The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is an international non-profit research-for-development organization dealing with development needs of Sub-Saharan Africa in particular in terms of developing agricultural solutions in order to tackle hunger and poverty.

The IITA is currently looking for a qualified Post-doc Fellow in Agricultural Economics & Policy to work on ex-ante evaluation of technologies, investments, and policy reforms aiming to guide research priority setting and the strategic planning processes at the IITA. The work is part of a larger CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets to Strengthen Assets & Incomes for the Rural Poor (CRP2) led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Under supervision of a senior agricultural economist, the candidate will lead efforts aiming to enhancing the strategic foresight and ex ante research evaluation capabilities of IITA. Further, the fellow will collaborate with researchers in order to develop an enhanced version of IFPRI’s International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT) that projects the future production, consumption, and trade of key agricultural commodities and assesses the effects of climate change, water availability, and other drivers of global change.

The research will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as the most vulnerable region to global changes in the coming decades.

Responsibilities

1. Development of methods as well as establishment of a detailed databases for strategic foresight and scenario analyses under major socioeconomic and environmental drivers of change;
2. Assessment of past trends and future outlooks for cassava, cowpeas, maize, soybean, yams, and bananas under major socioeconomic and environmental drivers of change;
3. Analysis of economic and poverty reduction impacts of alternative R&D investments and policy reforms under major socioeconomic and environmental drivers of change;
4. Collaboration with other biophysical scientists at IITA for building scenarios and estimating the values of key model parameters under alternative R&D investment and policy reform scenarios in the face of climate change and variability;
5. Publishing of research findings and contributing to a dissemination of research results and a development of outcomes to stakeholders;
6. Contribution to capacity strengthening of national partners; and
7. Active participation in the annual review and planning meetings, resource mobilization, and contribute to strategic research planning.

Educational Qualifications

PhD in agricultural economics, economics, or development economics from a highly recognized university.

Core Competencies:

• Strong knowledge and experience with partial and general-equilibrium models;
• Knowledge of mathematical modeling methods and software (e.g. GAMS) and complementary econometric techniques and software (e.g. STATA);
• Knowledge of GIS and geospatial analysis;
• Demonstrated ability to write and publish journal articles;
• Excellent spoken and written English; Knowledge of French can be an advantage; and
• Ability to work independently in a multidisciplinary and multi-cultural environment.

The initial appointment is for two years, and will be located in IITA Ibadan, Nigeria as well including extensive travel within, and outside Africa. The IITA offers a competitive remuneration package paid in US dollars.

The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.