About the Role

Your focus will be to develop programs and training content to maximize adoption of integrated pest management amongst smallholder farmers. You’ll report to the Global Director of R&D, and work within the Global Impact team. This team combines agronomy, data science, qualitative research and SBC & social marketing skillsets to develop adoptable recommendations, and support country programs to effectively communicate and train farmers on them for maximum uptake.

You will develop evidence-based IPM extension, promoting approaches that are proven to reduce pest pressure and increase yields, through training and extension approaches that are informed by instructional design principles, adult learning and SBC theories. You will develop and test training, extension and decision-support tools using HCD methodology, then scale these and validate impact through measured improvements in farmer knowledge, attitude and adoption.

Responsibilities

Research

• Oversight over surveys to characterize farmers’ pest challenges and adoption of IPM practices
• Literature reviews, rapid evidence assessments, expert consultation etc. to identify impactful pest prevention and control technologies.
• There may also be opportunities to work on innovation projects around pest diagnostics, threat forecasting and surveillance, and on-farm experimentation to evaluate novel pest management technologies

Extension

• Develop IPM recommendations. Translate research-based IPM approaches and into simplified recommendations and protocols that empower smallholder farmers with limited resources to meaningfully reduce pest pressure and increase yields.
• Test and improve scalable IPM training and decision-support tools through design workshops and piloting with extension workers and farmers

Strategy

• Develop IPM extension / communications strategies that integrate print, audio, digital and in-person training and communication tools to maximize reach and cost-effectiveness.
• Define indicators to monitor and evaluate the scale and quality of IPM strategy implementation (e.g. in terms of farmer uptake of IPM, pesticide usage), and generate recommendations for improvement.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• 3-5+ years’ experience in agriculture training and extension service design and implementation, ideally working with farmers with low and mixed literacy and digital access.
• Strong technical knowledge agronomy and IPM, ideally for IPM for maize, potato, legumes in particular
• Research skills and experience with literature reviews, survey design and analysis. Experience managing on-farm trials a plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with a range of audiences – from non-technical colleagues to external experts. Ability to understand complex technical concepts and translate into concise, accessible language
• Strong project management skills
• Experience driving projects towards results, working within a matrix management model.