The Organization
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.
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 in a climate crisis. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
About the position
The Alliance is seeking to employ an early-career researcher to strengthen our social science capacity in the Africa region. His/her research is expected to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the potential for improved forages to be adopted by farmers with different production objectives and of different resource endowment, age and gender. We expect the researcher to establish the most promising scaling pathways in different geographies and policy contexts and identify the overarching elements of these pathways across the region.
Responsibilities
• Review and summarise data and literature on forage piloting, adoption and scaling.
• In a participatory way, formulate a comprehensive theory of change, with impact pathways targeting different actors along the forage value chain (seed producers and
traders, different types of livestock keepers and feed producers, extension services,
development practitioners, policy actors).
• Design and implement a robust research framework to test scaling hypotheses and
assumptions along the different impact pathways.
• Monitor progress towards outcomes and impacts in different countries and
(iteratively) refine the theory of change.
• Draw general and country-specific gender-disaggregated lessons for future scaling
activities.
• Publish results for different audiences, e.g. as peer-reviewed articles, policy briefs,
factsheets, info notes, blogs.
Requirements
• Advanced degree in Anthropology, Agricultural Economics, Rural Development or
related field
• PhD or MSc with minimum 5 years post-MSc experience in related fields
• Thorough knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods in the area of
impact assessment and scaling
• Thorough knowledge of experimental design and modern statistical analysis
• Good understanding of smallholder farming systems in the tropics
• Excellent English communication skills, both written and oral, for diverse audiences,
knowledge of Swahili is an added advantage.
• Willingness to travel as needed
Terms of employment
This is a nationally recruited position based in Nairobi, Kenya or Kawanda, Uganda. The contract will be for a one-year period, subject to a probation period of three (3) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources. The Alliance offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits; we believe that the diversity of our staff contributes to excellence. The Alliance is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality.
How to apply:
Applicants are invited to visit http://ciat.cgiar.org/ciat-jobs to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number FR-2839- Postdoctoral Social Scientist as the position applied for. Applications should be saved as one document using the candidate’s lastname, firstname for ease of sorting.
The Alliance does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application,
interview meeting, processing or training). The Alliance also does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.
Applications closing date: 2nd April 2021
Please note that email applications will not be considered
Only short listed candidates will be contacted
