Senior Research Associate (Agronomist)

Category: Research and Development

Location: Nairobi N/A Kenya

The Agronomist will provide expertise in the design and direct
implementation of a cost effective and sustainable sweetpotato seed system for
DDBIO in Kenya. He/she will contribute to efforts to ensure and assure
affordable, accessible and quality sweetpotato planting material needed to
scale up the orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) in Kenya. The successful
candidate will work closely with the DDBIO Kenya Team Leader, project
implementing partners, and with the CIP country and global teams.

Key responsibilities:

• Contribute
  to the design and direct the implementation of a sustainable sweetpotato seed
  systems strategy for DDBIO – Kenya that will assure quality and accessibility
  of sweetpotato planting material for production and commercialization of the
  sweetpotato value chain.
  
• Design
  and implement a working, cost-effective and timely planting material
  dissemination approaches and root production plans with partners to enhance
  OFSP production among households both for food and nutrition security as well
  as commercialization.
  
• Work
  and collaborate with national government partners (KALRO/KEPHIS) and other
  stakeholders to initiate, coordinate and manage the National Performance
  Evaluation (NPTs) and varietal release process for developing commercially
  viable OFSP varieties.
  
• Participate
  in the development and, where possible, delivery of appropriate training
  modules in priority topics such as production, agronomy, post-harvesting
  management etc. The training will target sweetpotato value chain actors
  including farmers, extension agents, aggregators, processors etc.
  
• Provide
  the technical expertise for private commercial partners and support their
  agronomist and extension staff to achieve the desired quality and quantity of
  raw materials for the successful puree processing business.
  
• Work
  with other stakeholders and colleagues to develop linkages and contribute to
  online platforms for exchange of information about OFSP for widespread
  adoption.
  
• Support
  and contribute to the OFSP awareness campaigns by providing required technical
  input for example through county forums trade fairs and field days.
  
• Contribute to the design and implementation of
  relevant field research on sweetpotato seed system and crop management
  practices to answer existing project research questions.
  
• Provide
  support to the DDBIO M&E processes by facilitating timely, accurate and
  routine data collection required for project reports.
  
• Any
  other duties as assigned by supervisor.
  

Requirements

• MSc in agronomy, breeding, crop science or a
  related field.
  
• Minimum of 6 years of experience working with public and/or
  private organizations in seed systems or agronomy.
  
• Experience
  working with sweet potato and/or other vegetative propagated crops.
  
• Experience
  in designing and conducting and analysis of on-farm agronomic experiments.
  
• Experience
  with participatory evaluation of new technologies, innovations with farmers.
  
• Experimental
  design, Implementation, data collection, analysis and writing of scientific
  papers.
  
• Advanced
  level of MS Office.
  
• Fluent
  in Kiswahili.
  
• Advanced
  oral communication and technical writing skills in English.
  

Details Apply Now