One Acre Fund Farmer Behavior & Extension Design Lead Jobs in Malawi
One Acre Fund Farmer Behavior & Extension Design Lead Jobs in Malawi;Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive.
Across nine countries, the organization provides high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a broad range of agricultural services that help farmers increase income, build assets, and strengthen resilience.
Founded in 2016, the Malawi program serves more than 670,000 farmers through the provision of agricultural inputs and training. The program is headquartered in Zomba and operates across Malawi’s southern region, which has the country’s highest concentration of smallholder farmers.
About the Role
The Agronomy & Extension Lead will oversee the implementation of Malawi’s extension strategy, using Human-Centred Design (HCD) and Social Behaviour Change (SBC) approaches to translate agronomic recommendations into practical and adoptable solutions for farmers.
The role will strengthen extension delivery systems, communication and training content, and continuously improve farmer adoption through data analysis and farmer feedback.
The successful candidate will collaborate closely with Field Operations and Innovations teams to transform validated research into scalable farmer-facing solutions.
Responsibilities
Own Malawi's Agronomy and Extension Strategy
Co-design and maintain a multi-year agronomy and extension strategy aligned with Malawi’s impact priorities and farmer needs.
Translate the strategy into annual OKRs, budgets, seasonal plans, and clearly defined ownership across teams.
Embed Extension in Field Operations Execution
Integrate agronomy and extension priorities into Field Operations seasonal calendars, training cascades, field tools, and performance management systems.
Strengthen the technical capabilities of Field Managers, Field Officers, and delivery partners through training-of-trainers, coaching, and practical support.
Create effective feedback and support mechanisms that provide field teams with timely technical guidance and enable the sharing of implementation challenges and farmer responses.
Own the Process of Qualitative Technical Agronomic Recommendations
Use Human-Centred Design, farmer feedback, and impact data to develop, test, and refine agronomic recommendations.
Collaborate with Innovations, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), and global technical teams to evaluate recommendations against local evidence, farmer realities, and government guidance before scaling.
Conduct formative research to understand farmer needs, behaviours, and barriers to adoption.
Design Farmer-Centered Extension and Behaviour-Change Interventions
Translate technical recommendations into simple, actionable, and memorable guidance for both field teams and farmers.
Develop extension approaches that effectively utilize group training, demonstration plots, coaching, and digital communication channels.
Design, test, and improve extension approaches and communication content using research findings.
Apply adult-learning principles, behaviour-change methodologies, and human-centred design approaches to improve adoption among diverse farmer groups.
Monitor Adoption, Learning and Impact
Analyse outcomes across farmer groups, locations, and delivery channels to identify opportunities for improvement.
Lead seasonal learning reviews and maintain comprehensive documentation of lessons learned and decisions regarding
continuation, adaptation, or discontinuation of interventions and crop offerings.
Build and Manage a High-Performing Team
Establish clear goals, responsibilities, and decision-making structures.
Hold team members accountable for timely and high-quality delivery.
Coach direct reports, strengthen technical expertise within the team, and support increased ownership and leadership development.
Career Growth and Development
One Acre Fund maintains a strong culture of continuous learning and invests heavily in staff development through:
Weekly check-ins with managers.
Mentorship opportunities.
Training and professional development programmes.
Regular performance feedback.
Career reviews every six months.
Opportunities to shape and contribute to the growth of the organization.
Qualifications
Technical Expertise
Bachelor's degree in Agronomy, Crop Science, Agricultural Systems, Agricultural Extension, Sociology, Anthropology, Design, or a related field.
Experience working in the agricultural sector, preferably with smallholder farmers.
At least five (5+) years of relevant professional experience in Agricultural Extension, Human-Centred Design, Social Behaviour Change Campaigns, or Rural Marketing.
Demonstrated experience developing, testing, or scaling agronomic recommendations or rural extension interventions.
Experience applying adult-learning methodologies, instructional design, SBCC approaches, or human-centred design is strongly preferred.
Core Skills
Strong technical judgement with the ability to assess agronomic evidence, identify limitations, and translate findings into responsible recommendations.
Farmer-centred design expertise with the ability to understand farmer constraints and develop effective interventions.
Strong analytical skills and ability to use qualitative and quantitative evidence for decision-making.
Advanced Excel skills; knowledge of R or Stata is an advantage.
Strong strategy development and project management skills.
Ability to manage multiple seasonal workstreams and maintain delivery against priorities.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to simplify complex technical concepts for diverse audiences.
Strong collaboration and influencing skills across multiple teams and stakeholders.
Demonstrated people leadership capability, including coaching, accountability, and team development.
Cultural Fit & Communication
Strong alignment with One Acre Fund’s core values: Farmers First, Work Hard, Grow Through Feedback, and Own Your Results.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
Strong data presentation and visual communication abilities.
Willingness to relocate and live in Malawi for at least two years as part of a long-term career pathway.
How to apply
For more information and job application details, see; One Acre Fund Farmer Behavior & Extension Design Lead Jobs in Malawi
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