Economist, Resilience and Innovation for Dryland Systems

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit an Economist – Resilience and Innovation for Dryland Systems to support and lead a range of empirical research projects related to the economics of rural development, livelihood resilience, social protection and graduation, income generation, and access to markets and services.

ILRI works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries keep their farm animals’ alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases. www.ilri.org

ILRI is a not-for-profit institution with a staff of about 700 and in 2016, an operating budget of about USD 83 million. A member of the CGIAR Consortium working for a food-secure future, ILRI has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in other countries in East, West and Southern Africa and in South, Southeast and East Asia. www.cgiar.org

The Position

This position will be based within a team that is best known for designing, implementing, and assessing the impact of, and supporting the scale-up of index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) – a climate risk-management tool for pastoralists (extensive livestock keepers) first launched in East Africa (see https://ibli.ilri.org/ ).  While IBLI remains a key pillar of the team’s agenda, this position will contribute to expanding the research and development agenda into complementary activities aimed at understanding the key vulnerabilities faced by pastoral and agro-pastoral populations, identifying the suite of opportunities that would enhance their livelihoods and improve their capacity to manage risk, and designing and testing the relevant interventions.

The successful candidate will help to develop and launch a range of experiments aimed at, but not limited to the following; the impact of innovations related to IBLI adoption; the impact of social protection packages incorporating IBLI; interventions aimed at improving the delivery of services related to IBLI and other complementary products as well as improving the value-proposition of IBLI. The economist will also contribute to investigations into other technologies and innovations – such as those related to crowd sourcing and citizen science – that can offer efficiencies in the delivery of a range of information and services beneficial to pastoral and agro-pastoral populations. The audiences for the work are several: academic researchers, development practitioners and policymakers from global to local scale, and commercial players and other related intermediaries that can partner in testing project-identified innovations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute to the design and implementation of experiments and targeted surveys to generate relevant data for impact assessments, hypothesis-testing, participatory engagement, and other analysis required for supporting, refining or expanding the agenda.
• Lead and co-author papers for peer-reviewed publication and support the broader dissemination of the message through research and policy briefs and other outreach materials.
• Contribute to the development of successful grant proposals related to the team and broader program agenda.
• Contribute to strengthening existing partnerships and building new and innovative partnerships for research and development.
• Supervise research associates, external collaborators and PhD and MSc students as required and related to the broader agenda.
• Work with pastoralists, their representations and other key stakeholders to improve uptake of some of the technologies/innovations developed under this program.

 Requirements:

• A PhD in Agricultural Economics, Development Economics, Public Policy or any related field requiring a high degree of skill in quantitative analysis.
• 5 years of experience in a development research setting and experience conducting and using household surveys or randomized controlled trials among in rural areas of developing countries with drylands experience among pastoralist populations a plus.
• A record of publications that demonstrates strong analytical, empirical and writing skills and shows promise and high capacity, and experience in drafting grant proposals.
• Experience designing and researching financial products such as index-insurance for rural populations in developing countries
• Demonstrated ability to work both in a team environment and independently to accomplish required tasks while creating a high-quality and respectful work environment; be personable, flexible, possess excellent organizational and communication skills and take pride in their work.
• Proven experience in the use/adoption of ICT technologies for improving information collection/delivery in developing countries.
• Competency in a language widely spoken in Africa other than English is highly desirable.
• Willingness to travel throughout Africa.

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

Position level: The position level is 4C.

Duration: 3 years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and continued funding.

Benefits: ILRI offers a competitive salary and benefits package which includes 15% Pension, Medical insurance, Life insurance and allowances for: Education, Housing, Relocation, Home leave, Annual holiday entitlement of 30 days + public holidays.

How to apply: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development through our recruitment portal http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 14 July 2016. The position title and reference number E/IBLI/06/2016 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.

We thank all applicants for their interest in working for ILRI. Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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.