Value Chain, Business Development and Marketing Expert (National)

Forestry, Land Use, and Value Chain Development in Tanzania (FORLAND) is a four-year bilateral project between the governments of Finland and Tanzania (2025-2029). The Project area includes the Iringa, Njombe, Ruvuma, and Lindi regions, which are rich in natural and plantation forest resources. The main headquarters is at Forest and Wood Industries Training Centre (FWITC) in Mafinga. FORLAND helps small woodlot owners establish and manage tree plantations, as well as rural communities manage their Miombo Village Land Forest Reserves using Community Based Forest Management. The project also strengthens the value chain, assisting communities, tree producers, and micro, small, and medium enterprises in adding value to their goods. It builds on the success of the Participatory Plantation Forestry Programme (PFP 2) and Forest and Value Chain Development Programme (FORVAC) to ensure the long-term viability of the achievements and institutions supported. It also closely aligns with the development strategies and priorities of the Finnish and Tanzanian governments, helping to alleviate poverty, create jobs, and strengthen climate resilience. The FORLAND project is recruiting a Value Chain, Business Development and Marketing Expert who will be responsible for the following duties under 3 outcome areas: Expected outcome 1: Increased income/profit from forest-based private enterprises as a result of project support Related duties • As part of the project's baseline study, develop and implement a market system evaluation and value chain analysis of market actors in both natural and plantation forestry, from producer groups to end users. Identify the structural constraints that prevent equal involvement in forest product markets. Identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement. • As part of the project's baseline analysis, initiate and carry out a business assessment of both previously supported and new (to the project) forest-based enterprises, selecting the most feasible businesses to receive project support. • Coordinate development and implementation of the business development plan of the identified business that will include among other things facilitation of business and financial literacy to the business owners. • Explore and promote activities that would enhance women’s share of the income from forest resources in cooperation with the gender specialist and in close cooperation with other project teams. • Collaborate with local institutions, government agencies, and private sector players to implement value chain improvements. • Engage and build the capacity of FWITC and District Forest Extension Officers in providing the above support. Expected outcome 2: Outcomes to be defined with FWITC and other stakeholders, but may include: • improved financial sustainability • Improved quality of extension services (quality measures to be defined) • Employment rate of FWITC students Related duties • Participatory stakeholder analysis of strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for FWITC in delivering training and forest extension services • Development of goals and action plan for FWITC development • Participatory stakeholder analysis of strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for FWITC in delivering training and forest extension services • Development of goals and action plan for FWITC development Expected outcome 3 • Accurate and timely information on status/progress of SMEs and supporting institutions to inform decision-making and interventions • FORLAND demonstrates impact on project goals and can articulate emerging learning about effective forest and wood value chain development for the wider sector Related duties • Together with the M& E Officer, develop data collection tools and techniques for monitoring value chain-supported initiatives and businesses. • Set a socio-economic baseline for targeted groups in the target areas to monitor the impact of value chain development for livelihood improvement. • Contribute to the periodic progress report, monitoring report, fact sheet, and case studies to meet the project-reporting requirement. • Contribute to human resources development activities of the Project (such as orientation workshops, training, studies etc.) according to her/his background and competence • Ensure that the Human Rights based Approach and the cross-cutting objectives of gender equality and non-discrimination are mainstreamed into all Project activities and introduced to cooperating partners; • Ensure that disaster risk reduction and climate resilience, low emission development and protection of the environment with an emphasis on biodiversity are mainstreamed into all Project activities; • Identify opportunities for carbon projects • Any other duties assigned by the Chief Technical Advisor Develop best practice guidelines for the involvement of local stakeholders in the development of the forest value chain linked to sustainable management of the forest resources.