Country: Afghanistan
Closing date: 01 Dec 2015
Project Background: Building on the Agriculture Master Plan, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA), in collaboration with its development partners, has defined a number of appropriate priorities for agricultural investments and policies under the National Agricultural Development Framework (NADF). In order to increase farmers' incomes and improve the food security situation, the GIRoA is giving foremost attention to strengthening of the agricultural production base. In this respect the government has asked the World Bank for assistance in strengthening agricultural input supply systems. Specifically, the GIRoA has requested the World Bank for assistance in the implementation of the Afghanistan Agriculture Inputs Project (AAIP) that will consist of the following four components: (i) Improve seed production and certification; (ii) Establish infrastructure and policies regarding quality control and safe use of fertilizers and agrochemicals; (iii) Improve input delivery systems; and (iv) Establish efficient project management, implementation and coordination mechanisms. The development objective of AAIP project is strengthened institutional capacity for safety and reliability of agricultural inputs and sustainable production of certified wheat seed. Under its Seed Component, the project assists the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA) with their mandates of variety selection, maintenance breeding and production of Breeder’s Seed, the Improved Seed Enterprise (ISE) with their mandate to produce Foundation and Registered Seed, and the Afghan National Seed Organisation (ANSOR) and its member Private Seed Enterprises (PSEs) with their mandate to produce and market Certified Seed. (NB Seed Certification is supported by another project, funded by the EU) Moreover the project will support the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) with the overall coordination of the seed sector. Support provided by the project consists of hardware (equipment, constructions, etc.) and software (capacity building, organisation, legislation, technical support, etc.). In order to coordinate the activities and provide the support mentioned, the project‘s Management Unit (PMU), apart from administrative and other technical units, contains a seed team consisting of a National Seed Program Coordinator and two National Seed Officers. It also provides short and long term national and international consultants and staff to the implementing partner organizations.
Job Summary: Within this context, the project requires the services of an International Experimental Design Specialist / Statistician, who will act as a technical advisor to the Statistics and planning Department of the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA) and assist them in ensuring a smooth implementation of their tasks and mandate. He/she will be responsible for staff training and development of procedures and processes and ensure the Statistics & planning Department to become capable and efficient in independently implementing all activities belonging to their mandate. He will closely cooperate with all actors related to the field of experimental planning, trial design statistical analyses and reporting operating with or within ARIA.
Key Responsibilities of International Experimental Design Specialist/Statistician: Under the overall supervision of the Project Director and in close collaboration with the International Research Specialist, National Experimental Design & Agricultural Research Specialist and Regional Plant Breeders of AAIP, agricultural research staff of ARIA, CIMMYT and other ARIA research partners He/ She will perform the following: · Set up and organize ARIA’s statistics and data analysis department and develop protocols and procedures for experimental work including data analysis, interpretation of results, discussion and documentation at central and regional level; · Train and coach national counterparts in design, data analysis, and documentation etc. of agricultural crops; · Assist in making appropriate trial designs for variety yield testing under location specific and general conditions, G x E interactions and other relevant scientific experiments; · Provide best practices and management of experimental field trials for relevant materials; · Data Collection on varietal performance and other experiments throughout the season; · Data Analysis on varietal performance, interpretation of results and other experiments throughout the season, in consultation with national staffs; · Summarization of experimental results, and presentation of project & experimental works & reports of other scientific experiments; · Development of field trials and experimental design manuals in English languages; · Any other professional & experimental tasks as required by the Project Director; · Development & submission of work report to the Project Director AAIP through the National Seed Program Coordinator. · Development and implementation of coordinated approach of experimental design on field crops in ARIA.
Required Knowledge, Skill and Abilities: · Advanced university degree in Agricultural Statistics, General Statistics with relevant experience in Agronomy, or related field. · At least 10 years experience in experimental designing, data collection, analysis, interpretation of results in field crops relevant to Afghanistan. · Familiarity with the agricultural production and an understanding of field problems, particularly as it relates to seed production, and Agronomic practices. · Preferably belonging to, or having access to a policy research or other relevant institute, which can provide technical back-up. · Working experiences in relevant field in developing countries, especially in Asia. · Demonstrated ability to work effectively with government officials, international donor agencies, technical field staff, NGO’s representatives; etc; · Work experience in World Bank-assisted project would be an advantage. · Fluency in English Language is required.
How to apply:
Submission Guideline: Send CV and Cover letter to AAIP, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, or send us your CVs in soft to: aaip.jobs@mail.gov.af Note: *No resume will be taken under consideration without having a cover letter , the position title , vacancy number and the region in the subject line of the email.*Only selected candidates will be called for interviews The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) is an equal opportunity employer which encourages male and female candidates to apply for vacant positions.
