About Rikolto
Rikolto is registered in Ghana as Rikolto Ghana LBG and is a member of Rikolto International (formerly VECO) with 50 years of experience in partnering with farmer organizations and food chain stakeholders in 21 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa. Rikolto works to foster a more sustainable and resilient cocoa sector by strengthening farmer organizations, working on living income for cocoa farmers, empowering young men and women, and promoting diversified agroforestry systems and sustainable farming practices from a food systems perspective.
Rikolto is committed to ensuring that the cocoa sector in Ghana is more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive, supporting living income opportunities for farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs, while facilitating market access for sustainably produced food products. To achieve our objectives, our country programme is built on three thematic areas which also form the core of our global cocoa and coffee agenda. These include Sustainable Cocoa Production, Market Inclusion, and Enabling Environment.
The Position
The Programme Coordinator supports the Programme Manager in delivering impact-driven projects in Rikolto Ghana’s cocoa and coffee country programme. He/she will work closely with Project Officers to implement different kinds of interventions that Rikolto facilitates and provide technical support to implementation partners. He will contribute to ensuring the achievement of Rikolto’s mandate of delivering living income to cocoa and coffee farmers in Ghana. The specific areas of focus include programme coordination, fundraising, stakeholder management, and programme implementation.
Key Responsibilities
- Project development and fund-raising
- Proactively scout for potential donors and grant opportunities and support the development of a fund-raising strategy that aligns with the goals of Rikolto
- Support partnership negotiation and development, ensuring necessary teams are engaged to help further the country’s fund-raising ambitions
- Maintain strong relationships with existing and potential new donors
Programme coordination and implementation
- Work with Project Officers and partner staff in developing and rolling out a plan to create VSLAs and other complementary activities including Gender and Youth Inclusion, Nutrition, Child-Labor, Regenerative Agriculture etc.
- Provide technical support and coaching to Project Officers to ensure effective delivery of project outcomes
- Provide feedback to Project Officers in real-time on the progress of work and report any challenges as they arise
- Work closely with partner staff to assess the progress of work in response to the project Performance Monitoring Plan
- Undertake field visits to project sites to ensure quality of engagements and general project implementation
- Coordinate report preparation and consolidation using standardized reporting formats in line with the project reporting timelines and standards
- Support the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer to strengthen the country’s MEL system
- Facilitate learning and peer exchange among Project Officers and across projects including documenting lessons learned, best practices etc.
- Provide input into work plan development, reviews, monitoring, and reporting as required
Documentation & Dissemination of project outcomes
- Collaborate with Project Officers to systematically document project outputs, outcomes, processes, key observations, and impactful stories that reflect the program’s progress and achievements
- Work with the Communications Officer to develop field stories that highlight Rikolto’s impact, and disseminate them across various platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook etc.
- Represent the program at district and national forums to share key insights, lessons learned, and success stories with stakeholders
Desired qualification
- Minimum of a masters degree in a relevant subject (Sociology, Development Studies/Planning, Environmental Science, Social Science, Agriculture) with at least 9 years of relevant work experience (3 years of which must be in a project coordination role)
- Prior working experience and extensive knowledge of the cocoa sector in Ghana, specifically in designing and implementing projects or programs on living income, sustainability and Climate Finance
- Demonstrable experience in project management, fundraising, networking, access to finance for smallholder farmers, Climate Change, Gender and Youth Inclusion, M&E etc.
- Proficiency in MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
- Reporting
- The Programme Coordinator reports to the Coffee & Cocoa Programme Manager Ghana
How to apply
Interested candidates should send their CVs with three professional references, at least one of whom must be related to organizations that previously employed them, and a one page cover letter to: info.westafrica@rikolto.org not later than July 30 24, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. GMT, specifying the position and place of work.
WE ENCOURAGE APPLICATIONS FROM WOMEN FOR THIS POSITION.
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview.
