The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) seeks to recruit a Research Project Coordinator - System Agronomist who will provide support to the Multifunctional Landscapes Lever of the Alliance in Ethiopia and beyond for the development of decision support tools, dashboards, and data analytics etc. components associated with various projects. She/he will also support various Alliance Ethiopia projects and national initiatives associated with data, analytics, DSSs and dissemination channels. She/he will be a member of the Alliance which is based at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Addis Ababa.
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) hereafter Alliance delivers research-based solutions that address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance focuses on the nexus of agriculture, nutrition and environment. We work with local, national, and multinational partners across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and with the public and private sectors and civil society. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people. The Alliance is organized into six key levers: 1) Food environment and consumer behavior - reshaping the food environment and consumer behavior toward healthy and sustainable diets; 2) Multifunctional landscapes - fostering innovation for environmental health and productive landscapes to improve livelihoods; 3) Climate action - mainstreaming climate action in the food system to reduce risks; 4) Biodiversity for food and agriculture - making agricultural and tree diversity available and safeguarding it for the diverse needs of food system actors; 5) Digital inclusion - promoting inclusion in the digital agriculture revolution for equitable benefits; and 6) Crops for nutrition and health - putting nutrition and health at the heart of crop improvement to address the triple burden of malnutrition. The candidate will provide technical support to the Multifunctional landscapes lever in Ethiopia, more specifically in the doman of farming system and sustainable intensification. The candidate will also support the implementation of agronomic solution to mixed farming systems of Ethiopia in particular and SSA in general. She/he will liaison with national and international partners to carry out participatory action research and development of frameworks to link farm and landscape processes as well as understand their interactions. She/he will also support efforts associated with establishment of agronomic research trials and development of fertilizer recommendation and disease surveillance works in Ethiopia. He/she will also provide mentorship and capacity building to the Alliance team, its PhD/MSc students and national partners.
Key duties and responsibilities:
The candidate will provide technical support in the design and development of agronomic solutions to mixed farming systems. She/he will specifically provide the following specific functions:
Develop agronomic solutions to promote sustainable intensification and diversification of mixed farming systems;
Provide scientific and technical input in analysing and synthesizing soils/agronomy and CSA best-bet technologies, tools, and approaches in Ethiopia and beyond;
Support modelling (crop, soil carbon, climate, hydrology, agronomy) activities by assuring that data is standardized to required specifications;
Design and develop framework and guideline to facilitate linking farm – landscape processes;
Assist in surveys, farmer-to-farmer exchange and study tours to facilitate widespread adoption of sustainable intensification technologies;
Carry out participatory action research in collaboration with other Alliance staff and partners in ongoing research-for-development programs for mixed farming systems;
Manage high-quality long-term trials to study topics such as cropping system productivity, soil quality, water and nutrient use efficiencies, and pest and disease dynamics;
Conduct data synthesis and analysis from large available datasets;
Develop and strengthen partnership between the various bureaus and regional agricultural research institutions to enhance coordinated effort towards co-developing inclusive and farmer tailored technologies, recommendations and agroadvisory services;
Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts of the Alliance and the CGIAR Research Programs through writing research proposals;
Build capacity in our partners, engaging with the University sector by co-supervising postgraduate students and creating harmonization with national and regional partners;
Work with the Alliance team and other project partners to develop location- and context-specific fertilizer recommendation for Ethiopia and devise ways and methods to scale to other countries;
Develop and deliver training curriculum for local researchers and extension educators and community leaders on managing agronomic research programs including promotion and research backstopping for the effective adoption of sustainable cropping systems;
Communicate research results to diverse audiences, including scientists, change agents, policy makers, the media, and farmers;
Publish major scientific findings in journals, book chapters, blogs and other communication outlets and support communication and compilation of knowledge through engaging experts and facilitating workshops.
Minimum Requirements:
Academic and professional qualifications:
Masters or PhD Degree in Systems Agronomy, Agronomy, Soil Science, Agroecology, Farming System or related field with substantive coursework in plant science, crop modeling.
In depth knowledge in a technical and specialized field of study.
Understanding of theoretical concepts/principles and their context.
Work Experience:
Masters degree with 9 years’ experience or PhD with 2 years’ experience or.
Experience with adapting agricultural practices to local biophysical and socio-economic conditions.
Considerable practical agricultural experience, including experience with on-farm research and farm equipment.
Understand farm/plot and landscape level processes, their interactions, feedbacks and emergent behavior to customize complementary technologies.
Significant expertise in planning and executing ISFM agronomic and CSA practices at farm and landscape scales.
Strong record of high-quality scientific publication and experience in translating research results into bulletins and training materials.
Ability to work in multi-cultural environments and in multi-disciplinary teams.
Significant expertise in R and related open-source programs to conduct data analytics and modelling to execute the above and other activities.
Excellent team player, self-motivated and independent problem solver.
Good communication skills and command of English.
Desirable criteria:
Knowledge of the context of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and agronomic knowledge of the major crops and cropping systems of Ethiopia and region.
Stand-out examples of demonstrated modelling skills, systems/tools, dashboards, and the likes using programming languages.
Demonstrated ability to write proposals and fund raise.
