Thirteen new YEP vacancies, 5 in YEP Agrofood

Young Expert Programmes (YEP) is looking for Dutch candidates for thirteen new YEP positions. Main goal of YEP, consisting of YEP Agrofood, YEP Water and YEP Energy, is to offer young professionals the opportunity to kickstart their international career supported by training, coaching and mentoring. Of the current YEP vacancies, five are in YEP Agrofood, in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia. Application for the new YEP positions in batch #19 is open until November 13, 2019.

YEP Programmes is again looking for candidates who would like to kickstart their international career, develop themselves into a professional in the international water, agrofood or renewable energy sector. A Young Expert has international ambition and is eager to innovate these sectors, while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals at the same time. Young Experts work for a Dutch organization located in a developing country; being part of the YEP Programmes means they are . supported through training, coaching and mentoring.

Below you will find the current thirteen job opportunities for YEP Water, YEP Agrofood and (new!) YEP Energy, for which you cans apply until November 13, 13:00. These positions are only open for Dutch Young Experts, since local Young Experts are selected through the selection process of the specific companies.

After the initial selection based CVs and motivation letters, candidates may be invited to the speeddate session in the morning of November 22. After the speeddate session selected candidates will be presented to organizations for a specific project. If there is a match, the new Young Expert will have to attend the training weeks of batch #19 from January 20 till February 7, 2020.

Of the current thirteen job opportunities open for Dutch nationals, five are positions in the agrofood sector, in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia. Please find below the current vacancies in YEP Agrofood for which candidates can apply, more details are available at the YEP website. The vacancies for YEP Water and YEP Energy and information on the application and selection procedure are also available at the YEP website.

YEP AGROFOOD POSITION – Akvo Foundation – Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou

Position: Project Officer
Country: Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou
Project Title: Data Informed Decision-Making for Agriculture Improvement in West Africa
Duration: 2 years
Introduction: Akvo believes that sustainable change will happen faster if governments and non-governmental organisations become more effective, accountable and collaborative. With a team of data and development experts, an open source data platform and a proven methodology, we help governments and non-governmental organisations power their decisions to achieve inclusive and sustainable impact. We support the improvement of water, sanitation and agriculture management and have a strong commitment to accelerating the progress of the sustainable development goals.
Our headquarters in Amsterdam develops the Akvo global strategy, guides Akvo software development and offers financial, HR and marketing support. It has very good links to the Dutch international development sector, particularly in WASH and agriculture. As a result, Akvo Netherlands is involved in various international programmes (DGIS and non-DGIS) that are being implemented in West Africa

YEP AGROFOOD POSITION – Cocoanect BV – Ivoorkust, Abidjan

Position: Innovation Officer
Country: Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan
Project Title: Developing Innovations for Sustainable Cocoa Farming
Duration: 2 years
Introduction: Sustainability is a key pillar of Cocoanect’s operations world-wide. We source sustainable cocoa beans, mainly from origins in West Africa, and Côte d’Ivoire is central to our supply chain. Together with smallholder farmers, exporters, and other partners we build dedicated supply chains to improve the daily lives of our farmers and promote sustainable, climate-smart cocoa production.

YEP AGROFOOD POSITION – Netherlands Embassy – Kenya, Nairobi

Position: Food Security Young Expert
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Project title: The Food Security-Water Nexus
Duration: 1 year
Introduction: In 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed a letter to parliament which outlined the direction of development cooperation in several focus regions. For Kenya, emphasis for decentralised cooperation was placed on, on the one hand, the continuation of aid to trade programs, and, on the other hand, maintaining and enhancing programs which relate to migration and/or contribute to stability. The Netherlands’ Multi Annual Country Strategy for Kenya (MACS, 2019-2022), written jointly by the Netherlands Embassy in Kenya and the Department of Inclusive Green Growth in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IGG), is in line with the objectives set out in this letter and in the 2018 Dutch policy document on Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (Investing in Global Prospects). This new strategy therefore places a greater emphasis on gender, climate resilience, and fragile areas than the Embassy’s previous strategies. In addition, the MACS outlines new strategies and goals focused on integrating water and food security agendas more systematically and working on programs in the nexus between the two sectors (i.e. water for agriculture).

YEP AGROFOOD POSITION – Cocoanect BV – Ghana, Accra

Position: Agroforestry and M&E Officer
Country: Ghana, Accra
Project Title: Cocoa Agroforestry
Duration: 2 years
Introduction: Sustainability is a key pillar of Cocoanect’s operations world-wide. We Source sustainable cocoa beans, mainly from origins in West Africa, and Ghana is central to our supply chain. Together with smallholder farmers, exporters, and other partners we build dedicated supply chains to improve the daily lives of our farmers and promote sustainable, climate-smart cocoa production.

YEP AGROFOOD POSITION – ICCO Central Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office – Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

Position: Learning and Knowledge Sharing Advisor
Country: Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Project Title: Strengthening African Rural Smallholders (STARS)
Duration: 1 year
Introduction: ICCO is a Dutch-based organisation for international development cooperation with 50 years of experience and regional office in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. ICCO connects, promotes, and strengthens the work of local civil society organisations (CSOs), producer organisations, medium enterprises (SMEs), national/multinational companies and governments. In short: ICCO helps farmers and their businesses grow. The focus is on food and nutrition security, entrepreneurship, access to finance and new technologies for marginalized communities with a focus on women and youth. ICCO has worked in Africa since the 1960s. The Central, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (RO CESA) is located in Uganda. This office develops and implements programmes in the following countries: South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Madagascar.

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Since 2013, more than 460 Young Experts have already been employed through YEP Programmes in 39 countries by more than 125 different organizations. YEP Programmes is being carried out by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands Water Partnership, the Food & Business Knowledge Platform and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. For more information about the programmes and the current and alumni Young Experts, please visit the YEP website.