Field Officer Organic Farming Job Opportunity at Biotan Group Limited

BIOTAN GROUP LIMITED P.O. Box 106016
Mbagala Industrial Area
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Email: [email protected]

FIELD OFFICER – Organic Farming

Applications are invited from qualified persons for the above vacant position.

About BIOTAN
BIOTAN GROUP LIMITED is a processor and exporter of Organic Cashew Nuts. We are working with small holder farmers and cooperatives as the supplier of cashew nuts to our processing facility. Our farmers are certified organic according to EU and NOP regulation. Our processing facility is based in Dar es Salaam, Mbagala Industrial Area. BIOTAN GROUP LIMITED is a company that is dedicated to organic and ethical business practices as well as to develop a sustainable enterprise that manages a value chain for organic farming products (cashew nuts) from Tanzania.

Responsibilities

The Field Officer (FO) will work with our field team in the process of organic certification. He will work close together with the BIOTAN Management, the ICS Manager as well as our external consultants.

Assistance to farmers

The FO shall be responsible for correctly informing the farmers of the standards of organic production as described in the internal regulation. This means that regularly, awareness and training workshops are held on demonstration farms. The FO shall assist the farmers in improving agricultural production in a sustainable organic way. This may involve some experimentation on the demonstration farms or on individual farms. The strategy for farm improvements is decided every year in the team. The FO has to implement that strategy. The FO shall work with the farmers to produce predominantly Grade 1 produce; picked at the right time in the right way, properly stored, transported and dried.

Responsibilities within the ICS

The FO shall implement the Internal Control System as described in the ICS manual. This means that the FO is responsible that for each farm under his/her responsibility

• correct information is available, updated from the registration form
• registration of new farmers
• farmers contracts are signed
• AMCOS contracts are signed
• a proper yield estimate is done prior to harvest
• an annual internal inspection is done
• non-compliances from the internal inspection are followed-up
•  areas for improvements indicated during the internal inspection are addressed • Corrective Action Requests from the certification body are implemented
•  organization of the harvesting season (collection, quality control, issuing of warehouse receipts, documentation, transport)

Responsibilities during marketing

During marketing, the FO shall

• communicate prices and buying times to the farmers
• monitor prices paid by the competition and report to the management
• advise farmers on logistics (storage, delivery)
• confirm the identity of delivering farmer
•  assist the buying agent in establishing the quality grade
•  address substandard quality
•  investigate suspicions of over delivery and contamination

Requirements:

• Certificate or Diploma in agriculture and agri-related courses
• Knowledge in organic farming and certification including Internal Control System (ICS)
• Minimum two years’ experience in either agro-business development (farmer groups, buyers, traders, transporters, input suppliers or processors) OR community related projects
• Proven community mobilization skills and ability to effectively communicate – verbal & written
• Car and motorcycle driving skills

Apply before Saturday, July 2nd, 2022

Send your CV and Application letter to Email: [email protected]

BIOTAN GROUP LIMITED – Job-Description Field Officer Organic Farming – 06-2022