Opportunity International

The Project Officer oversees groups of Farmer Support Agents (FSAs). The role will manage, train, and monitor the FSAs in delivering capacity-building training to young women under the age of 35 from rural client groups, aiming to promote new and improved job opportunities in agriculture and ag-adjacent sectors. The Project Officer will ensure, through training and coaching, that FSA farmer training is being conducted, monitor project activities, the quality of training, and measure impact.

RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

Business Service Agent and Farmer Support Agent Management

• Recruit, onboard, and train groups of FSAs to deliver training and capacity-building to rural clients.
• Monitor the data collection activities of the FSAs & provide technical support where necessary.
• Provide troubleshooting and systems support to the partners & FPOSAs utilizing the client management system (CommCare).
• Facilitate regular training sessions for trainers in coordination with project partners.
• Ensure the effective delivery of the FSA-led training at the farmer group level.
• Identify hurdles and bottlenecks to the model's success and, where possible, suggest and implement solutions.
• Assist the Agriculture Finance team with overall management and administrative support of the FSA network, including various project partners.

Partner Coordination

• Ensure cordial working relationships with all local stakeholders, including farmers, financial institution partners, private sector partners, and Ghanaian government staff within assigned communities.
• Develop a good working relationship with the financial institution partner and agricultural finance staff, and have a working knowledge of the financial products offered.
• Coordinate with financial institution partner branches to ensure seamless communication regarding on-the-ground factors affecting project success.

Reporting and Monitoring & Evaluation

• Monitor and track progress against the work plan and project targets.
• Validate and verify FSA data entries on farmer profiles, training activities, and surveys.
• Guide FSAs in collecting data, developing activity reports, and collecting client success stories.
• Prepare weekly reports for AgFinance management, detailing progress on project deliverables and any challenges encountered.
• Assist Opportunity in conducting impact assessments using monitoring and evaluation tools developed by Opportunity.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Degree or Diploma in agriculture, community development, finance, or related fields.
• A minimum of 3 years of experience working with rural communities, youth (up to age 35), and/or women-focused projects.
• Practical experience working with community-based financial organizations (VSLAs, etc.)
• Project management skills to effectively perform activities/tasks in a manner that consistently achieves high standards.
• Proficiency in the use of MS Office applications and Android Apps. Must be able to demonstrate competency.
• Ability to self-empower to enable the development of open communication, teamwork, and trust needed to support performance and a customer-service-oriented culture in agriculture.
• Passionate about Opportunity International’s mission and able to effectively communicate organizational goals.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

• Written and verbal fluency in English and one Ghanaian language is required.
• Must be able to attend & fully participate in meetings conducted in English.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

• The position will require frequent domestic travel, up to 70% of the time, throughout the project areas.
• International travel may be required one to two times per year for team meetings or cross-learning trips.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Opportunity International Ghana is a consortium member of the First+ Scale Up program, which focuses on stimulating demand for capital in agriculture and adjacent value chains among young people, particularly women and individuals living with disabilities. The goal is to build the capacity of young people (smallholder farmer groups and ag-adjacent MSMEs) by deploying a network of Business Support Agents (BSAs) to increase incomes and jobs among youth in Ghana.

ABOUT OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL

Opportunity International is a global non-profit that has been equipping people to build sustainable livelihoods and educate their children for 54 years. Opportunity provides 21 million families with innovative financial resources, training, and support to grow their small businesses and send their children to school. In 2024, Opportunity International and its partners helped fund 19,000 schools that reached 3.4 million children. We respond to Jesus Christ's call to love and serve people living in poverty. We seek to emulate the Good Samaritan, whose compassion crossed ethnic groups and religions. We serve all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. Discover more at opportunity.org or join the conversation on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

ABOUT AGFINANCE

Opportunity’s AgFinance model is structured to bring scalable and high-impact loans and training to rural families living in poverty to build thriving rural communities. AgFinance accomplishes this by building relationships with financial institutions to support the provision of tailored agricultural credit products and services to smallholders and agribusinesses while providing technology-enabled training and services directly to farmers. Learn more at agfin.org.

CHILD PROTECTION COMMITMENT

Opportunity believes that all children have a right to protection from any form of abuse regardless of gender, culture, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, or ability. Opportunity operates in line with international best practices for child protection and recognizes its responsibility to ensure that all employees. This policy applies to anyone acting on behalf of Opportunity or is involved in its programs in any capacity. All employees are subject to background checks, which include criminal checks and sex offender list checks, as allowed by local law.