurate with qualifications
and experience. Excellent benefits.
Applications: Applicants should go to www.winrock.org to
the Jobs link and submit a current resume and cover letter referencing Project
Manager – Kenya SWP by January 16, 2014.
Winrock would like to graciously
thank all applicants for their interest but only candidates who meet all
requisite criteria and are short listed will be contacted.