Agriculture MSME and Farmer Cooperatives Trainer at Equity Bank Tanzania

Position Title: Agriculture MSME and Farmer Cooperatives Trainer (2-Year Contract)

Position Grade / Job Level: Senior Officer

Reports Into: Program Manager

Function / Department: F & A Commercial

Subsidiary: EBTL

1.0 ABOUT EQUITY BANK TANZANIA LIMITED

Equity Bank (T) Limited is a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings PLC, a Pan African Financial Services Group with operations in six countries namely:

• Kenya
• Rwanda
• DRC
• Uganda
• Tanzania
• South Sudan

The Group also has ambitions to expand its footprint to a further six countries by 2030.

The scope of business cuts across:

• Banking
• Insurance
• Technology
• Social Enterprise

Our business model is underpinned by Social, Economic and Sustainability engines (Tri-Engine Model) that capacitate value chains sustainably and support communities.

Our Purpose is:

"Transforming lives, giving dignity, and expanding opportunities for wealth creation."

Our Vision is:

"To be the champion of the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa."

Our mission is lived through our global values of:

• Professionalism
• Integrity
• Creativity & Innovation
• Teamwork
• Unity of Purpose
• Respect
• Effective Corporate Governance

These values are summarized in the acronym PICTURE.

Our strategic ambitions are articulated in the Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP).

1. Job Purpose

The Agriculture MSME and Farmer Cooperatives Trainer will lead the design, delivery, and follow-up of high-quality capacity strengthening interventions for farmer groups, cooperatives, producer organizations, and agricultural MSMEs participating in the SASTAIN Program.

Adapted from the attached agribusiness advisor profile, this role strengthens the original focus on project implementation, beneficiary outreach, agribusiness support, financial inclusion, and farmer training by making training and enterprise capability development the core mandate.

The position holder will equip target participants with the knowledge, practical skills, systems, and business discipline needed to:

• Improve farm and enterprise productivity
• Strengthen cooperative governance
• Enhance market participation
• Increase financial readiness
• Build resilient, commercially viable agricultural businesses

The role will combine:

• Training facilitation
• Field coaching
• Institutional strengthening
• Linkages to finance and markets

2. Role Summary

The Trainer will support the growth and sustainability of agriculture MSMEs and farmer cooperatives by delivering practical, market-oriented, and inclusive learning interventions that respond to local value chain opportunities and enterprise constraints.

The role will work directly with:

• Farmers
• Cooperative leaders
• Youth agri-entrepreneurs
• Women agri-entrepreneurs
• Branch teams
• Stakeholders
• Market actors
• Ecosystem partners

to turn training into measurable business and organizational outcomes.

This expands the attached JD's emphasis on:

• Training
• Farmer support
• Market systems engagement
• Financial service linkages

into a clearer learning and capacity-development function.

3. Key Responsibilities

A. Training Needs Assessment and Curriculum Development

• Conduct training needs assessments for farmer groups, cooperatives, producer organizations, and agriculture MSMEs to identify gaps in:
  • Business skills
  • Governance
  • Financial capability
  • Technical production
  • Aggregation
  • Market readiness
• Develop, adapt, and contextualize:
  • Training manuals
  • Facilitator guides
  • Participant handouts
  • Job aids
  • Coaching tools
  • Post-training action templates
  suitable for adult learners.
• Design and plan training modules on relevant MSME capacity building areas.
• Ensure all learning content is:
  • Practical
  • Inclusive
  • Market-oriented
  • Gender-responsive
  • Aligned to priority agricultural value chains

B. Training Delivery and Facilitation

• Deliver structured in-person and digital training sessions to:
  • Farmers
  • Farmer cooperatives
  • Ag-MSMEs
  • Lead farmers
  • Village-based trainers
  • Local facilitators
• Use participatory adult-learning methods including:
  • Demonstrations
  • Case studies
  • Peer exchange
  • Field practicals
  • Business clinics
  • Action-learning exercises
• Facilitate tailored learning for:
  • Emerging entrepreneurs
  • Women-led enterprises
  • Youth groups
  • Cooperative boards
  • Management committees
  • Producer organizations
• Support Training of Trainers (ToT) models to strengthen local extension capacity.
• Ensure training sessions are:
  • Well planned
  • Well documented
  • Inclusive
  • Linked to measurable capability outcomes

C. Cooperative Farmer Strengthening

• Support the formation, strengthening, and professionalization of:
  • Farmer groups
  • Producer organizations
  • Cooperatives
• Train cooperative leaders and members on governance and management.
• Facilitate institutional assessments and support cooperatives to develop:
  • Governance improvement plans
  • Business growth plans
  • Operational strengthening roadmaps

D. Agriculture MSME Development

• Provide practical training and coaching to agriculture MSMEs on:
  • Enterprise planning
  • Business model improvement
  • Customer development
  • Market intelligence
  • Growth strategies
• Support MSMEs to strengthen their enterprises through entrepreneurship training.
• Build the capacity of rural agribusinesses to participate more effectively in agricultural value chains as:
  • Producers
  • Aggregators
  • Processors
  • Service providers
  • Off-take partners

E. Coaching, Mentorship, and Follow-Up

• Conduct post-training follow-up visits to ensure participants apply the knowledge and systems introduced during training.
• Provide one-on-one and group coaching to support:
  • Behavior change
  • Enterprise growth
  • Governance improvement
  • Practical problem-solving
• Help participants develop and implement:
  • Action plans
  • Business plans
  • Governance plans
  • Market engagement plans
• Identify high-potential cooperatives and agriculture MSMEs for deeper:
  • Technical support
  • Ecosystem linkage
  • Finance readiness assistance
• Track adoption of trained practices and address barriers to implementation.

F. Financial Inclusion and Market Linkages

• Introduce participants to appropriate financial products and services and support them to understand, access, and responsibly use:
  • Savings
  • Credit
  • Insurance
  • Other relevant financial tools
• Work with:
  • Branch teams
  • Financial service providers
  • Ecosystem actors
  to strengthen participant readiness for bankability and investment.
• Support farmer cooperatives and Ag-MSMEs to improve their ability to engage with:
  • Buyers
  • Suppliers
  • Aggregators
  • Transporters
  • Other value chain actors
• Facilitate practical understanding of how producer groups and MSMEs can become stronger ecosystem players through:
  • Aggregation
  • Quality consistency
  • Commercial discipline
• Build linkages between participants and relevant service providers including:
  • Input companies
  • Technology providers
  • Mechanization partners
  • Extension actors
  • Off-takers

G. Programme Implementation and Coordination

• Organize and coordinate field activities in line with:
  • Approved work plans
  • Project targets
  • Training calendars
• Mobilize participants and stakeholders for:
  • Training
  • Exposure visits
  • Field days
  • Business forums
  • Value chain collaboration meetings
• Represent the program professionally at:
  • Branch forums
  • County forums
  • Partner engagement forums
• Work closely with:
  • Branch teams
  • Agribusiness managers
  • M&E teams
  • Implementing partners
  • Regional partners
  to align field delivery and participant support.
• Ensure training interventions are implemented efficiently and in compliance with:
  • Organizational standards
  • Donor requirements
  • Safeguarding standards

H. Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Reporting

• Maintain accurate records of:
  • Training sessions
  • Attendance
  • Participant profiles
  • Follow-up visits
  • Coaching outcomes
• Conduct pre- and post-training assessments and contribute data for measuring changes in:
  • Knowledge
  • Skills
  • Attitudes
  • Enterprise performance
• Prepare:
  • Weekly reports
  • Monthly reports
  • Quarterly reports
  on training delivery, participant progress, field observations, success stories, and risks.
• Work with M&E teams to collect quality data and generate insight into:
  • Outreach
  • Training effectiveness
  • Behavior change
  • Financial inclusion
  • Enterprise performance
• Contribute to learning, adaptation, and continuous improvement of training methodologies and participant support models.

4. Expected Deliverables

The Agriculture MSME and Farmer Cooperatives Trainer will be expected to deliver:

• Annual training plans
• Quarterly training plans
• Training curricula
• Facilitator guides
• Participant materials
• Participant mobilization records
• Attendance records
• Pre/post assessment tools
• Results summaries
• Coaching reports
• Mentorship visit reports
• Cooperative capacity assessment reports
• MSME business coaching notes
• Improvement plans
• Case studies
• Success stories
• Lessons learned
• Weekly implementation reports
• Monthly implementation reports
• Quarterly implementation reports
• Evidence of participant adoption of improved:
  • Business practices
  • Finance practices
  • Governance practices
  • Production practices

5. Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Bachelor's degree in:
  • Agribusiness
  • Agriculture
  • Agricultural Economics
  • Agricultural Extension
  • Cooperative Management
  • Rural Development
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Animal Production
  • Horticulture
  • Agroforestry
  • Related discipline
• A business or finance degree with strong experience in agricultural enterprise development may also be considered.
• Additional certification in:
  • Cooperative development
  • MSME development
  • Climate-smart agriculture
  • Financial inclusion
  • Adult learning
  • Project management
  • Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)
  will be an added advantage.

Experience

• Over 5 years of progressively responsible experience in:
  • Farmer training
  • Cooperative strengthening
  • Agricultural value chains
  • Ag-MSME development
• Demonstrated experience working with:
  • Smallholder farmers
  • Farmer groups
  • Cooperatives
  • Youth enterprises
  • Women enterprises
  • Rural market systems
• Proven ability to:
  • Design practical training
  • Facilitate practical training
  • Provide post-training coaching
  • Provide mentorship
• Experience in:
  • Financial literacy
  • Access-to-finance facilitation
  • Market linkage development
  will be a strong advantage.
• Experience working in:
  • Donor-funded agriculture programs
  • Livelihood programs
  • Enterprise programs
  • Inclusive finance programs
  is highly desirable.

6. Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding of agricultural value chains and market systems
• Cooperative development and governance expertise
• Agriculture MSME business development and entrepreneurship support
• Financial literacy and finance readiness facilitation
• Adult learning, facilitation, and participatory extension methodologies
• Record-keeping, enterprise analysis, and business planning
• Market access, aggregation, and off-taker engagement
• Data collection, reporting, and basic analysis
• Competence in Microsoft Office and digital reporting tools

7. Behavioral Competencies

• Excellent communication and facilitation skills
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management
• Results orientation and strong execution discipline
• Analytical thinking and practical problem-solving
• Initiative, adaptability, and field resilience
• Integrity, professionalism, and accountability
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
• Commitment to inclusion, safeguarding, and participant empowerment

8. Key Performance Indicators

• Number of farmers trained
• Number of cooperatives trained
• Number of Ag-MSMEs trained
• Percentage of trainees demonstrating knowledge and skills improvement
• Number of cooperatives with strengthened governance and management systems
• Number of Ag-MSMEs supported to improve business planning and financial readiness
• Number of participants linked to:
  • Finance
  • Markets
  • Ecosystem services
• Adoption rates of improved:
  • Agribusiness practices
  • Governance practices
  • Climate-smart practices
• Quality and timeliness of training reports and program data
• Participant satisfaction and field-level evidence of business and institutional change