Job
Opportunity at IITA, Economist, Africa Rising-ESA Project
Economist,
Africa RISING – ESA Project (Ref: DDG-R4D/AR/ESA/08/18)
Background:
IITA seeks a qualified Agricultural/Development/Institutional Economist for the
Africa RISING East and Southern Africa project
(https://africa-rising.net/where-wework/east-and-southern-africa/). He/she
should have a solid profile in economic and scientific research methods and
concepts, and a clear vision on addressing current and future challenges for
smallholder agricultural production to mitigate hunger and poverty from a
sustainability viewpoint.
IITA
is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for
hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research-for-development
(R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA
works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer
and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit
organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees.
IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam,
cassava, and maize.
It
is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food
secure future. Please visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information on IITA.
The
successful candidate is expected to work closely with the project’s Chief
Scientist and a team of multi-discipline researchers and development partners
who are committed to meeting the project’s goal of providing pathways out
hunger and poverty by offering demand-driven, locally tailored, resource-saving
innovations for sustainable intensification that improve household welfare and,
at the same time, enhance sustainability. He/she is expected to develop, and
conduct activities aimed at evaluating the profitability, sustainability and
adoptability of technologies and packages validated and demonstrated in the
project areas by the project’s implementing partners.
Position
Responsibilities:
Specific
tasks:
Contribute
to multidisciplinary research design, development and implementation of
activities aimed at evaluating/validating technologies and technology packages
for sustainable intensification agricultural systems in the project sites and
beyond.
Give
direction and leadership to project team members on the importance of inclusive
socioeconomic research components in integrated agricultural systems research.
Analyze how proposed agricultural technologies fit into farm households’
current conditions for sustainability (labor requirements, timing of labor
requirements, social acceptability, gender, cash requirements etc.).
Develop
multi-criteria decision support tools and databases for better targeting and
greater impact of project interventions.
Evaluate
the economic profitability, environment benefits and social acceptability of
alternative technologies or options addressing challenges identified through
co-learning (R-in-D).
Conduct
ex-ante impact assessment of selected technologies on the project’s five
sustainability domains for prioritization and scaling up of project
interventions.
Undertake
economic and social impact assessment of individual interventions or treatments
from plot to farm (household) and landscape (community) scales.
Conduct
selected adoption studies of the project’s technologies and technology packages
to measure uptake and benefits in project sites.
Collaborate
with the project’s M&E specialist to produce and ensure availability of
information on key indicators of success of the project, especially Feed the
Future and sustainable intensification indicators.
Contribute
to overall Africa RISING program impact assessment.
Publish
research findings and contribute to dissemination of research results and
development outcomes to stakeholders.
Maintain
regular communication with Africa RISING scientists in the intervention
countries.
Mentor
and supervise project socio-economic research associates, field technicians,
interns and postgraduate students.
Become
an active member of IITA’s social science group and contribute to efforts aimed
at defining and implementing IITA’s social science research agenda.
Contribute
to resource mobilization.
Carry
out any other assignment given by your supervisors.
Educational
Qualifications
The
candidate should have a PhD in the field of agricultural, development or
institutional economics from a highly recognized university with five years of
postgraduate experience in an international setting.
Core
Competencies
Good
knowledge of New Institutional Economics approaches for inclusion in farming
systems research.
Competence
in the development of socio-economic survey tools and their application in the
collection of farm and field data in smallholder agricultural systems
Competence
in the multi-criteria statistical analysis of the farm and field data for the
assessment of effects and trade-offs in the agricultural intensification
domains, and a strong commitment to relating the outputs to societal goals.
Experience
with developing simulation or optimisation models for agricultural
intensification.
Strong
knowledge and experience with economic evaluation of agricultural technologies
Ability
to work in a team with people from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines,
and a flexible, positive, and problem-solving attitude.
Proven
publication record in international journals.
Experience
with the development and writing of research proposals for support from
different donor agencies.
Excellent
communication and presentation skills in English.
Knowledge
of agricultural systems in East and Southern Africa is desirable.
Duty
station: Arusha, Tanzania
General
information: The contract will be for an initial period of three years.
IITA
offers internationally competitive remuneration package paid in U.S. Dollars.
Applications:
Applications
must include covering letter which should address how the candidate’s
background/experience relates to the specific duties of the position applied
for, curriculum vitae, names and addresses of three professional referees
(which must include either the Head of the applicant’s current or previous
organization or applicant’s direct Supervisor/Superior at his/her present or
former place of work). The application should be addressed to the Head, Human
Resources Service. Please complete our online application form using this link:
http://www.iita.org/careers
Closing
Date: 6th September 2018 IITA is an equal opportunity employer and particularly
welcomes applications from women candidates Please note that only shortlisted
candidates will be contacted.
Source:
The Guardian 29 August, 2018
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