Project Coordinator, Food Supply Systems at Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

About the Role

• The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Project Coordinator, Food Supply Systems to provide technical expertise in developing Last Mile Vendor (LMV) businesses. They will be responsible for identification, selection and supporting business to increase the access of safe, fresh and variety of vegetables within the project area. This role will be offered on a three(3) year fixed term contract, subject to availability of funding and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.
• In Kenya, 94% of adults do not meet the WHO recommendations of 400 grams of daily fruit and vegetable consumption. In 2015, a national survey found that 15.3% consumed fruits daily and 50.9% consumed vegetables daily. Many African countries do not produce enough vegetables to meet their populations’ nutrient needs. This low production is exacerbated by high losses in the value chain.  
• GAIN Kenya has designed a program to respond to this situation by stimulating increased vegetable access and increasing consumption through demand creation.
• The Vegetables for All project will create partnerships with private actors and organizations who employ different models at various levels and support sourcing of vegetables from Good Agricultural Practices compliant suppliers to increase all-year availability of safe vegetables in target.

Key Responsibilities include

• Collaborate with relevant structures (at national, county, market level), provide technical advice and support the implementation of existing local food safety standards.
• Identify Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) compliant vegetable suppliers and/or suppliers who are meeting the food standards in project implementation counties and link them to last mile vendors for improved sourcing of safe vegetables.
• Conduct regular visits to Last Mile Vendors (LMVs) working locations to verify actual status of vegetable supply and address vegetables supply challenges.  
• Link last mile vendors to identified suppliers who are meeting food standards for improved sourcing of safe vegetables.
• Coordinate with implementing partners and key stakeholders in the project to train the last mile vendors on various aspects including food safety, business development amongst others.
• Provision of technical support and trainings to mid value chain actors (e.g cold chain storage providers /logistics, retail shops, aggregators), Last Mile Vendors (LMVs) and market committees on the need for traceability systems for food safety and how to use the available/developed systems.
• Participate and contribute to development and implementation of project work plans in collaboration with the project coordinators.
• Provide assistance to the project manager by monitoring the project progress against project workplan and budget.

About you

• The ideal candidate should have experience working with last mile vendors with ability to link them with suppliers compliant with food standards. Have a deep understanding and development of food safety and traceability systems. You should have strong capacity building skills with a wide variety of stakeholders including experience providing technical support to value chain actors such as cold chain storage providers, aggregators, retail shops, logistics etc.
• The post holder should have solid experience in the Agri-food sector in Kenya, particularly in areas of agriculture, agribusiness, nutrition etc. Experience working on donor funded agribusiness projects or with an agribusiness itself in addition to a great understanding of supply chain analysis with a focus on vegetables.
• You should be able to conduct match making events to enhance market linkages in addition to linking vendors to various business development service providers. The candidate should have an education background with a degree in Agribusiness, Agriculture, Entrepreneurship & SME Management, and/or equivalent work experience. Project Management certification is highly desirable.