Background: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) invites applications for the internationally recruited position of TAAT-Angola Project 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 TAAT country engagement model is the strategy employed by TAAT Partners that serves to inform and educate countries on better options available that link best agriculture solutions and high-yielding varieties to countries through technology bundling into national investments for scaling to farmers across countries. The model showcases the TAAT Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure (RTDI) working as a consortium of an array of partners ranging from government agencies, private sector, civil society organizations, research institutions, development partners and farming communities or associations in the African agricultural landscape that are needed for agriculture development. TAAT identify niches and/or entry points into engagements with Ministries of Agriculture with the intent of bringing modern productivity enhancing agriculture crops, livestock, fisheries and their accompanying technologies to the table. The objective of the TAAT is to stimulate interest of Governments and embed modern technologies into national programs to bolster productivity and increase food production.

The program is looking for a highly qualified individual to fill the vacant position of TAAT-Angola Project Coordinator.

Position Responsibilities

The tasks of the TAAT-Angola Project Coordinator will include:

Main Responsibility

• Coordinate the TAAT-Cabinda Province Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (CVAVCDP) by effectively engaging and consolidating working relations with the Project Implementation Unit in Cabinda.
• Participate in and contribute to CPACVDP annual review, annual work planning, annual budgeting and overall project supervision as may be required by the donor to streamline the integration of TAAT-vetted technologies into other AfDB funded projects in Angola.
• Represent IITA and the CGIAR with external stakeholders and collaborators to strengthen IITA and the CGIAR’s presence in Angola.
• Lead collaboration with the AfDB, CGIAR centres, regional organizations, RECs development partners, NARES, NGOs, private sector and aligned institutions to leverage investments for sustainable production beyond this agreement.
• Build strong partnerships with the NARS, private sector and farmer to promote customized TAAT vetted technologies with commercialization potential matching their needs. Specific Responsibilities
• 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 support the agriculture agenda of the country.
• Work in close collaboration with AfDB Task Manager, Country Representative and other Officials to build an effective coordination and partnership in Angola.
• Effectively coordinate project implementation of the TAAT Cabinda Agreement and ensure that all targets are met as per the agreed timeline and are operationalized within the agreed budget.
• Provide oversight on the coordination of the Field Technicians as may be needed.
• Work closely with the M&E officer (Managers) to develop a performance management plan for the project and monitor the implementation processes to track milestones.
• Provide clear duties, responsibilities and assessments for technical teams and experts.
• Work with technical teams and experts to develop clear work plan and activity schedules.
• Provide guidance and leadership to technical teams.
• Provide timely reporting and updates to the donor coordination unit.
• Develop reporting templates to assess project execution.
• Participate in AfDB missions and provide technical inputs to recommend the inclusion of the most appropriate TAAT vetted technologies into project appraisal reports (PARs) in Angola.
• 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.
• Undertake any other duties as may be assigned by the TAAT PMU Coordinator and Head of the Clearinghouse.

Core Competencies

• Knowledge of the Angolan agriculture and development ecosystems.
• Fluency in both written and spoken English and Portuguese.
• 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.
• Demonstrated strong analytical and communication skills and capacity to present convincingly, discuss and negotiate with high-level country officials.
• 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.
• Good leadership and personnel management experience to manage a large team of experts based in multiple locations.

Educational Qualifications and Experience

• A post-graduate degree in Agriculture Extension, Agricultural Economics or Agricultural Science from a recognized University.
• At least ten years of work experience related to coordinating rural development projects or managing portfolio of related activities.
• Experience with rural development, agriculture and relevant work in value chains.
• Knowledge of the Angolan agriculture and development ecosystems is an advantage.
• With at least five years management or coordination history.

Duty Station: Cabinda, Angola Republic.

General information:

The contract will be for a period of one year renewable based on the availability of fund and the performance of the candidate.

Applications:

Applications must include covering letter, which should address how the candidate’s background/experience relates to the specific duties of the position applied for, curriculum vitae, 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: 13th May 2023

IITA is an equal opportunity employer and particularly welcomes applications from women candidates

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.