Postdoctoral Fellow – Participatory Action Research

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Postdoctoral Fellow to support the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) participatory research activities across East Africa, including coordination of the flagships research activities in the region with CGIAR centres.

ILRI works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, a global research partnership of 15 centres working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in East, West and Southern Africa and South, Southeast and East Asia. www.ilri.org.

CCAFS is a strategic collaboration between the CGIAR and Future Earth that seeks to promote a food-secure world through the provision of science-based efforts that support sustainable agriculture and enhance livelihoods while adapting to climate change and conserving natural resources. East Africa is one of five CCAFS implementing regions. The CCAFS East Africa Program is based at ILRI in Nairobi and the regional activities are carried out in 4 countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda).

Responsibilities:

• Collect, analyse and synthesize indigenous knowledge in agriculture for six CCAFS sites and integrate with scientific forecasting to improve their utility for farmer decision making;
• Test models of local adaptation planning that integrate new crop and livestock breeds and provide plausible scenarios for advancing these models for the national adaptation plans (NAPs) in East Africa;
• Lead and coordinate synthesis of gaps and lessons emerging from climate smart models for climate change adaptation in agriculture across East Africa;
• Conduct baseline surveys and impact assessment to demonstrate the value of climate smart interventions for rural communities in East Africa;
• Reporting, and documentation of PAR work, including guiding the review of PAR scientific reports, supporting scientific writing and publications from the PAR projects in peer reviewed journals;
• Engage research and development partners in developing innovative participatory action research (PAR) initiatives across the learning sites in East Africa, including management of contracts and grants for participatory research (PAR) projects;
• Support the coordination and implementation of CCAFS Flagship research projects led by CGIAR Centres and other scientists in East Africa;
• Contribute to fundraising for the regional program and specifically for expanding models of climate smart villages to landscapes in select districts and provinces across East Africa; and
• Representing the regional program in national, regional and international workshops and conferences, and contributing to other communication products for knowledge sharing.

Requirements:

• PhD in agricultural sciences, natural resources management, or related discipline;
• At least two years of experience in implementing participatory action research activities in developing countries;
• An understanding of smallholder farming systems in East Africa, climate related risks, and the role of research for development processes;
• Demonstrated strong analytical and excellent writing skills, and ability to publish in peer reviewed international journals;
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple tasks with diverse multidisciplinary and multicultural teams;
• Evidence of excellent communication skills, values information sharing; and
• A sense of creativity, and willingness to travel throughout East Africa.

Post location: The position is based at ILRI’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Position level:Post-doctoral Scientist (4A).

Duration: 2 years fixed term contract.

Terms of appointment: ILRI offers a competitive international remuneration and benefits package which includes: Medical insurance for staff and dependents, Life insurance, Education allowance for children, Housing allowance, Baggage allowance, Home leave, Annual holiday entitlement of 30 days+public holidays.

*Benefits are tax free subject to compliance with tax regulations of country of citizenship.

Applications:Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae: a list of publications and names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience should be included in the curriculum vitae. The position title and reference number: PDPAR/CCAFS/07/2014 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter.

All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com by 3 August 2014.

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.