Programme Officer - Agri-Business and Market System

Job Description

Title: Programme Officer - Agri-Business and Market System

Company Name: Solidaridad Network Asia

Vacancy: --

Age: Na

Job Location: Jashore, Khulna

Salary: --

Experience: --

Published: 2026-09-15

Application Deadline: 2026-09-22

Education:

Requirements: --

Skills Required:

Additional Requirements:

Responsibilities & Context:

Introduction: Solidaridad (www.solidaridadnetwork.org) is a global network organization working to build sustainable, resource-efficient, and inclusive supply chains. Solidaridad fosters smallholder and worker empowerment by co-creating scalable, economically viable solutions in agricultural and industrial landscapes alongside governments, businesses, and local communities.
In coastal southwest Bangladesh, Solidaridad is implementing the extension phase of the ‘Sustainable Agriculture, Food Security and Livelihoods for Integrated Water Resources Management (SAFAL for IWRM)’ project. Having successfully revitalized 92 micro-watersheds—improving agricultural productivity and livelihoods for over 91,000 farming households—the project now focuses on institutionalizing watershed-based governance to ensure equitable water distribution, resource efficiency, and climate resilience. To bridge community-led water management with private sector-led supply chains and advanced agricultural innovations, the project aims to establish a bankable, commercial water-climate-agriculture nexus approach that transitions micro-watersheds into self-sustaining, commercially viable Agri-Business Hubs.
Solidaridad is seeking Programme Officers - Agribusiness and Market Systems to support the implementation of the agribusiness and market systems component of SAFAL for IWRM, with a focus on Watershed Ecosystem Optimization and Sustainable Supply Chains.
The Programme Officer - Agribusiness and Market will provide technical and operational support for field-level implementation, working under the guidance of the Manager- Agribusiness and Market Systems. The role will support and guide Field Extension Officers in delivering interventions that strengthen agribusiness development, market linkages, Farmer Entrepreneurs, and farmer organizations, contributing to more sustainable and inclusive supply chains. The position will also contribute to stakeholder engagement, field coordination, and the documentation of good practices, lessons learned, field innovations, and success stories to strengthen programme learning and support the scaling of effective approaches.
Overall Purpose of the Role: The Programme Officer-Agribusiness and Market Systems will provide technical and operational leadership to strengthen sustainable agribusiness, market systems, and community-led water governance under the SAFAL for IWRM project extension phase. The role will support the institutionalization of Farmers’ Organizations and Water Management Committees, strengthen their business and governance capacities, facilitate public-private partnerships and market linkages, and promote climate-smart water-agriculture solutions. The position will also provide technical backstopping to field teams, ensure effective delivery of workplan activities, and document learning and evidence to support programme improvement, policy engagement, and scaling of successful approaches.
The Programme Officer will supervise the Project Officer-Cooperative Business Support and will work closely with the Programme Officer-Ecosystem Regeneration as well as Union Parishads, Water Management Committees (WMCs), private-sector actors at the field level, and will report directly to the Manager-Agri Business and Market System for work planning, technical guidance, and performance management.
Employment Type: Project-based fixed-term
Reports to: Manager – Agri Business and Market System
Supervises: Project Officer – Cooperative Business Support
Duty Station: Khulna/Jashore, with frequent field travel
Key Responsibilities

• Market Linkages and Private-Sector Engagement

  • Identify and maintain relationships with local input suppliers, aggregators, processors, and buyers to support backward and forward market linkages for FOEs.

  • Support the Manager in engaging national and Dutch private-sector partners at the field/regional level.

  • Provide required support to the Field Team to establish/strengthen localized aggregation, sorting, and grading points managed directly by the MSMES.

  • Support FOEs to connect those processing centers/points with relevant regional and national markets.

  • Strengthen backward and forward market linkage for supply of saline -tolerant seeds, bio-inputs, and Dutch technologies for crop protection and post-harvest logistics.

  • Broker backward and forward market linkages between FOEs, input suppliers, agro-processors, and commercial buyers.

  • Support FOEs in contract negotiation and compliance with buyer specifications (Season, maturity, size, color, etc.).

  • Assist in meeting the buyers' commercial requirements, such as volume, lead time, price, mode of payment, etc.

• Agri input and Technology Partnerships with Relevant Private Sector

  • Identify and establish partnerships with technology providers and private investors to introduce energy-efficient logistics for packaging and distribution.

  • Establish collaboration with other EKN-supported projects and the private sector to test and promote low-cost protected agriculture facilities.

  • Support due diligence and MoU development with private-sector and Dutch technology partners.

  • Coordinate with the Programme Officer – Ecosystem Regeneration on joint private-sector engagement (e.g., seed companies, digital advisory providers).

  • Track the value and status of commercial partnerships and contracts.

• Institutionalization and Strengthening of Local Water Governance

  • Facilitate the formalization and organizational strengthening of farmers’ collectives/MWCs, including registration, governance systems, MoUs with Union Parishads, and alignment with local government structures.

  • Support sustainable O&M financing through membership subscriptions, water-use fees, fund generation, regular MWC meetings, and continuous mentoring/backstopping.

  • Coordinate with government authorities, Union Parishads, Upazila-level IWRM Committees, farmers’ organizations, and other stakeholders to strengthen community-led water governance.

• Deliver targeted capacity-building programs on business management, financial literacy, and governance.

  • Develop/adapt training modules and guidelines on financial literacy, governance and business operations for FOEs and WMCs.

  • Coordinate delivery of capacity-building training batches to FOE and WMC members on product quality, post-harvest management, packaging and handling.

  • Monitor application of business and financial-management skills post-training and provide follow-up coaching.

  • Support cooperative/FOE Executive Committees in budgeting, record-keeping and fund management.

• Co-design and co-create collective actions for developing the water-agriculture-climate nexus in collaboration with public-private and embassy-supported initiatives

  • Establish collaborative partnerships with the private sector, public sector, and embassy-supported projects and define strategy for Collaboration.

  • Promote integrated climate-smart aquaculture practices among the farmers of selected MWS through Demo plots, result-sharing sessions, cross-visits, etc. (YY Super male Tilapia, Seabus and Vannamei shrimp)

• Field-Level Implementation of Work Package Activities

  • Support the Manager in implementing the annual work plan and budget for agribusiness and market-system activities.

  • Carry out day-to-day field activities related to formalization of Farmer Organizations, integration of WMCs with Union Parishads, and establishment of aggregation/processing centers.

  • Track field-level progress against the project's KPI and timeline matrix and flag implementation bottlenecks to the Manager on time.

• Technical, Coordination and Backstopping support to Field Team

  • Directly supervise the Project Officer- Cooperative Business Support, providing technical guidance, work planning and performance feedback.

  • Provide implementation support to the Field Extension Officers in coordination with District Project Officers.

  • Review field-level activity plans and reports for quality, realism (budget and implementation), and alignment with project targets.

  • Support the Manager in implementing the annual work plan and budget for agribusiness and market-system activities.

  • Support efficient and compliant utilization of field-level budgets in line with Solidaridad's financial procedures.

• Capacity Building, Knowledge Management and Policy Engagement

  • Document and synthesize programme learning, good practices, and evidence into knowledge products and policy papers in collaboration with technical experts and stakeholders.

  • Prepare timely and accurate weekly/monthly progress reports and contribute to half-yearly/annual project reports for the market-systems and FOE-institutionalization components.

  • Organize field visits, workshops, roundtables, and policy dialogues to disseminate learning and promote integration and scaling of the SAFAL IWRM model within relevant government policies and programmes.

  • Select private sector stakeholders and organize meetings at the district level in participation with key district-level government stakeholders.

• Competitive compensation package aligned with Solidaridad Asia’s pay structures and Service Rules. Benefits include Provident Fund, Gratuity, Festival Bonus, and Medical Insurance coverage per organizational policy