Louis Dreyfus Company Ethiopia Vacancy 2021

The primary responsibility will be implementation of Coffee crop estimation program in Africa:

• Primary responsibility will be for Ethiopia and participate in East and West Africa research as and when required.
• Implementation and supervision of agreed research methodology for crop estimation.
• Contribution to the development of the research methodology and strategy. Continuous review of the methodology being applied in view of observations made during crop tours.
• Collect and evaluate the primary and secondary data that will enable an assessment of the most likely and probability weighted estimates of both current and future production.
• Plan, organize and execute regular crop tours to estimate the production using a) High quality farmer interviews and b) visual yield estimation.
• Estimate coffee areas by collecting data from a) official sources regularly b) Confirmation of area estimates through visual estimation of area changes c) Farmer interviews d) Gathering of information from third parties like research institutes, nurseries, state farms etc.
• Highlight the risks to the crop estimate by working out various scenarios. Assessment of the impact of various scenarios on yields and associated probabilities such as weather, pests, diseases and changing costs or supply of inputs or labor etc.
• Close monitoring of weather developments and long-term forecasts to update production estimates.
• Conducting detailed cost of production studies.
• Conduct monthly stock surveys and Balance Sheet reconciliation.
• Communication of the findings in the form of well-argued crop tour report.
• Source and analyze the secondary data and trade flow data on regular basis and contribute for BS review process and fully responsible for Coffee S&D Balance Sheet for the region.

Skills & competencies /Specific knowledge/ Abilities (including any physical demands):

• Strong working knowledge in Coffee Agronomy – preference given to candidates with prior practical experience in implementing coffee crop estimation methodologies.
• Very good knowledge of MS Office (advanced Excel skills).
• Strong presentation and communication skills in English and local Ethiopian regional languages.
• Willing to travel extensively in upcountry of African coffee origins regularly for crop tours.

Education:

•  Graduate or PG in Agriculture. Preference will be given for specialization in Coffee.

Languages skills:

•  Fully Fluent in English (both written and spoken) preference will be given to candidates having mutli Ethiopian linguistic regional skills.