Timing: 3 months, extendable based on needs

Language: Working English

Fellowship: This is a fellowship and is pro bono. Travel-related expenses will be covered such as flights, housing, and per diem.

Country Background

Since 1972, TechnoServe has been working in Uganda with farmers, cooperatives, suppliers and processors to strategically develop competitive industries around key crops, including cash crops such as cocoa and coffee and staples such as maize and rice. We are helping farmers make the transition from subsistence to commercial production, assisting processors to improve operations and identifying opportunities for investment in agriculture. We are also supporting the diversification of Uganda's economy through entrepreneurship programs that empower men and women to create thriving small- and medium-sized businesses in a variety of sectors.

Project’s Goal

CRS, TechnoServe and Frontier Co-op are implementing VINES, a five year, $13 million, USDA Food for Progress program that will make Uganda the world’s next leading supplier of high-quality vanilla. VINES will leverage the expertise of CRS and its world class consortium of partners, associated experts and leading international buyers to provide technical assistance to enhance the production of safe, clean, pure vanilla, develop market links with US trade networks, and strengthen an enabling public policy network to reduce vanilla theft to transform the lives of 16,200 farmers, 356 self-employed service and input providers, 480 processors' employees; and generating 15,820 new on-farm seasonal and permanent processing jobs to reach 32,856 vanilla stakeholders.

In turn, this will provide international buyers with a new origin that will stabilize the extreme price volatility for this unique spice. The program period is being implemented from 2020-2025.

About Smart Katale

Smart Katale is an agricultural platform model developed by Dalberg Data Insights with support from Vines, that would enable service providers and market actors (companies such as banks, mobile network operators, input suppliers, solar companies, etc.) to more efficiently access potential rural customers through existing private sector agribusiness supply chains and extension structures managed by exporters, processors and traders across multiple sectors.

Smart Katale will aggregate, manage and utilize data collected by agribusinesses on their smallholder farmer suppliers to develop an ecosystem that facilitates and streamlines last mile product and service delivery, expands smallholder access to valuable services, and reduces the cost of extension delivery for agribusinesses through the establishment of commission and/or fee-for-service structures paid by rural service providers that have the potential to allow agribusinesses to expand extension and other service support to farmers at a comparable cost.

Scope of work

The assignment will require research, primary data collection and a detailed analysis of the two key market segments discussed above to help guide the development of a pilot model with clear data governance.

Agribusinesses: Develop a clear picture of existing extension models across several sectors including coffee, cocoa and vanilla, managed by agribusinesses that Vines has already engaged about Smart Katale and who have expressed and interest in participating. This will include developing a detailed understanding of the structure of different extension models (staffing and cost as available), scale of farmer networks, and current data systems and data collected. It will also clearly identify agribusinesses reservations related to data sharing and management, understanding red lines and thinking through ways to address and manage concerns.
Rural Service Providers: Develop a deep and data-driven understanding of a range of different service providers existing rural marketing and distribution structures (including cost to reach and serve rural customers as available). This will include developing a picture of current geographic reach (and gaps), growth targets among rural customers, key partners, products as well as understanding critical data needs (what information and data points do they require to make better informed decisions about customer segmentation and targeting). It will also be important to determine willingness to pay and data access preferences (how they prefer to interface with the data).
With guidance and support from the Vines project and input from Dalberg Data Insights, the Fellow will develop detailed data collection tools targeting the two segments, designed to collect as much (and as detailed) data as possible. The Fellow will then conduct interviews with key agribusinesses and rural service providers and analyze the data to develop a preliminary pilot model and that reflects a nuanced understanding of haves/needs across the two segments. The pilot should also address critical data governance/management systems and identify potential challenges related to aggregating data from multiple digital supply chain management systems. This knowledge will need to be based on feedback/insights/input from data platform management providers..

The interviews will inform a refined model/business case along with recommendations for a proposed pilot.

Objectives of the Assignment

The ultimate objective of the assignment is to develop a Smart Katale pilot/model and business case that defines the governance structures and operating model that clearly defines data and cash flows through the system.
Deliverables

This assignment will have the following deliverables:

A work plan that includes a clearly defined research schedule and timeline to develop, review and validate the pilot/model
Interview and data collection tools designed to gather critical data from various market actors essential for the development of the pilot
A presentation summarizing the data analysis with preliminary hypotheses about the structure of the pilot/model
A draft business case and pilot model that clearly articulates and defines the platform structure and governance, with a clear implementation timeline to be presented to select market actors for feedback.
A final pilot methodology that incorporates feedback from market actors, with clearly defined milestones and timelines.

Skills & Requirements

Strong team management and networking skills
Strong background in economics, business and strategy development
Excellent analytical skills
Strong interpersonal communication and information-gathering skills
Ability to structure and manage complex tasks
Demonstrated problem-solving skills
Ability to work independently, delivering high-quality end products
Excellent writing and PowerPoint presentation skills
At least three years of consultancy experience related to the assignment.
Logistics

As this is a pro bono consulting position, TechnoServe will not provide fees for the services completed. However, TechnoServe will cover travel-related costs including international airfare, in-country accommodation, in-country transportation, a per diem for living expenses, visas and vaccinations, and emergency evacuation insurance.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To apply, you will complete the general TechnoServe Fellows Program application. If we determine that your experience and availability match this particular project, we will alert you of that. If not, you may be placed in the general pool of Fellow candidates and considered for other projects. Please see below for details on the general TechnoServe Fellows Program application.

TechnoServe Fellows Program

TechnoServe is seeking qualified candidates to join our Fellows Program. Fellows take part in field-based projects ranging from 3 to 12 months in which they engage with entrepreneurs, industry experts, TechnoServe field staff, and other stakeholders. Please note, we review Fellow applications for our general candidate database on a rolling basis, and encourage qualified, enthusiastic candidates – especially those with French and/or Portuguese fluency – to apply.

While no two projects are exactly alike, typical Fellow roles often involve:

Assessing and identifying opportunities for markets, value chains, and industries
Crafting business and funding strategies in partnership with TechnoServe clients
Strengthening the operations and/or organizational capacity of TechnoServe clients
Designing innovative TechnoServe projects and proposals
Evaluating program impact