Program Officer – Policy Job Placement – Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
Job Title: Program Officer – Policy
Organization: Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
Duty Station: Entebbe, Uganda
Report to: The Project Coordinator
About US:
The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a subregional not-for-profit organisation covering eleven countries in Eastern and Central Africa, comprising Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan,Tanzania, and Uganda. ASARECA, is implementing the “Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture” (DeSIRA), a joint project funded by the European Union (EU) through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
The candidate shall support the Project Coordinator in:
- Strengthening capacities of regional and national organizations in climate-relevant policy analysis, formulation and advocacy
- Assessing capacity gaps and developing capacity strengthening plans related to policy analysis and policy formulation at national and regional levels
- Conducting training and organizing technical assistance in policy analysis, formulation, advocacy and resource mobilization
- Developing and promoting guidelines for inclusion of relevant climate STI indicators in NAIPs, for use by regional and continental institutions.
- Developing capacities for application of foresight relevant to climate change by sensitizing stakeholders about the relevance of foresight and developing competencies in conducting foresight and in interpretation of foresight results
- Organizing technical assistance to enable regional and national organizations to participate in foresight initiatives and apply results from past /ongoing foresight initiatives
- Gathering feedback on the use of foresight tools and facilitating its utilization to inform improvements in application of foresight
- Bridging the science-policy nexus through inclusive and evidence-supported policy dialogues and strategic communication sensitive to climate change
- Convening policy dialogues at regional and continental levels on Climate Smart Agriculture, climate relevant issues and inter-regional trade and market access
- Providing technical support for strategic communication regarding policy reforms and impacts, as well as developing policy briefs and communication materials
- Providing technical support for policy formulation at national, sub-regional and continental levels
- Strengthening the enabling environment for regional trade, markets and trans-boundary commodity movement, with focus on climate-related commodities
- Conducting regional reviews of trade in agricultural inputs and commodities with the goal to increase implementation of existing policies in support of cross-border trade
- Conducting evidence-supported advocacy to improve the implementation of existing policies to support cross border trade in agricultural inputs and commodities.
- Providing intellectual leadership in dissemination of research findings and other relevant information on technology generation, transfer and commercialization through appropriate media.
- Representing ASARECA at high-level meetings such as with EU, COMESA, EAC and within the countries
- Analyzing priority value chains to inform development of business and investment plans for upgrading farmlevel capacities to engage with agribusinesses.
Project monitoring: The candidate will work closely with the Theme Leader for Knowledge Management to:
- Develop policy analysis and implementation data collection tools
- Support data collection, analysis and dissemination of policy-related data / information
- Effectively manage data and knowledge.
Reporting: The candidate will work closely with the Theme Leader to:
- Ensure accurate and timely reporting of DeSIRA activities
- Prepare quarterly, semi-annual and annual and technical reports.
- Gather and submit human interest stories
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The ideal candidate must hold a Master’s degree in Development Studies, Agriculture, Economics, Policy Management or related field
- At least 5 years of relevant experience in agricultural markets and policy research for development programs
- Good skills in policy, forecasting and foresight analytics
- Experience in advocacy for enabling environment on markets and trade and in engagement of private sector or wider stakeholder networks in national and multi-country dialogues and other policy-enactment processes
- Knowledge of and experience with project cycle management and management of personnel
- Experience in working in the ASARECA region
- Experience working on agriculture is a must.
Required Skills
- Strategic and Systems thinking as well as Project Management skills
- Financial management skills including management of aid project finance
- This position requires a fluency in both written and spoken English, but knowledge of French is an added advantage.
- Ability to multi-task, set priorities, and work under tight deadlines.
- Excellent conceptual, analytical and problem solving skills
- Excellent networking ability with stakeholders (government agencies, NGOs, private organizations).
- Experience in diversity and inclusion (gender mainstreaming, participatory policy processes)
- Computer literacy especially strong knowledge of MS Office applications and relevant analytical software
How to Apply:
Interested applicants should submit a confidential cover letter and detailed CV with names and addresses of 3 referees (including e-mail address and telephone numbers) to the attention: Head, Human Resource and Administration, ASARECA Secretariat, Plot 5 Mpigi Road,
P.O. Box 765 Entebbe, Uganda (hr@asareca.org).
Deadline: 30th October 2019.