MOYESH Program Sericulture Expert – INTERNAL 110 views

The position: The International Centre of Insect Physiology & Ecology (icipe) seeks to hire a MOYESH Program Sericulture Expert who will be will be members of icipe Ethiopia office which is located at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

General:

icipe and MOYESH program PURPOSE:

icipe is a pan-African and non-profit Centre of Excellence for research and development and capacity building in insect science and its applications. Its mission is to help alleviate poverty, ensure food and nutritional security and improve the overall health status of peoples of the tropics by developing and extending management tools and strategies for harmful and useful arthropods, while preserving the natural resource base through research and capacity building. Since its establishment in 1970, icipe has become a significant contributor to science and innovation required to meet the health and food security challenges of sub-Saharan Africa. The Centre has achieved this status by developing alternative and environmentally friendly pest and vector management technologies and products that are effective, selective, non-polluting, non-resistance inducing, and are affordable to resource-limited rural and urban communities. Employing close to 500 international and national staff, icipe also has approximately 150 graduate students who contribute to its research portfolio annually. The Centre currently has operations in more than 40 African countries, and thriving partnerships with universities and research organizations across the world. (www.icipe.org)

icipe is partnering with Mastercard Foundation to implement the MOre Young Entrepreneurs in Silk and Honey (MOYESH) program. The purpose of this partnership intervention is to secure fulfilling and dignified employment and income for unemployed young women and men by scaling up integrated beekeeping and silk farming businesses, building on lessons learned from YESH project and leveraging the public-private partnerships that are already created. The MOYESH program targets to provide 100,000 youth with appropriate skills and to enable 100,000 youth (of which 60% are female) secure dignified and fulfilling employment in four target regions of Ethiopia including the Amhara; Oromia; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNP); and Tigray.

Job Purpose:

The MOYESH program aims at meeting expressed needs of unemployed, underemployed and underpaid youth and women for dignified and fulfilling jobs in the apiculture and sericulture value chains. The job holder of this position will contribute to the planning, implementation and supervision of sericulture related program activities. The sericulture development expert will provide technical input in the operational planning, capacity building and implementation of sericulture industry development. S/he will guide and supervise field level extension staff working in silkworm farming and post-cocoon processing, working closely with the rest of the MOYESH program team engaged in related work streams.

Main Responsibilities:

• Contributes to the scientific leadership of the sericulture development activities of the program, from site selection, recruitment of youth, organization of training programs, delivery of starter kit through to facilitating market linkages;
• Provides technical input to the planning, implementation and technical supervision of silkworm farming development activities of the program in all program areas in the four Regions;
• Facilitates collaboration in sericulture development sites with program teams working on market development and microfinance services;
• Contributes to interactions with key stakeholders, including private sector actors, engaged in sericulture development works of the program;
• Supervises field level extension staff working on silkworm farming development, and
• Prepares and submits regular technical progress reports in sericulture development to the sericulture manager and the deputy coordinator for apiculture and sericulture development.

Minimum Requirements:

Education:

• MSc degree in Agricultural Entomology, Sericulture of related fields
• Broad / specialized knowledge of methods, techniques and processes

Experience:

• At least 3 years of hands-on experience in research and development of smallholder silkworm farming development
• Sound experience in stakeholder management
• Proven track record of initiating and developing sericulture related research for development projects will be an advantage

Skills:

• Multi-tasking skills, with ability to coordinate, prioritize and organize workload, meet deadlines and work under pressure
• Solid understanding of the biology of silkworms and the socioeconomics of smallholder silkworm farmers
• Comprehensive understanding of the current state of the sericulture industry in Ethiopia, and roles and constraints of major actors, including private sector companies involved in the business
• Good understanding of the current policy environment within which smallholder farmers and private sericulture companies in the country operate
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multicultural work environment

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrated ability in on-farm and laboratory level research in sericulture
• Good scientific communication skills, as demonstrated in peer reviewed publications, public seminars and lectures
• Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information at various levels
• Capacity to take initiative, demonstrate good judgment and work under minimal supervision
• Strong organizational and analytical skills

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Suitably qualified Women are highly encouraged to apply.

Position level:HG 13.

Minimum Base salary:

• Birr 35,492 per month (Negotiable depending on salary history of the candidate)

Terms of appointment: This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, initial appointment is for three years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. icipe offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits in line with ILRI salary applicable for its Nationally Recruited Staff. icipe is an international and equal opportunity organization and believes that diversity of its staff contributes to excellence.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter, a detailed curriculum vitae including names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees and a letter providing a point by point response to the essential and desirable person specifications. The position and reference number: MPSE/13/20should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter. All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal:http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 21 February 2020.