Consultant - Business Development and Partnership, AGRIFIN Kenya

Business Development and Fundraising Nairobi, Kenya

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Description

Proposed Consultant: Individual Consultant

Project/Consultancy Title: Business Development and Partnership Consultant

Project Location(s): Regional - Africa; Kenya - Nairobi

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. 

 Agrifin Program Context:

Nearly one and a half billion poor people live on less than US$1.25 a day. One billion of them live in rural areas where agriculture is their main source of livelihood. An estimated 70 million Small Holder Farmers (SHF) live in Sub Saharan Africa, over half of whom are women. Smallholders, who typically farm two hectares or less, provide over 80% of the food consumed in a large part of the developing world, contributing significantly to poverty reduction and food security. However, increasing fragmentation of landholdings, especially in infrastructure, coupled with reduced investment support, growing competition for land and water, rising input prices and climate change threaten this contribution, leaving many smallholders increasingly vulnerable. 

Mobile phones are a powerful tool to access the electronic national retail payments system and enable vast numbers of clients to use a range of financial and informational services at lower cost. In agriculture, progressively more services are being delivered via mobile phone. Applications now deliver direct specific, timely information on agricultural production methods to farmers through their mobile phones.Moving beyond one-to-one communication, there are internet- and SMS-based services that allow farmers to access inputs; access price information on different crops and provide a platform for smallholders to collectively sell crops and buy inputs, thereby lowering costs and accessing new markets. Launched in 2012, Mercy Corps AgriFin’s primary target group is unbanked smallholder farmers living on less than USD 2 per day. Mobilizing a vast network of partners, AgriFin ensures that the needs of farmers inform the design of partner products and services. Our shared global context is challenging – climate variability and population growth present unprecedented challenges. Yet, our experience tells us that farmers are determined to beat the odds.

Weather and Climate Service (WCS) Context:

The Advancing Public-Private Engagement in Climate Services for Small Scale Producers program is a three-year engagement working in Kenya and Senegal, that aims to develop and pilot innovative public-private partnership or engagement (PPP/PPE) models that support effective and sustainable weather and climate service (WCS) delivery for improved agricultural decision making. The ultimate goal of the program is to increase the resilience of small-scale producers to the impacts of climate variability and change.   

The intended outcome of this program is improved access to and uptake of WCS which improves agricultural decision-making at the meso-scale as a result of sustained engagement in innovative PPP/PPE to support wider adoption and scale-up. Four Outputs will contribute to the achievement of this goal:

  1. Country level context analyses that map the hydromet value chain, key public and private sector stakeholders, challenges and priority opportunities for greater private sector engagement, and relevant regulatory frameworks and policies. 

  2. Effective public private collaboration in pilot projects founded upon clear, transparent, and equitable PPP/PPE frameworks.

  3. Pilot projects that deliver innovative, effective, and sustainable WCS solutions for smallholder agriculture that tap into the strengths of both public and private sector actors with a focus on addressing the gap between demand and supply of targeted WCS.

  4. Evidence generated and shared to inform scale-up of pilots and wider uptake of pilot approaches. 

Purpose / Project Description:

The consultant will support the fulfillment of the objectives, activities, and deliverables below in close collaboration with the DCSA Director.

Consultant Objectives:

The Business Development and Partnership Consultant will support the identification, engagement, and support of potential partners through the utilization of the current database. The consultant will leverage the partner database to provide valuable insights and facilitate connections by contributing to partnership engagement and business development efforts that align with the WCS initiatives. 

Consultant Activities:

The consultant will undertake the following activities: 

  • Partner Shortlisting & Engagement: 

    • Utilize existing database and AgriFin network of partners to identify and recommend relevant Content Partners, Service partners and Strategic for WCS initiatives.

    • Support the onboarding and engagement of partners, ensuring alignment with program needs.

    • Facilitate communication between shortlisted partners.

  • Partnership Development & Retention:

    • Develop and maintain relationships with Content Partners, Service Partners, and Strategic Partners.

    • Focus on supporting our partners in retaining their respective women audiences and driving active engagement.

    • Identify and support new partners to leverage WCS data outside of the proposed scope

    1. Marketing & Awareness: 

    • Support digital marketing efforts (newsletters, social media, webinars) to enhance platform visibility alongside the Agrifin marketing team. 

    • Co-develop standardized communication campaigns to sustain engagement.

    • Work collaboratively with the tech team to showcase the platform to the ecosystem players

  • Reporting & Data Management:

    • Maintain regular reporting on WCS engagements, ensuring data-driven insights for decision making

    • Support periodic reporting and respond to ad hoc donor(s) and impact reporting requests.

  • Platform Engagement & Demonstration:

    • Organize and facilitate monthly or bi-monthly Demo Days for both existing and new partners.

    • Engage existing partners with new features, and gather feedback to inform continuous platform improvement.

  • Feature Identification and Development

  • Work with the tech team to monitor Sprout site analytics to ensure they are accurate.

  • Coordinate with the DCSA Director and team to identify and document pipeline of potential features and improvements, such as improving page load speeds, improving site navigation, and creating additional help and support content, additional services to be included into the platform, etc.

  • Work with partners, tech team, and consultant as required, to support in the development of agreed upon new features.

  • Sprout Platform Training for onboarded Farmer Facing organizations (FFO’s)

    • Support the Sprout Team in conducting demonstrations of key functionalities of the Sprout platform, including user onboarding, content access, data entry, and interaction with the weather advisory modules.

    • Support the Sprout team in conducting short refresher sessions when new platform features or updates are rolled out.

    • Support in virtual training sessions for all newly onboarded FFOs under the Digital Weather Advisory Service (DWAS), especially for the WCS pilots. Update ecosystem players in Agrifin’s country of operation on new content developed for capacity building

 Consultant Deliverables:

The consultant will work to produce updates on the deliverables below alongside regular progress reports and activity time logs, in close collaboration with the DCSA Director. 

  • Partner Shortlisting & Engagement: 

  • Utilize existing database and AgriFin network of partners to identify and recommend relevant Content Partners, Service partners and Strategic for WCS initiatives.

  • Support the onboarding and engagement of partners, ensuring alignment with program needs.

  • Facilitate communication between shortlisted partners.

  • Partnership Development & Retention:

  • Develop and maintain relationships with Content Partners, Service Partners, and Strategic Partners.

  • Focus on supporting our partners in retaining their respective women audiences and driving active engagement.

  •  Identify and support new partners to leverage WCS data outside of the proposed scope

  • Marketing & Awareness:

  • Support digital marketing efforts (newsletters, social media, webinars) to enhance platform visibility alongside the Agrifin marketing team.

  • Co-develop standardized communication campaigns to sustain engagement.

  • Work collaboratively with the tech team to showcase the platform to the ecosystem players

  • Reporting & Data Management:

  • Maintain regular reporting on WCS engagements, ensuring data-driven insights for decision making

  • Support periodic reporting and respond to ad hoc donor(s) and impact reporting requests.

  • Platform Engagement & Demonstration:

  • Organize and facilitate monthly or bi-monthly Demo Days for both existing and new partners.

  • Engage existing partners with new features, and gather feedback to inform continuous platform improvement.

  • Feature Identification and Development

  • Work with the tech team to monitor Sprout site analytics to ensure they are accurate.

  • Coordinate with the DCSA Director and team to identify and document pipeline of potential features and improvements, such as improving page load speeds, improving site navigation, and creating additional help and support content, additional services to be included into the platform, etc.

  • Work with partners, tech team, and consultant as required, to support in the development of agreed upon new features.

  • Sprout Platform Training for onboarded Farmer Facing organizations (FFO’s)

  • Support the Sprout Team in conducting demonstrations of key functionalities of the Sprout platform, including user onboarding, content access, data entry, and interaction with the weather advisory modules.

  • Support the Sprout team in conducting short refresher sessions when new platform features or updates are rolled out.

  • Support in virtual training sessions for all newly onboarded FFOs under the Digital Weather Advisory Service (DWAS), especially for the WCS pilots. Update ecosystem players in Agrifin’s country of operation on new content developed for capacity building 

Timeframe / Schedule:   

The Timeframe will be between February 2026 – September 2026

 The Consultant will report to:  Agrifin DCSA Director.

 The Consultant will work closely with:

The consultant is expected to work closely with the Agrifin technical team. Additionally, the consultant’s level of effort is expected to be approximately 48 hours per month, which is equivalent to six working days.

 Required Experience & Skills:

  • Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business or a similar area  

  • About five years of proven sales experience in business or a related area  

  • Exceptional communication and presentation skills, both written and verbal, in order to express technical and nontechnical concepts clearly and concisely  

  • Technical skills required to create proposals and find solutions to meet client requirements, such as using software programs and machines  

  • Excellent organizational skills to meet goals and set priorities  

  • Be proactive, organized and handle work under stressful and uncertain environments  

  • Previous experience working with MC AgriFin, and their network of 150 partners highly preferred 

  • Able to manage team and clients remotely. 

Team Engagement and Effectiveness 

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.
We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.
 

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.
 

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).

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