Market and Product Development Officer II

ABOUT THE COMPANY Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) is a State Corporation in the ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Corporatives established by the Agriculture and Food Authority Act No 13 of 2013 to operationalize the Crops Act No 16 of 2013. The Act consolidates the laws on regulation and promotion of agriculture and makes provision for the respective roles of national and county governments according to the provisions of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of Kenya. The role of the Authority is to Regulate, Develop and Promote Scheduled Crops value chains for increased economic growth in Kenya.

AFA is a product of Agriculture Sector Reforms which commenced in 2003 with the formulation of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS) and the Strategy for the Revitalization of Agriculture (SRA).The reforms focused on improving efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery through the review of the legal and regulatory framework in the agriculture Sector. JOB SUMMARY Person SpecificationsFor appointment to this grade, a candidate must have:Bachelor’s Degree in any of the following disciplines; Commerce, Business Management, Marketing, Agricultural Economics, Agriculture, Horticulture, Agribusiness Management, or an equivalent qualification from a recognized institution; andProficiency in computer applications RESPONSIBILITIES In Market and Product Development duties and responsibilities will entail-Undertaking promotion of establishment of agricultural produce collection centres in viable areas;Conducting market and product promotion activities in the local and international markets;Building capacity of stakeholders on market potential and prospects of scheduled crops;Implementing strategies for knowledge transfer and adoption of value addition technologies in scheduled crops;Organizing linkages between financial institutions and insurance service providers with value chain players; Implementing market and product development policies, strategies and guidelines; andPromoting the recognition of scheduled crops products in the international market through branding, mark of origin registration and packaging to ensure traceability.In Market Research and Intelligence, duties and responsibilities will entail: -Undertaking market research on product and market trends, growth and opportunities for new and existing markets including diversification prospects;Holding stakeholder forums to disseminate Market research findings;Conducting domestic market price and food supply/demand survey;Mapping relevant stakeholders for purposes of conducting market studies;Promoting, processing and value addition of scheduled crops;Collecting and collating data on current and future production, prices and domestic trade, imports and exports;Maintaining and updating a market information system on current and future production, prices and movement of scheduled crops during trade;Preparing meeting reports during engagemen