Tegemeo Institute of
Agricultural Policy and Development, is an Institute of Egerton University
mandated to conduct agricultural policy research and advocacy in Kenya and
beyond.
Job Title: Regional Coordinator ISSD Africa
Project Title: Piloting Phase for a Comprehensive
Programme on Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa
Project Period: November 2014 – August 2016
Location: ISSD Secretariat at Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and
Development, Egerton University, in Nairobi, Kenya
Piloting Phase ISSD
Africa:
A new initiative on Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD Africa) aims to
contribute to the development of a vibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented
seed sector in Africa for providing both female and male smallholder farmers
access to quality seed of superior varieties.
The Piloting Phase of ISSD Africa will explore ways to address themes defined by complex challenges that hamper seed sector development at local or national levels, but by their specific nature need to be tackled at the continental level.
These themes
include:
(1) Common challenges
to promoting entrepreneurship in seed value chains;
(2) Access to
varieties in the public domain;
(3) Matching global
commitments with national realities; and
(4) Supporting the
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the African
Seed and Biotechnology Programme (ASBP) and seed sector development.
The project will identify ways to effectively address the complex challenges incorporated in these themes, promoting an evidence-based approach to seed sector innovation.
Themes will be
addressed through action research, innovation trajectories, policy dialogues,
capacity strengthening, and joint learning among an African-wide network of
experts, seed programs and associated organizations.
In addition, the
project will support partners to understand and apply ISSD guiding principles
in their seed sector development strategies and programmes, therefore taking a
more comprehensive perspective towards addressing the diverse seed needs and
realities of farmers.
The Piloting Phase
will be coordinated by an African Executive Coordination Secretariat hosted at
Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, Egerton University,
in Nairobi, Kenya, in partnership with the Centre for Development Innovation
(CDI) and the Law and Governance Group (LAW) of Wageningen UR, the Royal
Tropical Institute (KIT) and Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC).
Thematic Working
Groups involving key African experts will work closely with National Partners
of associate programmes on local pilot projects.
The project is funded
by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Netherlands Government and
builds upon the partnership and experiences of two earlier phases of ISSD
Africa, as coordinated by CDI in collaboration with a broad range of
international partners, including KIT, FAC and LAW.
Purpose and Function of the Regional Coordinator: The Regional Coordinator will be a development practitioner or scientist who can lead a continental programme in the field of seed sector development, from a Secretariat located in Nairobi, Kenya.
Purpose and Function of the Regional Coordinator: The Regional Coordinator will be a development practitioner or scientist who can lead a continental programme in the field of seed sector development, from a Secretariat located in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Regional
Coordinator shall be able to coordinate collaboration processes at continental
and national levels, and will be assisted by a Network Facilitator to support
outreach, research uptake and policy engagement.
Roles and Responsibilities
In close collaboration
with the Wageningen based Project Leader, the Regional Coordinator will
coordinate the ISSD Africa project from the Executive Secretariat in
Nairobi.
This will involve:
- Strategically
guiding the project to achieve its objectives and expected outcomes;
- Closely
collaborating with the Executive Coordination team and Thematic Working
Groups in guiding National ISSD focal points, and National Partners in the
implementation of their activities;
- Raising
awareness among National Partners of the importance of the ISSD guiding
principles and strengthening their capacity to apply them effectively;
- Managing
and monitoring expenditures vs. budgets available for activities and
operations in Africa;
- Coordinating
and facilitating key ISSD Africa events;
- Representing
ISSD Africa in strategic Africa-based seed related initiatives and seed
policy dialogues.
- Coordinating
and contributing to the documentation of experiences and lessons learnt in
the process of addressing complex challenges;
- Contributing
to the overall monitoring and evaluation of the ISSD Africa project, as
well as the achievements of key milestones, as stated in the Results
Framework;
Required Background
- PhD
degree in a relevant field of sciences such as crop science, social
science or economics with an agricultural orientation, and development or
business orientation;
- A
minimum of 5 years of experience in research or development work, part of
this being in work related to seed sector development in Africa;
- Knowledgeable
of policy issues and understand how to translate research evidence into
policy;
- Experience
in the facilitation of partnerships with different type of stakeholder
groups (across different levels) and ability to design and facilitate
multi-stakeholder processes;
- Affinity
with capacity strengthening and facilitation of trainings and workshops;
- Excellent
verbal and written communication skills in English, including the ability
to present written document to a large audience;
- Working
knowledge of French and/or Portuguese is desirable
- Computer
literate, excellent in word processing, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and
internet use;
- Ability
to work in a intercultural and multi-disciplinary team, excellent
interpersonal skills, analytical and attentive to details;
- A
productive self-starter who can develop and innovative ideas and
translated these into concrete actions and project proposals;
- Willingness
to travel extensively in Africa, with occasional trips to Europe and the
USA.
The Position: A full-time position up to the end of the project based in
Nairobi, Kenya at the ISSD secretariat at Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural
Policy and Development, Egerton University expecting to start as soon as
possible. Gross annual salary ranges between 60,000 and 72,000 USD depending on
the relevant experience of the applicant.
Job title: Network Facilitator ISSD Africa
Project title: Piloting Phase for a Comprehensive Programme on
Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa
Project period: November 2014 – August 2016
Location: Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Research and
Development, Egerton University, in Nairobi, Kenya
Piloting Phase ISSD Africa: ISSD Africa aims to contribute to the development
of a vibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented seed sector in Africa for
providing both female and male smallholder farmers access to quality seed of
superior varieties.
The Piloting Phase of ISSD Africa
will explore ways to address themes defined by complex challenges that hamper
seed sector development at local or national levels, but by their specific
nature need to be tackled at the continental level.
These themes include:
(1) Common challenges to promoting
entrepreneurship in seed value chains;
(2) Access to varieties in the public
domain;
(3) Matching global commitments with
national realities; and
(4) Supporting the Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the African Seed and
Biotechnology Programme (ASBP) and seed sector development.
The project will identify ways to
effectively address the complex challenges incorporated in these themes,
promoting an evidence based approach to seed sector innovation.
Themes will be addressed through
action research, innovation trajectories, policy dialogues, capacity
strengthening, and joint learning among an African-wide network of experts,
seed programs and associated organizations.
In addition, the project supports
partners to understand and apply ISSD guiding principles in their seed sector
development strategies and programmes, therefore taking a more comprehensive
perspective towards addressing the diverse seed needs and realities of farmers.
The Piloting Phase will be
coordinated by an African Executive Coordination Secretariat hosted at Tegemeo
Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, Egerton University, in
Nairobi, Kenya, in partnership with the Centre for Development Innovation (CDI)
and the Law and Governance Group (LAW) of Wageningen UR, the Royal Tropical
Institute (KIT) and Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC).
Thematic Working Groups involving key
African experts will work closely with National Partners of associate
programmes on local pilot projects.
The Piloting Phase is funded by the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Netherlands Government and builds
upon the partnership and experiences of two earlier phases of ISSD Africa, as
coordinated by CDI in collaboration with a broad range of international
partners, including KIT, FAC and LAW.
Purpose and function of the Network
Facilitator: The Network Facilitator will be a
development practitioner who can support the Regional Coordinator in the
coordination of a continental programme in the field of seed sector development,
from a Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Network Facilitator will support
networking, communications, policy engagement and collaboration processes at
continental and national levels.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Network Facilitator will be responsible
for:
- Supporting the Regional Coordinator in the
overall coordination of the ISSD Africa project, from the Executive
Secretariat in Nairobi;
- Supporting the Regional Coordinator in
strategically guiding the project to achieve its objectives and expected
outcomes;
- Closely collaborate with the Executive
Coordination team, Thematic Working Groups, National ISSD Focal Points,
National Partners in the implementation of their activities;
- Supporting the project in the development and
implementation of a comprehensive Information, Communication and
Evaluation (ICE) strategy;
- Promoting and facilitating dialogue between
different Thematic Working Groups, National Partners and other
stakeholders;
- Supporting the documentation of experiences
and lessons learnt and sharing these in the ISSD Africa network;
- Facilitating the organization of ISSD Africa
events, including logistics and communications;
- Contributing to the overall monitoring and
evaluation of the ISSD Africa project, as well as the achievements of key
milestones as stated in the results framework.
Required Background
- Master’s degree in agriculture with
orientation on communications and networking;
- Desirably familiar with seed sector
development
- At least three years’ work experience in
network facilitation and communications;
- Experience in the facilitation of partnerships
with different type of stakeholder groups (across different levels) and
ability to facilitate multi-stakeholder processes;
- Ability to lead and facilitate dialogues and
knowledge sharing, both face to face and using web-based systems.
- Experience in the design and implementation of
a communication strategy;
- Experience in maintaining a website using a
content management system;
- Excellent verbal and written communication
skills in English, including the ability to present written documents to a
large audience;
- Working knowledge of French and/or Portuguese
is desirable;
- Excellent in word processing, MS Excel, MS
PowerPoint, internet use and social media use;
- Experience in image editing and Desk Top
Publishing is an added advantage;
- Ability to work in an intercultural and
multi-disciplinary team, excellent interpersonal skills, analytical and
attentive to details;
- Willingness to travel in Africa.
The Position: A full-time position up to the end of the project
based in Nairobi, Kenya at the ISSD secretariat at Tegemeo Institute of
Agricultural Policy and Development, Egerton University expecting to start as
soon as possible.
Gross annual salary ranges between
36,000 and 42,000 USD depending on the relevant experience of the applicant.
Expression of interest in the position: Interested persons should send their application letter, detailed CV and testimonials to the email address: vacancies2014-ISSD@tegemeo.org by 13 October 2014.
Expression of interest in the position: Interested persons should send their application letter, detailed CV and testimonials to the email address: vacancies2014-ISSD@tegemeo.org by 13 October 2014.
Please include the names and contact
details of at two professional references with your application.
We will be contacting the referees of
all short-listed candidates during the recruitment process.