Job Description

Enhancing Agricultural Technology Evaluation Through Promotion

 
1. Background and Objectives of the Consultancy Assignment
 
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (hereafter the Agency or ATA) is an initiative of the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) which was established by federal regulation in January 2011. The primary aim of the Agency is to promote agricultural sector transformation by enhancing and supporting existing structures of government, private-sector and other non-governmental partners, to address systemic bottlenecks in the agricultural sector and deliver on a priority national agenda to achieve growth and food security.
 
ATA focuses on a set of high-priority program areas, sub-divided into Systems, Value Chains, and Cross-Cutting Initiatives. Across these program areas, the ATA engages public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity, and test innovative models. The organization does this through leveraging best practice approaches, whether from the public or private sectors.  ATA is financed by the GoE and a range of development partners.
 
The Research and Extension (R&E) Program
As one of the ATA’s Systems areas of focus, the Research & Extension (R&E) Program aims to develop a coordinated, demand-driven and innovative research system that will produce appropriate technologies and information in a resource efficient manner, and a capacitated and well-coordinated extension system that will facilitate access and rapid adoption of relevant technologies by smallholder farmers. This will be done by closely aligning extension services with market opportunities and with an efficiently integrated research system.
 
It is a widely endorsed assertion by the main actors in the Ethiopia’s Agricultural System and the ATA that there is no institutionalized system for regulating and promoting agricultural technologies, except for crop varieties, that are either developed by the research system or imported from abroad to be distiributed to the end users. As a result, poor quality research outputs are finding their way to the end users and create adverse impacts on the attitude of farmers towards improved technologies. Moreover, the absence of proper release guidlines and institutionalized approach to technology promotion has made availability of and access to improved technologies difficult, resulting in limited uptake of technologies.This has significantly reduced the potential impact improved technologies could have made on the livelihoods of the smallholder farmers.

As such, the ATA’s R&E and Analytics Programs would like to conduct a comprehensive study on the technology evaluation, certification, registry release and promotion processes of mechanized farm implements, livestock, forestry, soils/agronomy, crop protection, as well as a review of the seeds sector, in order to achieve the following outputs:

• Develop a strategy and immediate interventions that will facilitate more effective evaluation and transfer of technologies from the research system to the end users
• Develop technology release guidelines for Mechanization and Agronomic practices, including soils, that will be followed for other areas such as livestock

 
The overall timeline for the project and focus of different phases is summarized in the figure  below.

 
2. Scope of Services to be Provided
 
ATA is looking to engage a short-term (six months) full time consultant on a monthly fixed salary basis that will be determined through negotiation. The consultant will support in the achievement of the above outputs in collaboration with the R&E and Analytics Teams. The consultant will be engaged specifically in the following areas:

• Content Advisory and Input: support the strategy development through providing content input in areas of: (i) current sector diagnostic analyses, (ii) problem identification, analysis and validation, and (iii) intervention identification, analysis, validation and prioritization     
• Stakeholder Management: coordinate and participate in discussions with stakeholders, including through field visits and workshops
• Data Collection: advise on data requirements and collect data from reliable sources

 
3. Assignment Period, Specific Deliverables and Timelines Required
 
Specific deliverables and estimated due dates are provided below, covering the full six-month assignment period of the consultancy.

• Stakeholder management: organize and lead discussions with stakeholders including preliminary and national workshops

• Data collection: collect data that is relevant for the strategy development including technology developed, tested, released and registered, promoted, multiplied and distributed, for all technologies (seed, soil and agronomy, crop protection, livestock, forestry and mechanical implements). Data also includes other countries that are used as a benchmark
• Expertise for the strategy: support the strategy development process by validating the analysis using his/her expertise and discussion with stakeholders
• Help in developing release guidelines for technologies: develop release guideline for different technologies including mechanization, soil and agronomy and etc.

 
5. Facilities, Services and Resources to be Provided by ATA
 
The consultant will be based at ATA offices and will be allocated a desk whenever he/she is in the office, a laptop, and other standard office facilities. The consultant will also be provided with tranport and vehicle both in the town and in field for work related activities or move; with access to documentation relevant to the study.  
 
6. Reporting
 
The consultant will be required to provide progress updates and share key findings on a weekly basis with the ATA Project Team, but will report directly to the Director for R&E and Manager of Analytics. This should be provided in written form, e.g. email, MS Word document, MS Powerpoint document, Excel workbooks for data. The deliverables produced by the consultant at various phases of the project will need to be signed-off by the full ATA Project Team.

Job Requirements

7. Minimum Experience and Skill Requirements

• A Ph.D  in agricultural sciences
• At least 20 years of experience working in agricultural research  system in Ethiopia,
• Broad range of contacts in the Research and Extension Sector across major organizations and regions
• Previous experience undertaking data collection and analyses similar to the current engagement; Previous similar assignment with ATA is a bonus
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Able to manage high volume of work with minimal supervision
• Able to build relationships with stakeholders and teams, highly collaborative working style
• Strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty and desire to be of service
• Fluency in English and Amharic, written and spoken, is essential.