Technical Specialist Component 3: Strengthening linkages between research and extension through farmer-led action-research - TRANSFORM

Responsibilities:

• Provide technical coordination for field activities of Component 3 in TRANSFORM Program;
• Coordinate and collaborate with implementing partners, research institutions (EIAR, RARIs), and extension systems at federal, regional, and woreda levels to facilitate action-research activities;
• Guide and support implementing partners and farmers in conducting participatory action research, including experimentation, validation of soil health and fertility practices, and application of research findings;
• Promote the integration of farmer-generated insights with science-based practices to enhance adoption of sustainable soil management techniques;
• Support the collection, analysis, and use of field data for evidence-based decision-making and learning processes across stakeholder levels;
• Facilitate the delivery and use of digital fertilizer advisory services to strengthen data-driven site and context-specific nutrient management strategies;
• Ensure effective collaboration and communication between research, extension, and farmer groups to reinforce a bottom-up farmer-led innovation system;
• Promote increased involvement of small-scale producers in action research and ensure the participation of TVET students in research activities;
• Coordinate and support ISFM trials conducted by EIAR and RARIs and build the capacity of researchers, government staff, and development agents (DAs) in ISFM and decision support tools (DST), sustainable land use, and watershed management;
• Ensure the daily management of component 3 of the program within and across regions, and partners;
• Facilitate and deliver Training of Trainers (ToT) for woreda experts and DAs, in collaboration with component leads and consortium partners, on soil health and fertility management (e.g., organic fertilizer use, ISFM, Climate Smart Agricultural practices);
• Strengthen the capacity of the extension system to deliver high-quality advisory services on on-farm soil management and digital fertilizer advisory tools;
• Monitor and evaluate field activities to ensure progress toward objectives and provide technical support and recommendations to field staff;
• Document lessons learned, best practices, and share insights with stakeholders to inform future programming and policy development;
• Produce timely and quality monthly, quarterly, and annual reports;
• Promote and oversee the implementation of the Participatory Integrated Planning (PIP) approach to enhance community engagement, ownership, and co-learning;
• Contribute to the development of vibrant and functional local soil input systems responsive to farmer needs and supportive of sustainable land use;
• Collaborate with other Technical Specialists within the TRANSFORM program to ensure integrated approaches;
• Implement necessary tasks for the program success and for additional assignments from the immediate supervisor;
• Facilitate long-term, community-driven changes in soil health, and natural resources management contributing to the broader goals of the TRANSFORM program by empowering stakeholders at all levels to embrace sustainable agricultural practices. 

Requirements

• MSc degree in agronomy, soil science, agricultural extension, agricultural economics or related fields;
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in soil health and fertility research or extension systems;
• Strong understanding of soil health, fertility management, and sustainable land use practices;
• Experience working with national and regional research systems and extension institutions;
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate participatory action research processes with smallholder farmers;
• Experience in national and international development programs/projects; 
• Good understanding of the role of the private sector in the national research and extension system, barriers of the private sector in soil health research and extension system;
• Demonstrated ability in concepts, principles, and approaches around bottom-up and participatory farmer-led action research methods;
• Knowledge and skills in MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, MS Access, statistical packages (like SPSS, STATA, and R) have an added advantage;
• Excellent facilitation, coordination, and communication skills;
• English language fluency is required. 

Reporting and Work Relationships 

The Technical Specialist will report to Component 3 lead for technical issues. 

Location 

This is a national recruitment with a duty station in the IFDC and/or one of the consortium partner offices based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with frequent travel to all program sites. 

Benefits  

IFDC's benefits include annual and sick leave, health and group life insurance coverage, a 13th month salary, social security and pension contribution in compliance with local laws and end-of-contract benefits. 

Salary grade  

The salary grade for this position is BG 8 and the pegged salary is the local equivalent of USD 1,557 gross per month.   

The determination of new employee salaries takes into account various factors. These include the salary range linked to the assigned job grade, the candidate's qualifications in relation to the job's responsibilities and prerequisites, internal fairness, the competitive state of the job market, as well as potential organizational and budgetary considerations. 

About Program (TRANSFORM) 

IFDC along with its consortium partners Stichting Wageningen Research- Wageningen Environmental Research (SWR-WENR), World Soil Information (ISRIC), and national partners Environment and Coffee Forest Forum (ECFF) and SOS Sahel Ethiopia, is supporting the Government of Ethiopia through the TRANSFORM Project. The TRANSFORM Project aims to enhance soil health and fertility management in Ethiopia through four main components. First, it focuses on customizing extension services to tailor soil fertility initiatives to the specific needs of farmer households and communities. Second, the project seeks to develop a vibrant soil input sector by improving the availability of quality organic fertilizers for small-scale farmers. Third, it emphasizes strengthening the linkages between research and practical application through farmer-led action research. Finally, the project fosters an enabling environment for soil health by promoting collaboration among soil sector stakeholders, thereby enhancing soil fertility management at both national and regional levels. 

The program targets the sustainable increase in productivity of 100,000 small-scale food producers and the improved use of 65,000 hectares of farmland in the Amhara, Oromia, and Central Ethiopia Regional States by 2028. TRANSFORM also models a process for replication and scaling of soil health and fertility management nationally, focusing on elements of extension, research, private input supply, and creating an enabling environment. The project intentionally targets at least 30% women and 30% youth participation in all activities by implementing focused outreach strategies and affirmative actions.