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.