Agricultural Sustainability Expert
- World Resources Institute (WRI)
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Job Description
Job Summary
WRI Africa is seeking a highly motivated, experienced, and visionary Agricultural Sustainability Expert. In this position, you will execute a project that aims at a broader, systemic shift toward the more widespread adoption of sustainable and regenerative agricultural technologies and practices that balance the economic, environmental, and social aspects of farming and create a resilient farming system in Ethiopia. This full-time, two-year position will be based at the WRI Africa office and include a secondment to the Ministry of Agriculture. You will provide technical support and establish deeper working relationships with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Transformation Agency, and associated regional and sub-regional institutions and platforms supporting the Agricultural Transformation Agenda in Ethiopia.
This position is remote due to Covid-19, but you will be based at WRI’s office in Addis Ababa once restrictions have lifted.
About Your Role: In this role, you will lead the day-to-day engagement of the Food and Land Use (FOLU) Coalition in Ethiopia with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Transformation Agency, and associated regional and sub-regional institutions and platforms (e.g., Value Chain Alliances, Transformation Councils) advancing agricultural commercialization within geographic clusters. You will contribute to a new project that aims at finding a path toward sustainable agricultural commercialization in Ethiopia. Your skills will be essential in identifying them and finding innovations that support their broad, widespread use. Especially relevant will be practical solutions that result in inclusive and sustainable agricultural value chains, nutrition-sensitive and regenerative agricultural production, and productive and resilient rural landscapes. You will be responsible for establishing an action coalition, contributing to and overseeing the compilation of scientific and economic evidence, organizing learning events with stakeholders, preparing a roadmap to scale up promising interventions, and building support for them among policymakers and other decision-makers.
This is full-time 2-year position and will include a secondment to the Ministry of Agriculture (subject to finalizing agreed upon terms of reference and schedule). You will be a member of the FOLU team at WRI’s Addis Ababa office and work closely with FOLU colleagues in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Job Responsibilities
- Produce a summary document presenting the vision and process for the proposed work, highlighting the current situation (e.g., stakeholders, barriers), and outlining a set of objectives and outputs
- Commit a core group of institutions to form an action coalition to put Ethiopia on a path toward sustainable and regenerative agricultural commercialization and manage coalition members’ engagement and contributions
- Coordinate and oversee the compilation of evidence of good practices and promising interventions toward achieving three long-term goals (i. agricultural value chains are inclusive and sustainable; ii. agricultural production is nutrition-sensitive and regenerative; iii. rural landscapes are productive and resilient). With the help of short-term consultants, search for best-in-class examples in Ethiopia and other countries with experience of clustering smallholder farmers to boost productivity and experience in advancing sustainable and regenerative technologies and practices and associated institutional arrangements and policies
- Identify opportunities for knowledge and practice exchange between Ethiopia and India (a project partner country with a similar effort)
- Organize learning events in Ethiopia where stakeholders will identify suitable models of sustainable commercialization based on the compiled evidence. Convince key stakeholders to agree upon demonstration sites in which to test a set of sustainable and regenerative agricultural technologies and practices
- Lead and contribute to the content of a roadmap to scale up sustainable and regenerative agricultural commercialization in Ethiopia (to be implemented in a second phase). The roadmap will outline further testing and validation of the proposed practices in the selected demonstration sites and a set of activities to deploy these practices in other geographies with the help of existing platforms and innovative policy and financial support
- Convince senior policymakers and other decision-makers including value chain and civil society actors to endorse this roadmap through presentations and other outreach
- Support the preparation of donor reports, management of contractual agreements with consultants and partners in line with WRI rules and regulations, and proposal and development efforts
Job Qualifications
- Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in agricultural and life sciences, agroecology, sustainable agriculture, environmental sciences, agricultural economics, or related fields
- Minimum of 10 years of professional experience in implementing cooperation programs on sustainable agricultural development and in support of public sector institutions
- Demonstrated experience of working across different directorates within the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and associated federal and regional institutions and platforms
- Practical experience of organizing learning events and overcoming skepticism by farmer groups, policymakers, and other decisionmakers to test innovative technologies, practices, and policies
- Demonstrated ability to develop and manage a coalition of partners from government, private sector, and civil society
- Excellent writing skills, ability to synthesize and present complex information in a clear and concise manner, and direct experience of strengthening consultants’ contributions toward high-quality research outputs
- Exceptionally good communication and interpersonal skills including sound strategic and political judgements
- Strong project management skills, commitment to deliver on deadlines, and demonstrated ability to work independently as well as part of an interdisciplinary team
- High motivation to work on transformational changes in Ethiopia’s agricultural sector including increasing efficiency of conventional farming practices, introducing alternative, economically viable regenerative technologies and practices, and exploring opportunities for systemic changes that establish new connections between agricultural producers and consumers and reflect agroecological principles
- Prior experience of working in the international NGO sector is essential
Preferred Qualifications
Practical experience in one or more of the following areas would greatly strengthen your candidacy:
- Ensuring greater participation of women and youth along agricultural value chains
- Enhancing soil health and fertility and responsible water use
- Applying safe and balanced approaches of pest management and crop protection
- Stimulating best practices to ensure crop diversification within agricultural programs
- Integrating soil, water, and nutrient management practices and other regenerative practices for a set of multiple crops within a geographic area and group of farmers
- Advancing nutrition-sensitive value chains and associated nutrition support to farming households
- Overcoming institutional and policy barriers constraining the advancement of inclusiveness and sustainable resource use in Ethiopia’s agricultural sector.
How to Apply
Please submit a resume with cover letter. Applicants mustapply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered
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