Farming Systems Specialist for the USAID Funded Africa RISING West Africa (WA) Project

Dec 5, 2016 | International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
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The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA 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.

Background:

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) invites applications for the internationally recruited position of Farming Systems Specialist for the USAID funded Africa RISING West Africa (WA) Project.  

Position Responsibilities

The position of Farming Systems Specialist is needed to provide technical leadership and guidance in the conceptualization, design and implementation of farming systems research, with multiple partners cutting across the Africa RISING intervention countries Ghana and Mali. Reporting to the R4D Director for West Africa and the Project Manager, the Farming Systems Specialist leads efforts that ensure the implementation of integrated farming systems research within the Africa RISING WA project. The tasks will include the following:

  • Implement farming systems research with a specific focus on systems redesign for sustainable intensification outcomes, building on available/ongoing systems analyses and through integration of farmer segmentation, and integration and combination of existing research findings.
  • Apply and disseminate the use of systems analysis tools such as farm and household models, typologies, fuzzy cognitive mapping, serious games, etc.
  • Lead the meta-analysis of impacts of sustainable intensification technologies and practices at the whole farm and household levels 
  • Communicate integrated research findings to farm households and other relevant stakeholders, and opinions of these stakeholders to guide further research efforts.
  • Embed lessons from farming system analysis (including results from trade-off analyses, farmer typologies, etc.) and redesign into partner-led dissemination efforts, based on products developed by Africa RISING.
  • Prepare technical materials to make principles and practices of sustainable intensification more accessible and participate in training of diverse users on research tools and results.
  • Engage and supervise graduate students in the field of farming systems research. 
  • Author and publish articles in peer-reviewed international journals.
  • Contribute to resource mobilization.
  • Advise the Chief Scientist in planning and design of the research implemented by different disciplinary scientists from different institutions to ensure complementarity and synergy of research outputs in view of whole farm sustainable intensification, e.g. through advise on design of scientific protocols, data collection and analysis.

Educational Qualifications

  • The candidate should have a PhD degree in a relevant field in agriculture or natural resources management (agronomy, ecology, livestock systems, agroforestry, farming systems research, etc.

Core Competencies:

  • Substantive experience, exceeding 6 years post PhD experience, at an international level in institutions (CGIAR, IARCs, universities, or other research for development [R4D] related organizations) in the area of integrated agricultural research, NRM and farming systems research.
  • Experience in studies and quantitative analyses of farming systems to address in integrated manner productivity, NRM and market constraints experienced by farm households.
  • Strong interdisciplinary skills and the capacity to integrate participatory and field-based methods with advanced systems modeling, geographic information systems and team-based approaches to sustainable development.
  • Strong knowledge of and experience with participatory research and a commitment to action based research for delivering development outcomes.
  • Strong statistical knowledge and substantive experience in the use of statistical software packages and GIS.  A track record of scientific achievement in the design and implementation of research projects and a demonstrated publication record in relevant fields. 
  • Excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills.
  • Ability to effectively interact with people at all levels and to work effectively in a multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional environment.
  • Excellent communication skills in verbal and written English; working knowledge of French is an advantage.

Duty station: Tamale, Ghana

General information: The contract will be for a period of three years based on performance and availability of funding.

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 of Human Resources. Please complete our online application form using this link: http://www.iita.org/careers Closing Date: 12th December 2016