IGAD is currently seeking a qualified Focal Person for Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub to join their team in Djibouti. Professionals with a background in Agriculture and at least 5 - 6 years of experience are encouraged to apply. Submit your application by Dec, 04 to be considered for this role.
Position Title: Focal Person for Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub
Reference:
IGAD-FSHH
Duty Station: Djibouti
Applications
Deadline:
4th December 2026
Expected
Start Date: Immediate
Background
Africa’s agriculture is central to the continent’s economy and livelihoods, yet widespread soil degradation continues to undermine agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and food and nutrition security. In response, the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (AFSH) of May 2024 adopted a comprehensive action plan to restore soil health through coordinated regional action. Building on the Summit’s Declaration, the Soil Initiative for Africa, the Kampala CAADP Declaration (2025), the IGAD Regional Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (2025–2034), and guidance from the IGAD Ministers of Agriculture, IGAD has established a Regional Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub to coordinate regional efforts and support Member States in addressing fertilizer and soil health challenges.
The Regional Hub envisions healthy soils and the sustainable use of fertilizers across the IGAD region by promoting policy harmonization, capacity development, evidence-based decision-making, integrated soil fertility management, and resource mobilization.
The Hub is financially supported by the World Bank Financed Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) at the Agriculture and Environment Division (AED) of IGAD and IGAD AED serves as the secretariat of the Hub. FSRP is built on four pillars including (re-)building resilient agricultural production capacity, supporting the sustainable development of natural resources for resilient agricultural landscapes, getting to market and promoting a greater focus on food systems resilience in national and regional policymaking.
As the secretariat of the Hub, AED is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Regional Fertilizer and Soil Health activities, which are organized around six Key Performance Areas (KPAs):
The Hub involves multiple implementing partners, including Member States, research institutions, development partners, private sector actors and other technical organizations. The Secretariat therefore requires a dedicated focal person to serve as the focal person responsible for facilitating implementation, monitoring progress, coordinating stakeholders, and ensuring timely reporting across all Key Priority areas of the hub.
Objective of the Position
The Programme Officer will serve as a Focal Person for IGAD Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub and will coordinate the implementation of program activities by facilitating collaboration among implementing partners and stakeholders. The officer will ensure effective planning, coordination, monitoring, communication, and reporting and serve as the Secretariat’s focal person for implementation of all IGAD Soil Hub activities.
2.1 Key Roles and Responsibilities
The Programme Officer/ Focal Person for IGAD Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub, under the supervision of the FSRP coordinator, will undertake the following tasks:
3.
Expected Deliverables
Based on the Hub’s establishment and implementation documents, the focal person is expected to ensure coordination of institutions, convening of stakeholders, generation/sharing of knowledge, and support implementation across the hub’s priority areas.
He/she is responsible for delivering the Hub’s technical products in addition to the day-to-day implementation responsibilities.
The IGAD Soil Hub Focal Person is responsible for ensuring the Hub delivers on its promises through:
Operational Responsibilities include:
- Policy and Advocacy Support
- Capacity Strengthening
- Soil Information Systems and Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM)
- Research and Innovation
- Markets, Trade and Supply Chain
- Resource Mobilization
- Oversee the implementation of IGAD Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub Activities.
- Coordinate preparation of annual and quarterly work plans in collaboration with the technical steering committee of the HUb.
- Consolidate implementation schedules from all implementing partners.
- Ensure timely execution of planned activities.
- Track implementation milestones and deliverables/ Maintain an updated dashboard of activity progress.
- Develop and maintain an implementation tracking system.
- Monitor progress against agreed outputs and indicators.
- Compile quarterly, semi-annual and annual implementation reports.
- Identify implementation bottlenecks and recommend corrective actions.
- Organize coordination meetings of technical and sterring committees and other meetings as required.
- Prepare meeting agendas, briefing notes and background documents.
- Record and disseminate minutes and action points.
- Follow up on implementation of agreed actions.
- Maintain regular communication with Member States and implementing partners
- Facilitate collaboration among technical institutions, regional organizations, development partners and the private sector.
- Coordinate engagement with development partners and regional institutions.
- Support information sharing among stakeholders.
- Facilitate knowledge exchange across the six thematic areas.
- Ensure proper documentation of lessons learned and best practices.
- Support dissemination of achievements and success stories.
- Support preparation of funding proposals and concept notes by coordinating technical inputs from relevant experts.
- Compile information required for donor reporting.
- Take other responsibilities as required.
- Formulation, validation and endorsement of regional fertilizer and soil health policy frameworks, with Member State domestication support facilitated.
- Generation, sourcing, validation, and dissemination of regional soil information products, evidence-based technical recommendations, and research-informed solutions for sustainable soil health management
- Strengthening regional human and institutional capacity for sustainable fertilizer use and soil health management through coordinated capacity-development and knowledge-sharing mechanisms.
- Scaling up of sustainable Integrated Soil Fertility Management across IGAD Member States
- Strengthening regional research, innovation, and technology-transfer mechanisms to generate and disseminate context-specific solutions for fertilizer use and soil health management
- Strengthening regional fertilizer markets, trade, quality assurance, and supply-chain systems to improve access to affordable, quality fertilizer and soil health inputs
- Establishment and implementation of a coordinated resource-mobilization and partnership framework
- Coordinated implementation of all planned Hub activities in accordance with the approved annual work plan.
- Consolidated IGAD Soil Hub implementation tracking matrix showing the status and progress of all planned activities.
- Quarterly, semi-annual, and annual progress reports submitted on time and meeting quality standards.
- Stakeholder coordination and engagement mechanism established and maintained, including regular communication with Member States and implementing partners.
- Coordination meetings (technical committees & working groups, steering committee, and partner meetings) successfully organized, with agendas, minutes, and action points documented.
- Action tracker maintained, with timely follow-up and reporting on the implementation of agreed decisions and recommendations.
About Djibouti
Djibouti City is the capital of the Republic of Djibouti, strategically located at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East. The city hosts multiple international military bases, UN agencies, and development organizations, offering unique opportunities in logistics, maritime services, security, and international development.
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