Business Advisor- Prosper Cashew

Job Title: Business Advisor

Project: Prosper Cashew

Location: Lagos- Nigeria

About TechnoServe :

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of business and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.

The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. However, they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics, and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better; they are able to access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off. 

Program/Practice/Department Overview:

Prosper Cashew is a five-year, $27 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Food for Progress Program that aims to catalyze investment in the West African cashew processing sector. Over the next five years, the project will strengthen and revive existing cashew processing facilities across Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria and support the development of new processing facilities and other value chain enterprises as part of the project’s overall goal to increase the share of raw cashew nut that is processed in the region from about 8% to 50%. Over five years, Prosper Cashew will improve the capacity of 60 processing units that source cashews from approximately 34,000 farmers, facilitate $497 million of investment in the cashew sector, and generate $1.5 billion in cashew kernel sales. The project expects to create more than 26,000 new jobs (at least 50% for women) and indirectly benefit more than 133,000 women, men, and children in West Africa.

A key component of the project will be to strengthen and increase commercially viable cashew enterprises through technical support. The project will build processor capacity in business management, financial management, investment facilitation, HR and workforce management, marketing, and supply chain development. It will also identify and address specific constraints related to particular sections of cashew processing (raw cashew nut drying, warehousing, calibration, steam cooking, shelling, oven drying, peeling, grading, fumigation, packing, and storage) and provide support to processors to install food safety management systems, support the introduction of traceability, and support the introduction of environmental practices and effective waste management.

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Regional Business and Certifications Manager, the Business Advisor will deliver capacity-building efforts targeted at improving the profitability of cashew processors and other emerging value chain enterprises such as local equipment repair services and manufacturers, supply chain management companies, and by-product processors. S/he will support up to 10 processing units to develop robust supply chains, from sourcing of raw nuts to sale of processed kernels. S/he will implement tailored technical assistance plans that focus on building profitability, supporting processing units to scale up their processed volumes and increase their sales.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Basic Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

Travel:  As required by program activities.Willingness to spend up to 40% of time travelling domestically.

Required Languages:  

Supervisory Responsibilities: None.

Closing Statements:

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply. With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and and do not discriminate based on gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability, & all other protected classes.