Research Officer III - Socioeconomics - Internal/External at International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Research Officer III - Socioeconomics - Internal/External

Employer: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Employment: Full-Time | Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa, Addis Abeba - Ethiopia

Salary: Birr 71,122 per month

Posted date: 3 days ago

Deadline: February, 05/2025 (2 days left)

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) seeks to hire a Research Officer III in agricultural economics who can work on a wide range of topics, with a particular emphasis on agronomy, fertilizer, climate-smart innovations, and agro-advisories. The candidate should be experienced in innovation scaling with strong partnership engagement at different levels national, regional, and local scales, and responsible for overseeing projects from conception and design through implementation, monitoring, and impact measures to deploy scalable solutions. The ideal candidate will also be able to carry out and supervise the piloting and scaling of various agronomy and soil-related solutions. Overall, we are seeking a highly motivated and skilled candidate who can contribute to our mission of deploying innovative solutions for sustainable farming systems and landscape management.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an International organization, one of the 15 CGIAR centres, which conducts agricultural research for rural development in drought-prone Africa and Asia, headquartered in Patancheru (Hyderabad, Telangana, India) with several regional centres (Bamako (Mali), Nairobi (Kenya)) and country offices, including in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ICRISAT adopts integrated genetic and natural resources management as its overarching research strategy to improve productivity and enhance the resilience of dryland systems. ICRISAT-Ethiopia works with national partners on availing technologies to dry land farmers and agro-pastoralists, enhancing technology utilization, linking farmers to markets, and strengthening the national capacity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leading project activities on agronomy, soil health, fertilizer, and climate-smart innovation piloting and scaling;
• Coordinating partnerships and co-designing agronomic, soil health, fertilizer and landscape solutions with national partners and stakeholders;
• Identifying scalable technologies and evaluating their readiness for implementation/scaling, targeting specific impact goals;
• Facilitating the scaling partners' network platforms for wider dissemination of the agronomy, soil health, and fertilizer agro-advisories and innovations;
• Preparing survey tools and identifying enumerators, organizing training for data collectors and supervising the overall data collection process;
• Identifying, building, and managing new partnerships in new geographies and communities;
• Providing leadership, monitoring progress, and ensuring stakeholder expectations are managed for project deliverables;
• Assessing and identifying the specific demand for impactful technologies and strategies from the country and local partners;
• Providing capacity building of stakeholders, extension agents, and farmers to increase the expansion of ICRISAT innovations;
• Conducting annual MEL activities to gather feedback evaluations and learnings for adaptive management of the innovation scaling;
• Engaging in impact monitoring and evaluation activities;
• Producing knowledge products, specifically communication materials, policy briefs, and piloting and scaling guidelines;
• Collecting and analyzing farm typology, farming system and baseline data to tailor agro advisories for the specific needs of farmers;
• Collecting qualitative and quantitative data and conducting financial and sustainability analysis for digital agro-advisory business models;
• Collaborating with other ICRISAT teams and partners to prepare scientific publications.

Minimum Requirements:

Education:

• Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Natural Resources Economics, Agricultural value chains, or similar fields

Experience:

• At least seven years of relevant work experience, preferably in areas such as technology demonstrations and dissemination, scaling of agricultural technologies, agro advisories, and other complementary innovations,
• Experience in innovation scaling, partnerships and establishing partnership platforms
• Proven experience working with regional, national, and international stakeholders
• Proven communication network with wider scaling partners at local, regional, and national levels

Skills:

• Ability to operate digital data collection tools (e.g. ODK, kobo toolbox)
• Facilitate and manage social media community of practices
• Design MELIA data collection frameworks and analysis of feedback
• Facilitate planning of scaling partners’ network
• Skill in statistical data analysis tools
• Skill in team management and solving problems

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Grade: HG 15

Base Salary: Birr 71,122 per month

Terms of appointment: This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, initial appointment is for two years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. The ILRI/ICRISAT remuneration package for nationally recruited staff in Ethiopia includes very competitive salaries and benefits such as life and medical insurance, offshore pension plan, etc. The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus with dining and sports facilities.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae; names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to be included in the curriculum vitae. The position and reference number: RO/ICRISAT/01/25 should be indicated in the subject line of the cover letter.