Post-Doctoral Fellow- Systems Agronomist at CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International)

THE ROLE:

Oversee the successful implementation of PlantwisePlus activities in particular those aimed at enabling farmers to meet production standards, in order to ensure production and supply of safer food for domestic markets.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Undertake market assessments to identify appropriate agricultural value chains for applying existing or developing new voluntary production standards for local niche markets;
• Undertake farmer group study to identify farmer groups for participation in voluntary production standards, discuss objectives and partnership agreements;
• Undertake assessment to understand behavioural insights of smallholders’, and their willingness to adopt standards, contributing towards formulating sustainable intervention strategies
• Develop standards assessment tool to assess the adoption rate of standards among smallholders;
• Develop or link achievable voluntary production standards that describe expected production, harvesting, storage and processing practices for farmers;
• Develop farmer-friendly training materials and guidance documents to support compliance with voluntary standards, and implement training programs for technical staff and farmers to, including standards compliance monitoring and technical backstopping
• Ensure effective networking, collaboration and communication with national partners, especially those working on food safety and standards;
• Closely collaborate and coordinate activities with PlantwisePlus task managers and global team leaders;
• Support and link with other PlantwisePlus thematic areas and other CABI Initiatives like SPS, One health and seizing opportunities for synergies.

ABOUT YOU:

• PhD in agriculture or horticulture required, preferably with specialisation in agronomy;
• Less than 5 years post PhD.
• Experience in applied research and development particularly in developing countries is essential;
• Experience in value chain analysis and design, and implementation of successful agribusiness models in vegetables, fruits, and other food crops for farmers and farmer groups.
• Experience of farmer group training in agricultural production, management, marketing, food safety, produce certification/standards;
• Experience developing training manuals/ materials;
• Experience in the development and implementation of various developmental projects involving fruits and vegetables;
• Experience carrying out audit in GlobalGAP certification for Fruits and Vegetables is an added advantage;
• Ability to help manage and motivate staff, build effective teams and encourage individual development and growth;
• Ability to work both persuasively and diplomatically in a team-based environment with a high degree of complexity and ambiguity;
• Hands-on problem-solver with strong analytical abilities and end-product focus;
• Self-motivated, adaptable, well organized and able to work with minimal supervision;
• Results focus in work planning, execution of tasks and reporting;
• Capacity to build effective relationships with programme stakeholders;
• Ability to work with diverse nationalities in a multi-cultural environment.