Steady Sifana

• Planning, leading and coordinating production of 600 ha cassava And 20 ha vegetables comprising 5ha tomatoes, 5 ha habanero pepper, 5 ha bell pepper and 5 ha cabbages.
• Managed 2000 cassava outgrowers and 100 vegetable outgrowers
• Established positive and effective communication among unit staff and organization leadership, reducing miscommunications, and missed deadlines.
• Introduced planting, weed control and new methods, practices, and systems to reduce turnaround time.
• Led hiring, onboarding and training of new hires to fulfill business requirements.
• Set, enforced, and optimized internal policies to maintain responsiveness to demands.
• Increased profit by streamlining operations.
• Developed systems and procedures to improve operational quality and team efficiency.
• Supervised operations staff and kept employees compliant with company policies and procedures.
• Analyzed and reported on key cassava and vegetable production performance metrics to senior management.
• Directed initiatives to improve work environment, company culture or overall business strategy.
• Assisted in recruiting, hiring and training of team members.

Setting up a $1 million styrofoam factory for the annual production of 100000 float trays.

Conducted the sales and marketing of 100000 trays, 720000 x 60l bags of seedlings growing media.

Recruited and managed1500 tobacco growers

Measured and Monitored performance against a budget of USD 1.1 million.

Achieved 50% sales growth in 2019

• Strategic planning
• Introduced new farming methods (centre pivot irrigation), Good agricultural practices, and systems to reduce tillage losses, maximise yields and minimise costs.
• Maximized efficiency by coaching and mentoring personnel on farm management principles, industry practices, company procedures, and technology systems.
• Developed and maintained relationships with customers and suppliers through account development and rapport building under the Vegetable Contract scheme.
• Calendared vegetables production for dehydration factory intake

• Provided guidance and recommendations regarding vegetable planting and cultivation methods.
• Served as bridge between sales, agronomics, data and technology to increase grower's ROI.
• Developed training schedules, plan and curriculum to educate retail staff on supply and demand of fruits and vegetables.
• Coordinated and synchronized agronomists from outside vendors to enhance team resources.
• Built product and market knowledge to add understanding and credibility.
• Advised fruit and vegetable growers on ways to best use land and most advantageous crops to grow.
• Maintained complete documentation and records of all fruit and vegetable procurement activities.
• Built long-term supplier relationships with vendors to establish quality and competitive pricing.
• Developed cost-effective purchasing strategies to maintain warehouse stock at optimum inventory levels and improve operational procedures.
• Collaborated with internal departments to better understand wholesale and retail needs and determine purchasing requirements.
• Prepared detailed reports to highlight inventory levels, purchase orders and discrepancies.
• Forecasted purchasing trends and improved merchandising strategies.
• Provided clerks with information to print on price tags such as price, mark-ups or mark-downs.
• Researched and identified new suppliers and vendors.
• Developed and managed budgets for purchasing and projected purchasing needs.
• Communicated with suppliers to negotiate best pricing on fruits and vegetables.
• Supervised fertilizer and pesticide applications.
• Trained and instructed staff on products and agronomic principles.

Production of

• Scheduled weekly section meetings to review emerging challenges, identify opportunities and recognize high-performing employees.
• Identified crop production KPIs and created measurement mechanism to track operations efficiency.
• Executed quality assurance audits (EureGap) and addressed non-complying issues to improve section performance.
• Delivered weekly project updates to management to enhance farm productivity and promote improved farm projects performance.
• Monitored horticultural crop production schedules and made adjustments to achieve compliance with preset export timelines.
• Developed production schedules to maintain sufficient shift coverage.
• Monitored production targets to meet company and customer demands.
• Oversaw horticultural crop production projects, equipment, machinery and manpower needs to properly allocate resources and training.
• Conducted annual employee performance reviews to recognize achievements and identify areas needing improvement.

• Used variety of learning modalities and support materials to facilitate learning process and accentuate presentations.
• Evaluated and revised lecture plans and course content to achieve student-centered learning.
• Conducted individual research projects to actively contribute to institution's research work.
• Participated and led committee meetings to remain aware of developments in crop production and genetics courses.
• Collaborated with departmental staff to create meaningful learning experiences.
• Selected and designed lecture plans and curriculum to meet academic objectives.
• Mentored and advised students to explore career pathways based and amplify knowledge, skills and strengths.
• Created and designed quizzes, tests and projects to assess student knowledge.
• Arranged course outlines, developed schedule, and determined reading list for varied courses simultaneously, giving students appropriate time to complete assignments and absorb information.
• Led seminars and workshops to facilitate student learning and engagement and increase memory retention.
• Developed semester outlines and instructional plans for each class session to comply with stated course objectives.
• Graded quizzes, tests, homework, and projects to provide students with timely academic progress information and feedback.
• Assessed students' progress and provided feedback to enhance learning.
• Evaluated and supervised student activities and performance levels to provide reports on academic progress.
• Created materials and exercises to illustrate application of course concepts.
• Built strong rapport with students through class discussions and academic advisement.