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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.

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