The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Research Associate II to perform two household surveys looking for climate-smart manure management systems in cattle, sheep and goat production systems in the Amhara region, Ethiopia. The research assistant position will be part of the Programme for Climate-Smart Livestock (PCSL), which aims to ensure that key actors in the livestock sector increasingly include climate change adaptation and mitigation in their farming practices, sector strategies and investment projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.  She/he will be a member of Sustainable Livestock Systems program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

General: The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR research centers dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. www.ilri.org.
Job Purpose:

The aim of the position is to conduct two household surveys in Ethiopia to (i) identify and characterize existing manure management systems, (ii) calculate GHG emission factors from these local management systems, and (iii) identify best-bet options for “climate-smart” manure management systems. “Climate-smart” manure management in this context is meant to describe systems that are a) environmentally friendly, i.e. by reducing nutrient leaching and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manure, b) ensuring nutrient preservation within the manure to maintain a high manure fertilizer value, and c) increasing adaptation potential of farmers to climate change.

The Research Associate II will directly contribute to Work Package A1 “Setting up GHG emission baselines and performance indicators for adaptation interventions” of the PCSL project. This work package aims particularly at generating accurate Tier 2 GHG emission baselines for livestock systems, which are necessary as a first step towards establishing and evaluating mitigation options from livestock production, while also enhancing the productivity and sustainability of smallholder livestock systems. She/he will contribute to this by undertaking the following research activities:

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Conducts an adapted version of the Rural Household Multi Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) to characterize smallholder farming systems (e.g. household size, livestock feeding strategies, economics, …) in the Amhara region;
• Helps to adapt and then conduct an already existing household survey on livestock manure management systems, which was originally developed for a previous project, in the Amhara region;
• Collates and analyzes the collected data under supervision of ILRI supervisors and organizes them in a survey database;
• Calculates CH4 and N2O emission factors from local manure management practices in the region;
• Identifies “climate-smart” manure management options by identifying challenges and possible strategies for sustainable improvement of manure management;
• Prepares a final report summarizing the findings.

Academic and professional qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelors’ degree in Agriculture, Agronomy, Land Use and Land Management, Environmental Resource Management, Ecology or related field
• Knowledge in relevant field and relevant technical training
•  

Experience:

• BSc degree with 2 years of relevant work experience
• Diploma with 4 years of relevant work experience.

Skills:

• Knowledge of and experience working with livestock farming systems in Ethiopia;
• Good knowledge of processes leading to GHG emissions from soils and manure and understand their drivers and constraints;
• Reliable, diligent, flexible and able to work independently if required;
• Has experience working with the Open Data Kit (ODK) for household surveys;
• Familiar with statistical software such as SPSS and R;

Has in-depth knowledge of Microsoft Excel for data entry and know common practices of data quality control and data quality assurance;

• Exhibit good written and spoken English and Amharic;
• Can effectively communicate in a multicultural context and present findings to diverse audiences;
• Will be able to integrate into an international interdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners and be able to collaborate with natural and social scientists in a multidisciplinary project. 

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Grade: HG 11

Minimum Base Salary: Birr 14,416 (Negotiable, depending on salary history of the candidate)

Terms of appointment:  This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, initial appointment is for one year with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. The ILRI remuneration package for nationally recruited staff in Ethiopia includes very competitive salary and benefits such as life and medical insurance, offshore pension plan, etc.

The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus with dining and sports facilities that are located on site.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae; names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to be included in the curriculum vitae. The position and reference number: REF: RA/55/2019 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter. All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 18 November 2019.

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org

Suitably qualified women are particularly encouraged to apply.