Position: Agronomist (iDE Cambodia)__Deadline:06-February

Project or Division:    CAMBODIA – GROWING TRANSFORMATIVE HORTICULTURE PROJECT (GROWTH)
Location:    Base in Banteay Meanchey
Report to:    CSA/4S Intervention Lead
Duration:    2 Years (Mar 2026- Dec 2027)

Cambodia’s horticulture sector holds significant potential to drive inclusive economic growth, strengthen food security, and improve climate resilience. However, smallholder farmers, particularly women, youth, people with disabilities, and low-income households, remain constrained by fragmented markets, limited access to knowledge and finance, and high vulnerability to climate and economic shocks.

Women, adolescent girls, migrants, minority groups and people with disabilities face layered barriers to equitable market participation (care burdens, mobility limits, low asset ownership, literacy, and safety risks). Economic shocks have historically driven harmful coping, including child labour and school dropout. The strategic case for GROWTH therefore extends beyond income: by addressing systemic barriers (service access, norms, information, finance, and safety) and coupling market system development with nutrition-sensitive agriculture and positive parenting, the programme tackles both the causes of poverty and its intergenerational impacts on children. This approach aligns with MFAT policy markers on Gender Equality, Child & Youth, Human Rights and Climate Adaptation.

The GROWTH project, led by Save the Children Cambodia (SCI) in partnership with iDE Cambodia, responds to these systemic challenges through a market systems development approach underpinned by child wellbeing and Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) principles.

GROWTH will build on lessons from previous MFAT funded projects, STEER and CSmart. Its vision is a strengthened, climate-resilient horticulture market system providing improved, gender-equitable livelihoods, and better nutrition and protection for children.

The GROWTH project aims to transform Cambodia's horticulture sector through a Market Systems Development approach.

• The project will build on previous MFAT-funded initiatives to enhance market linkages, productivity, and child wellbeing.
• It will integrate climate-smart agricultural practices and promote inclusive development for marginalized groups.
• The project will focus on market system development through strengthening agri- entrepreneurs/intermediaries to facilitate farmer access to farming advice, quality inputs, technology, aggregation and market access, finance and other services.
• Commune Agriculture Officers (CAOs) will play an important role in the programme, building their knowledge of, and capacity in, climate smart agronomic and agri-business practices, which they can then use to train traditional, semi-commercial, and commercial farmers, particularly lead farmers and cooperatives.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS
1.    Field Demonstration and Technology Adoption

• Design, establish, and manage field demonstration plots with selected lead farmers to showcase improved horticulture practices and climate-smart technologies.
• Promote adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and 4S (Safe for Farmer, Safe for Consumer, Safe for Environment and Safe for Children) practices, including improved varieties, water-efficient irrigation, soil fertility management, integrated pest management (IPM), and post-harvest handling.
• Monitor demonstration results, document lessons learned, and support scaling- up of successful technologies.

2.    Capacity Building and Technical Training

• Provide support to the Intervention Lead to deliver Training of Trainers (ToT) for Commune Agriculture Officers (CAOs) on CSA/4S practices, and market-oriented farming.
• Provide on-the-job training and coaching to CAOs to strengthen their extension and farmer advisory skills.
• Support CAOs and lead farmers in organizing and delivering training, field day events, exposure visits and practical learning sessions.

3.    Collaboration with Private Sector and Market Actors

• Establish and maintain close collaboration and coordination with private sector actors, including:

1.    Input and technology suppliers (seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, mechanization, digital tools)
2.    Aggregators, traders, processors, and buyers

• Work closely with Market Linkage Facilitator to establish business relationships among value chain actors particularly between farmers and buyers to improve market access, quality compliance, and production planning aligned with market demand.
• Support piloting of embedded services models, contract farming arrangements, and bundled input-market solutions.

4.    Farmer Support and Market Access

• Support farmers and producer groups in improving production planning, quality standards, grading, and post-harvest handling for targeted horticulture value chains.
• Assist farmers in meeting buyer requirements, including food safety, quality, and traceability where applicable.
• Promote collective marketing approaches and coordination among farmer groups to strengthen bargaining power.

5.    Climate Smart Agriculture and Sustainability

• Integrate climate risk assessment into horticulture production planning.
• Promote CSA/4S practices that enhance resilience, productivity, and environmental sustainability, including water management and soil health.
• Support data collection on climate-smart practices adoption and productivity outcomes.

6.    Monitoring, Documentation, and Reporting

• Collect and analyze field-level data on demonstration performance, training outcomes, and adoption rates.
• Contribute to technical reports, success stories, and case studies for project learning and donor reporting.
• Provide regular technical updates and recommendations to the Intervention Lead and relevant stakeholders.

7.    Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement

• Coordinate closely with project staff, local authorities, PDAFF, CAOs, NGOs, and private sector partners to ensure integrated implementation.
• Participate in stakeholder meetings and learning events related to horticulture and market systems development.

OTHER

• Develop a good understanding of iDE-Cambodia’s and iDE-International’s development approach.
• Represent iDE in communications with clients, partners, donors, the public and others as required.

REQUIREMENTS
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• Bachelor degree in agronomy, horticulture, agriculture science, climate smart agriculture or related fields.
• At least 5 years of experience in CSA, horticulture production, and extension services.
• Strong technical knowledge particularly in vegetable production and CSA.
• Proven experience in establishing and managing field demonstration plots with farmers, work with lead farmers and farmer groups, delivering training for trainers and farmer training.
• Practical experience in working closely with the private sector, CAOs or PDAFF in Banteay Meanchey is highly desirable.
• Good communication and facilitation skills in English and Khmer
• Strong problem solving and coordination skills

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Positive team attitude
• Customer service focus (internal customers)
• Creativity and ‘out of the box’ thinking
• Strong desire to see results from your work
• Persistence to overcome obstacles and reach goals
• A proactive contributor, initiator and communicator
• Trustworthy, honest, and ethical
• Willing to learn new ways of doing things
• Understands and embraces IDE’s core values.

Interested candidates may submit a cover letter and CV by 06 February 2026 at 5:00 p.m, either electronically to cam-recruitment@ideglobal.org or in hard copy to iDE Cambodia Office. 

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