The position: 

The World Vegetable Centre (WorldVeg) seeks to hire a Socio Economist - Research Officer III for the Veggies 4 Planet & People Project in Ethiopia.

General:

The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) is a non-profit, autonomous international agricultural research center with headquarters in Taiwan and five regional offices around the globe. WorldVeg conducts research and development programs that contribute to realize the potential of vegetables for healthier lives and more resilient livelihoods. For more information, please visit our website: worldveg.org.

Main Responsibilities:

• Leads a participatory appraisal of existing vegetable business networks in different parts of the country;
• Conducts baseline, mid-term, and end line evaluation studies of the project, using both quantitative and qualitative methods;
• Facilitation of participatory monitoring and evaluation processes of vegetable business networks using regenerative agricultural technologies, post-harvest practices, and circular agri-business practices;
• Monitoring and evaluation of vegetable seed supply systems in liaison with private seed companies.
• Carries out profitability studies of vegetable production and vegetable businesses;
• In liaison with stakeholders, colleagues and partners, promotes innovations and processes that improve efficiencies in the vegetable value chains;
• Promotes youth and gender empowerment in vegetable business networks through implementing partners;
• Documents evidence and lessons learned into high quality documents or media for dissemination;
• Liaises with Media Officer in Arusha and media partners to influence behavioral change of producers towards adoption of generative technologies and circular agri-business practices;
• Interacts with policy makers and produces research briefs to influence policy towards a more enabling environment for vegetable business networks and sustainable agricultural practices;
• Technical progress and other evaluation reports of grammatically correct and scientific standards;
• Facilitates partner meetings and learning events;
• Perform any other duties assigned by the Principal Investigator.

Minimum Requirements:

Education:

• Master’s degree in agri-business, socio-economics, or other related sciences.
• Broad / specialized knowledge of methods, techniques and processes

Experience:

• At least seven years’ of relevant experience in an international non-governmental organization (NGO) or company. 

Skills:

• Proven experience in participatory appraisals, qualitative and quantitative evaluation studies, baseline studies, and impact assessments
• Proven ability to extract evidence and lessons learned from evaluation exercises and turn these into high quality documents for dissemination
• Proven experience in profitability studies
• Affinity with youth and women empowerment approaches, and planetary health
• Experience in policy dialogues, advocacy, and media use is an advantage
• Experience with the commercial seed sector or research on seed systems is an advantage
• Excellent computer skills in MS‐office applications (Word, Excel, Power point)
• Team player with excellent communication skills in spoken and written English
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to interact with partners and colleagues in a multi-cultural setting.

Duty Station:  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Position level:   HG 15

Minimum Base salary:                  

•  Birr 41,572 per month (Negotiable depending salary history of the candidate)

Terms of appointment: This is a National Staff (NS) position, initial appointment is for one year with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. WorldVeg offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits in line with ILRI salary applicable for its National Staff. WorldVeg is an international and equal opportunity organization and believes that diversity of its staff contributes to excellence. 

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter, a detailed curriculum vitae including names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees and a letter providing a point by point response to the essential and desirable person specifications. The position and reference number: SER/24/20 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 23 October 2020.