Scientific officer

ICRISAT is recruiting a Scientific officer: Project site coordinator for the Innovation platform and Agronomic activities, to be based in Marara, Tete Province of Mozambique.

Project: Nudging Sustainability Transitions Using Innovation Platforms and Market-Oriented Development in Mozambique.

ICRISAT is a non-profit organization that helps empower poor people in the rural drylands of Africa and Asia to overcome poverty, hunger and malnutrition, through making agriculture profitable and sustainable. We achieve this through scientific advancements and working in partnership. ICRISAT, established in 1972 is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. For more details, see www.icrisat.org.
The International Crops Research Institute for the semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in partnership with the University of Natural Resources and Life Science, Vienna (BOKU) and the Mozambican Agricultural Research Institute (IIAM) are partnering in this project funded by Austrian Development Agency (ADA).
The project will further develop an Innovation Platform approach, with specific emphasis on facilitating transitions towards inclusive market-oriented development of smallholder mixed crop livestock systems in Tete province. It builds on the lessons in phase 1: Crop and livestock technologies and markets are available; market opportunities are great, but there are also enormous challenges that prevent communities from improving agricultural production and productivity and benefiting from the markets.

The MOREP II project aims to revitalize the Innovation Platform (IP) in Marara/ Tete as effective and functional instrument for driving inclusive market oriented development for smallholder farmers in Tete province. It has three objectives:

• To develop a functional IP that identifies, revises and tests multiple market opportunities (‘quick wins’, including food feed crops, soil and water conservation technologies) along pathways towards inclusive market access
• To develop a tool for group dynamics / learning interventions that enhance innovation, collaboration and market-orientation at multiple levels (local-provincial) and across stakeholders, including farmers, private sector, government support services and development communities
• To define institutions (e.g. structure, culture, practices) and assess changes in support of robust farmer-market linkages

The project site coordinator will be instrumental for all three project objectives: He will coordinate the operations by project partners on the ground, as well as the core IP activities, including the agronomic activities as one of the “quick wins”. The coordinator will be capacitated and mentored in facilitation and communication skills, for enhancing learning at and impact through the IP, and the partnerships that the IP will engage in. He will provide research support, notably on facilitation of the crop demonstrations and associated learning activities. He will continuously be responsible for data collection and documentation, for monitoring and evaluation of the IP in its context. This will contribute to:

• Strengthen relations and partnerships within the IP
• Build the capacity of the IP in terms of self-organization and interaction within its context
• Implementation and evaluation of crop technologies, including seed systems, variety selection, improved crop, soil and water management
• Develop strategies for promoting profitable, inclusive market access for farmers
• Document and analyze data, conversations and lessons learned throughout the project

Duties

• Brokerage of information, knowledge, contacts, initiatives, partnerships within the IP (farmers, private sector, government support services, development community) and with research partners
• Organize and facilitate capacity development of farmers and IP members on the ‘quick wins’ as prioritized by the IP, through regular field visits and per assignment as planned in the project
• Coordinate, implement and document multi-stakeholder meetings, coordinate visits of researchers and support data collection (secondary data, baseline and monitoring)
• Clear and timely communications that carry the momentum of activities and support instant learning and planning
• Documentation and report writing in English and Portuguese language
• Representation of the project at national meetings, as per request

Requisites

• BSc (Agricultural economics; rural sociology; communication sciences; development studies or related discipline). MSc would be an advantage
• Minimum 2 years of postgraduate experience in research and/or development
• Knowledge on smallholder crop livestock production, notably agronomic technologies and market development, collective action, institutional development, innovation systems, climate variability and change in the Mozambican drylands
• Practical experience in stakeholder engagement and value chain development would be advantageous.
• Since this position is key to support the implementation of Innovation Platforms, excellent communication and facilitation skills, strong ability in networking with multiple actors, are crucial
• Strong organizational skills, client orientation, and an ability to work effectively in multicultural and multidisciplinary teams
• Should be familiar with local language (preferred)
• Conversant with computers and related statistical software (SPSS, Excel, STATA, etc)
• Capable of working with limited supervision and self motivated

Benefits

• This is a Locally Recruited Staff (LRS) position with an attractive and competitive salary and benefits package payable in US dollars
• The position is initially for 33 months, and extendable depending on performance of the incumbent and funding availability
• The position will be based in Tete city and requires frequent traveling

Application

• Applicants should apply on or before 15 December, 2015, with a letter of motivation, latest Curriculum Vitae, and names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable of the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience
• All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted