The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Research Associate III – Plant Disease Management on behalf of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to Plan the implementation of experiment(s), survey(s) and other research studies related to the plant disease management and conduct them as specified / defined in the research outline

Purpose

• Help in generating data for distribution maps of plant diseases and responses of varieties being used by farmers in selected countries.
• Help develop and deploy extension material, tools and models to highlight the importance of prevailing rice diseases and their management
• Help increase awareness about plant diseases and its management options available at the moment through interaction with scientist, private sector and high-level officials, to pave the way for any policy adjustments or licensing
• Coordinate with collaborators on their research activities as required
• Plan the support/manpower needed and set up work schedule
• Prepare the material and equipment needed based on research outline provided
• Assist in applying methods/techniques that guarantee the success of the experiments

Engagement

• Oversee the work of research technician and/or contract workers to ensure that research activities are implemented according to plan and specific standards
• Coordinate with collaborating OUs the timely supply of material needed
• Contribute to the preservation of research areas and direct the maintenance of technical equipment (repair and replacement)

Delivery

• Collect and process data to its required form
• Identify inconsistencies in the data collection and/or missing information
• Carry out graphical and basic statistical data analysis
• Update database for storage and retrieval of information/data
• Provide appropriate data and information about experiment(s)
• Contribute to manuscripts/write —ups for annual reports and publications in referred journals as well as presentation/posters for national and international conference
• Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by supervisor from time to time

Requirements

• Bachelor in Agricultural Science or related field
• Minimum 5 years of experience in plant pathology, preferable skills in rice
• Bacterial blight and its risks and management, including host plant resistance, and extension to farmers on disease management, basic understanding of molecular tools used in breeding
• Familiar with research methodologies in plant pathology related extension
• Proven technical proficiency in conducting research experiments preferably in the field
• Strong analytical skills
• Basic understanding of genomic tools including MAB, genomic selection, and gene editing

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Research Officer II – Market Intelligence on behalf of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to support the team in implementing mixed methods approaches to generate and validate market and behavioral intelligence to inform the design of product profiles while engaging with multiple stakeholders

Purpose

• Support in identifying stakeholders’ current and future drivers of demand for crops, seeds and traits, and variation of demand according to gender, age and social groups, farmer types, agro-industry production requirements as well as consumer preferences
• Contribute in describing prioritized product market segments through reviewing and synthesizing sets of maps, articles and reports that describe prioritized market segments, to enable market intelligence for design of gender-intentional product profiles
• Support in characterizing varietal demand to enable market intelligence for design of seed system strategies. This will be through reviewing regional and crop specific bulletins, reports and articles on demand and supply for seed, among other methodologies

Engagement

• Contribute to collaborative engagement on methods and tool design to ensure comparability of results across crops and regions, not only in Africa but also globally
• Contribute to the strengthening the technical capacity of One CGIAR and its partners to use advanced tools and methods that convert global and regional challenges into regional impact opportunities for GI
• Support in initiating institutional change process by building regional, transdisciplinary CGIAR-NARES-SME teams
• Organize regular meetings with partners and stakeholders to discuss, streamline and implement activities
• Support in the development and communication of guidelines to internal and external stakeholders to bolster a collaborative implementation of AGGRi PO2 and MIPPI activities

Delivery

• Identify resource persons and ensure the logistics are appropriate for defined purposes and engagement tasks
• Support in the verification of suggested methodologies and activities as well as draft training materials using both primary and secondary data sources
• Establish and maintain strong communication with both AGGRi PO2 and MIPPI’s partners
• Implement activities geared towards common framework by the identification and description of product market segments, gender disaggregated assessment of needs and preferences for traits as well as prioritization of product market segments across regions and crops for scalability
• Provide inputs into activities geared to inform prioritization via foresight market intelligence analyses
• Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by supervisor from time to time

Requirements

• Master’s in social sciences, preferred disciplines include agricultural and resource economics, sociology, environmental geography, development studies, or any other discipline that provides suitable advanced knowledge
• At least five years progressive experience in agri-food systems research using mixed methods
• Demonstrated ability to perform in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment and team
• Excellent analytical, prioritization and organizational skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent verbal and written English language skills
• Experience in identifying, setting up and maintaining multi-stakeholder partnerships
• Experience working in developing countries in Africa and Asia