Ref. No: DDG-P4D/TAAT/CE/PC/01/23)

Background: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) invites applications for the internationally recruited position of TAAT Country Engagement and Partnership Coordinator.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of the One CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food-secure future. Please visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information on IITA.
The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is a major continent-wide program designed to boost agricultural productivity across the continent by rapidly delivering proven technologies to millions of farmers. The overall goal of TAAT is to double crop, livestock, and fish productivity by expanding access to productivity-increasing technologies to more than 40 million smallholder farmers across Africa. TAAT aims to generate an additional 120 million metric tons (MT) of food while lifting 130 million people out of poverty. Getting certified seeds of the most modern varieties into the hands of tens of millions of farmers is the primary objective of TAAT.
The program supports the Feed Africa Initiative of the AfDB by providing the needed, proven agricultural and food processing technologies and implementation strategies for inclusion within the Bank’s loans to Regional Member Countries (RMCs). It is implemented by the Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure (RTDI) made up of the Commodity Technology Delivery Compacts (CTDCs); the TAAT Clearinghouse (CH); the Program Management Unit (PMU), and a Program Steering Committee (PSC). The CTDC is currently composed of eleven CGIAR centers, three Advanced regional R&D African centers, National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES) institutions, private sector partners, and NGOs. IITA is the executing agency of TAAT.
The Clearinghouse is co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and AfDB and is responsible for linking TAAT Compact activities with country-level programs, positioning these countries’ governments as TAAT’s Primary Scaling Partners. This is achieved through the provision of technical assistance in regional and country project design, ensuring the inclusion of proven technologies and robust partnership arrangements within the resulting projects.
The program is looking for a highly qualified individual to fill the vacant position of TAAT Country Engagement and Partnership Coordinator

Position Responsibilities

The tasks of the Country Engagement and Partnership Coordinator will include:

Main Responsibilities

• • Lead and coordinate the Clearinghouse brokerage across the regions and countries by effectively engaging with national and regional decision-makers in the public sector and especially governments to include TAAT-vetted technologies in new agricultural investment programs, and restructured and under-performing projects.
• • Participate in and contribute to AfDB-supported projects’ annual reviews, supervision and mid-term evaluations, enabling the integration of TAAT-vetted technologies. • Provide effective representation with external stakeholders and collaborators and work internally with colleagues to strengthen Clearinghouse’s approach to partnerships, engagement and advocacy. • Effectively engage and collaborate closely with AfDB, CGIAR centres, regional organizations, development partners, NARES, NGOs, private sector and aligned institutions so as to achieve TAAT goals and objectives, and catalyse the scaling of TAAT technologies across the RMCs. • Build strong partnerships with the private sector at the country and regional level to promote customized TAAT-vetted technologies with commercialization potential matching their needs.

Specific Responsibilities

• Participate in AfDB missions and provide technical inputs to recommend the inclusion of the most appropriate TAAT-vetted technologies into project appraisal reports (PARs), especially in countries of assignment. • Mobilize and engage with TAAT Compacts and CGIAR experts to participate in the design and restructuring of agricultural investment projects, which involve AfDB, and regional and national decision-makers and governments, with the aim of integrating TAAT vetted technologies into Bank-supported large-scale country agricultural investment projects. • Ensure the participation of the National Agriculture Research and Extension System (NARES), TAAT Compacts and CGIAR in discussions with the Ministries of Agriculture on TAAT’s technical assistance to RMCs National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs).
• Effectively engage governments and national stakeholders to provide technical support for the successful implementation of AfDB-supported large-scale investment projects.
• Provide technical assistance to RMCs implementing AfDB-supported loan projects for building a robust and functional national seed system to ensure the production and delivery of certified seeds of TAAT-promoted climate-resilient varieties sustainably.
• Gain an in-depth understanding of agriculture policies and priorities regarding the agricultural development landscapes of RMCs to inform the Clearinghouse brokerage. • Build, maintain and continuously update a database of partners at the national, regional, and continental levels.
• Build partnerships between the Clearinghouse, AfDB, CGIAR, RECs, SROs, development partners, RMCs, and aligned institutions to promote widespread technology adoption in Africa;
• Develop guidelines, processes, and procedures to be used in appraising partnerships.
• Draft specific MoUs with national and development partners to promote collaboration for the inclusion and adoption of TAAT-vetted technologies in national and regional investment projects.
• Support the Clearinghouse teams and Compacts in the identification and selection of, country consultants, providing technical assistance in-country engagement missions and project implementation in RMCs.
• Participate in resource mobilization to attract funding from potential donors and development partners to catalyze the scaling of TAAT-promoted technologies for agricultural transformation in RMCs.
• Actively contribute to the Clearinghouse (CH) reporting and progress updates.
• Work in close collaboration with AfDB Task Managers, Country Representatives, Regional sector Managers, Compacts, and TAAT Project Management Unit to build effective coordination and partnership.
• Undertake any other job-related duties as may be assigned by the Head of the Clearinghouse.

Educational Qualifications and Experience

• A post-graduate degree in Agriculture, Agriculture Extension, Agricultural Economics or Agricultural Science from a recognized University.
• At least 15 years of work experience related to Agriculture or business development preferably in developing countries, and proven experience in Agricultural donor funding.
• Experience with development policy, legal and institutional frameworks, as well as the technical aspects of projects.
• Working experience with AfDB-supported projects at the national level and on the African Continent.

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated strong analytical and communication skills and capacity to present convincingly, discuss and negotiate with high-level country officials.
• Blend analytical, observational, organizational, and networking skills.
• Good understanding of policy and regulatory issues around agricultural-related public and private partnership development in developing countries.
• Familiarity with the policies and procedures of multilateral and bilateral institutions.
• Demonstrated commitment to making organizational and corporate decisions.
• Proven ability to operate effectively in a multicultural team environment.
• Background in the public sector and/or government engagement on the African continent.
• Good leadership and personnel management experience to manage a large team of experts based in multiple locations.
• Experience with large-scale adoption of agricultural technologies by farmers on the African continent.
• Work experience in International or National Agricultural centres on the African continent.
• Awareness and social capital and networks with key leaders and experts working in the extension and technology transfer agencies within Africa.
• Deep team-building and people relationship-building skills for a complex project.
• Fluency in both written and spoken English is an important requirement for this position. Working knowledge of the French language will be an added advantage.

Duty station: Cotonou, Benin Republic.

General information: The contract will be for an initial period of three years based on performance and availability of funding. IITA offers internationally competitive remuneration package paid in U.S. Dollars.

Applications:

Applications must include a cover letter, which should address how the candidate’s background/experience relates to the specific duties of the position applied for, curriculum vitae, and names and addresses of three professional referees (which must include either the Head of the applicant’s current or previous organization or applicant’s direct Supervisor/Superior at his/her present or former place of work). The application should be addressed to the Head of Human Resources. Please complete our online application form using this link: http://www.iita.org/careers

Closing Date: 25th January 2023

IITA is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse workforce, particularly welcoming applications from women.

While all applications will be acknowledged, please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.