Mentorship – A Mentorship Program on Farmer-Herder Conflict
Oct 21, 2019
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Search for Common Ground
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Search secured a grant from Carnegie Corporation entitled “Amplifying the Expertise of African Peacebuilding Practitioners and Scholars”. This grant aims to increase knowledge-sharing between African peacebuilding scholars and practitioners with policy makers in the Global North. The overall goal of this project is to translate existing evidence from peacebuilding scholarship and practice into programmatic and policy influence, bringing credible, relevant, and timely insights to the pressing challenges facing Africa.
Forum on Farmer- Herder Relations in Nigeria
The Forum on Farmer-Herder Relations (FFARN) is the learning exchange platform of the project. It is a network of academics and practitioners from both governmental and non-governmental institutions. The purpose of the Forum is to bridge the gap between peace practitioners and researchers, share views and experiences and discuss the dynamics of farmer-herder relations with a view to seeking sustainable solutions. The Forum also examines areas of policy research, advocacy and mobilization and provides a platform for interdisciplinary exchange of ideas that generate evidence for multilevel policy influencing farmer-herder relations in Nigeria.
Summary of Mentee - Mentorship program
Search for Common Ground Nigeria pair exceptional Masters or PhD students with an expert mentor, to support the implementation of an original research project relating to farmer-herder conflict. Mentees will be placed with a mentor organization belonging to the FFARN, who will support the mentee in understanding the local dynamics and nuances of the conflict, share relevant experience and provide an opportunity for the mentee to have access to field work necessary to improve the quality and content of their academic research.
This is an opportunity for mentees to develop and deepen their individual academic area of expertise and pursue their own research with the support of experienced experts.
Preference will be given to students whose work is focused or closely related to the below thematic issues on farmer-herder conflict:
- Livelihood concerns in farmer-herder conflict
- Cross border dimension of the conflict, implication on and for the Sahel region
- Transhumance and ECOWAS Transhumance protocol
- Farmer-Herder conflict and the Governance of Rural Land and Water resources
- Identity concerns of farmer-herder
Applicants will be expected to propose a potential research topic, which will be finalized at the beginning of the program with input from Search and the mentor. At the end of this program, mentees will be expected to complete a research paper, which will be presented to the FFARN upon completion.
The program will build the students’ capacity in research methodology, writing, and data collection. The mentorship program is ideal for candidates seeking to deepen their field exposure as part of an ongoing academic research project, whether as part of a thesis, dissertation, or another form of research endeavor. Search will give preference to candidates that are able to devote up to 15 hours/week of their time to this program during the period of December 2019 - June 2020.
Budget and Logistics support
The mentee will receive a stipend to cover the cost of their time, paid in local currency. 50% will be paid at the beginning of the program and 50% upon conclusion. Search will cover the cost of mentee to participate in relevant capacity building workshops and meetings. The mentor organization will share experience with the mentee’s and support mentee to access field level information relevant to the research and development of the paper.
Major duties and responsibilities
Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:
- Work closely with the mentor and Search staff to develop an appropriate research topic and methodology.
- Work with Mentor and Search to develop a work plan for the mentorship period
- Conduct field research as necessary, working closely with the mentor and Search team.
- Produce a well researched paper on the pre- agreed topic
- Maintain regular contact with Mentor and Search team
- Perform other relevant tasks assigned by Mentor and Search.
Qualifications
Educational Background
- Current Masters or Doctorate student, with ongoing academic research focuses on Farmer-Herder relations/conflicts in Nigeria;
- University degree is required; University degree in international development, peace studies, social science , or related field is desired.
Experience
- Basic experience in field research, evaluation design, empirical and statistical analysis, and information management design is required;
Important Requirements
- Proficiency at using Microsoft Office software is required;
- Appreciable analytic, writing, and presentation skills;
- A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace;
- Ability to organize workflow around tight timeframes, handle multiple tasks, and be flexible with changing priorities;
- Attention to detail and ability to follow up on tasks to completion is required,
- Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
- Fluency at least one of the local languages spoken in the area of research interest is desired.
- Preference for applicants with the ability to work in the Middle Belt or Niger delta.
The mentee is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:
- Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Mentee should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Mentees should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.
- Competence: Mentees should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
- Honesty and integrity: Mentees should be transparent with any contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
- Respect for people: Mentees should respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Mentees have the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.
In addition, the mentee will respect SFCG’s evaluations standards, to be found in SFCG’s evaluation guidelines: https://www.sfcg.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SFCG-External-Evaluation-Guidelines-FINAL.pdf
Applications
Interested candidates are invited to send an application through our Career Portal.
- Current CV demonstrating relevant experience/ knowledge
- Evidence of studentship - Ongoing Masters or Doctorate
- Two references, one should be from the current school. Must be signed by referee.
- Title of the proposed paper and a 2-4 page proposal showing the scope, rationale, objectives, key questions and methodology
Submitted applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and selection made according to the following criteria:
- Current Academic research work is focused or closely related to the below thematic issues on farmer-herder conflict
- Mentee's availability and ability to work closely with the mentor and to devote up to 15 hours/week of their time to this program during the period of December 2019 - June 2020.
- Proposed research topic is substantially related to thematic issues on farmer-herder conflic
- Proficiency at using Microsoft Office software
* Please note that the system only has the functionality to upload two documents per application. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please. Please see our website: www.sfcg.orgfor full details of our work.