About the position
The African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) is recruiting a Research Fellow. The Fellow will work within the Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security (AFNS) programme.
About ACTS
ACTS is a leading Intergovernmental science, technology and innovation (STI) policy Think Tank founded in 1988. Its mandate is to strengthen the capacities and policies of African countries and institutions to use STI for sustainable development. ACTS is based in Nairobi through a host agreement with the Kenya Government and enjoys international status. ACTS’ governing council depicts its international status. It has representation from Ghana (current chair), Ethiopia, Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire, UK, Sweden, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO).
ACTS is currently implementing its seventh strategic plan (2022 – 2026) and pursuing the following five programmes: Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security (AFNS); Climate Resilient Economies (CRE); Science, Technology, Innovation, Knowledge and Society (STIKS); Digital Innovation and Knowledge Economy (DIKE); and Gender Youth and Inclusive Development (GYID). These programmes are delivered through policy research, policy engagement, capacity building and technology brokerage.
About AFNS programme
The AFNS program’s mission is to contribute towards realising a sustainably food and nutrition-secure Africa. The program’s strategic objective is to support African countries through cutting-edge STI focused policy-relevant research and knowledge brokerage that guides policy choices, targeted investments, and interventions at different levels to accelerate sustainable, climate smart, inclusive agrifood systems transformation, integration of digital technologies, agribusiness development for food and nutrition security and enhanced livelihoods. The program is implementing a range of research, policy and capacity building projects related to sustainable foods systems, water, energy nexus linked to issues of climate change, agribusiness development, financing models and cross cutting issues on gender equity and social inclusion.
Core responsibilities of the Research Fellow
The RF core tasks include the following:
- Implementing on-going AFNS research projects and lead in acquisition of new projects.
- Contribute to conceptualizing research and policy issues for resource mobilization through grant proposals in line with AFNS strategic plan, and in collaboration with other programs within ACTS where it is strategic.
- Design and deliver various capacity building activities that are part of the AFNS program.
- Responsible for production of high-quality research and policy outputs (including but not limited to peer reviewed journal publications, policy briefs, technical working reports, non-scientific outputs) and other innovative forms of knowledge translation and dissemination.
- Identifying opportunities for expanding AFNS project portfolio including through mobilizing necessary national and international partnerships.
- Supporting stakeholder engagement processes through organizing workshops, roundtable meetings, policy outreach events among others and dissemination of research findings to policy makers, researchers and/or the public.
- Engage with external stakeholders, and internal partners to build and maintain strong relationships, provide project updates, monitor progress, and manage expectations for project deliverables.
- Supporting the AFNS Programme Head in setting and advancing programme’s direction through writing strategy documents and organizing policy outreach events among others.
- Supervise and mentor researchers and other staff in the program.
- Develop and monitor program/project budgets and preparing technical reports and outputs
Required Qualifications and expertise:
- A PhD in Agricultural related field including Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, Food Science, Agronomy, Social Sciences with a focus on Agriculture (Inter-disciplinary focus (natural science/social science) is an added advantage. At least four years post-PhD applied research experience.
- Demonstrated experience and success in project proposal development and resource mobilization for applied research and policy informing projects.
- Experience in meticulously undertaking fieldwork including supervision of field teams with excellent knowledge of digital data collection platforms like ODK, CSPro, etc.
- Demonstratable experience in handling and analysing large primary data sets and in harnessing secondary data.
- Strong proven skills in using quantitative analysis including modelling and integration of qualitative analysis. Proficiency in R, Stata, MAXQDA and/or similar software.
- Demonstrable achievements in designing and implementing applied agrifood systems related applied research and policy influencing projects.
- Proven experience in developing, managing, monitoring and reporting on program/ project budgets.
- Knowledge of a broad spectrum of issues related to agriculture, and food systems climate-change and resilience, informed by state-of-the-art global research insights and policy discussions.
- Knowledge in project management and coordination including Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning and Impact (MELI).
- Excellent written and spoken English. The written skills will be demonstrated by a good track of high-quality scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. Evidence of publication of other type of research outputs would be an advantage (e.g. reports, blogs, and op-eds).
- Excellent command of English. Capacity to speak and write in French will be an added advantage.
Skills and competences
- Capacity to work with both social sciences and natural sciences in developing research ideas on the broad range of topics related to the AFNS program and integrating cross-cutting themes especially gender equity and social inclusion perspectives.
- Strong leadership, organizational, and prioritization skills, with the ability to take initiative and work under pressure.
- Excellent oral presentation skills and ability to engage technical and non-technical audiences including policy stakeholders on research findings and generally about our work.
- Demonstrated leadership in implementing collaborative research including experience in building and managing teams and partnerships in multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary projects.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively in a dynamic, interdisciplinary, and multicultural team.
How to apply
Please send a cover letter, CV, and scanned copies of academic certificates and a sample of scientific written work/publication, as a single PDF file to hr@acts-net.org with a copy to DKalele@acts-net.org by 1700hrs (EAT) on 28th February 2025. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
