ICRISAT seeks applications from highly motivate, skilled and professional candidates for the position of Scientist with specialization in Agro meteorology/System Modelling to join our team to support our work on the provision of climate information services to farmers and other stakeholders along the agriculture commodity value chains in dryland agriculture. The position will be within the research portfolio of the Global Research Program on Resilient Farm and Food Systems (RFFS). The position will be based at Bamako, Mali or Niamey, Niger.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi- arid or dryland tropics has over 2 billion people and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these disadvantaged populations to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agricultural production systems.

ICRISAT is headquartered at Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT envisions prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. ICRISAT conducts research on its mandated crops of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The Institute focuses its work on drylands and on protecting the environment. Tropical dryland areas are usually seen as resource-poor and perennially beset by shocks such as drought, thereby trapping dryland communities in poverty and hunger and making them dependent on external aid. Please visit – www.icrisat.org

About the position:

The successful candidate will work closely with ICRISAT team, CGIAR researchers, NARS and other stakeholders to analyse the climate risks and ensure the integration of climate information and CSA innovations into national extension systems and agricultural decision-making processes and policies. The successful candidate will also lead the development and validation of decision trees and advisories, collaborating closely with local partners and stakeholders to ensure the relevance, clarity, and effectiveness of the generated advisories. This position will play a crucial role in enhancing agricultural resilience to climate stresses and shocks by analysing the climate risks and providing timely and tailored guidance to extension system, farmers and policy planners.

Responsibilities: Technical/Innovation

• Provide scientific leadership in applying System’s modelling frameworks (APSIM, DSSAT, other models) to the research for development that leads to more sustainable smallholder farming systems for the target regions of west and central Africa.
• Collate and apply both historical and future seasonal climate with the dynamic models for farm-level decision-making to identify appropriate risk management strategies for farmers in West and Central Africa (WCA) pilots
• Analyse cropping systemsand innovative agronomic interventions using climate forecasts and system modelling tools.
• Participate and contribute to ongoing research in climate risk management, assessing climate change impacts and planning for adaptation under the climate action program and any bilateral projects.
• Find farm level agronomic interventions that improve the performance of existing cropping systems and test/simulate and introduce new agronomic systems, crop types and varieties.
• Provide analytical expertise in big data analytics to understand temporal and spatial dynamics of downscaling climate data and applying agricultural systems models in multi-point simulations.
• Utilise and further develop, parameterise crop modelling frameworks and approaches that help our understanding of the trade-offs that farmers face in adopting technologies.
• Contribute to the implementation of climate-smart agricultural practices as proposed under the Resilience Farm and Food System (RFFS) and Bilateral climate action projects
• Undertake calibration, testing, and application of system simulation models to evaluate impacts of climate variability and change and enhance decision support
• Strengthen partnership through developing a Community of Practitioners on system modelling and climate information services
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams from ICRISAT, and other CGIAR Centers and with National Agricultural Research Institutes, regional organizations and higher education institutions.
• Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts of ICRISAT and the CGIAR Research Programs, through writing research proposals, building capacity in our partners, engaging with the University sector by co-supervising postgraduate students.

Capacity building

• Design and execute capacity-building activities in target districts on climate risk management by improving the skills and capabilities of extension personnel (government and non-government) to understand, interpret, and utilize climate information
• Provide leadership in capacity building and technical backstopping to National Agricultural Research Systems (NARES), and public-private partnerships
• Supervise and mentor project staff, liaisoning with key stakeholders, partnership networks and donors
• Capacity development of stakeholders on conceptualize and write grant proposals and mobilize resources for research on Agro meteorology/System Modelling
• Synthesize and publish research results

Qualifications and requirements:

• PhD degree in Agriculture, Agrometeorology, Agronomy, Crop Science, Soil Science, Natural Resource Management, or related discipline with experience in systems related research with more than 4 years of experience post PhD.
• Significant expertise in the parameterization, validation and application of crop models, preferably APSIM with good understanding of other models, in agronomic research and incorporation of findings into extension material and publications.
• A good understanding of climate risk assessment and the role and usefulness of climate information services in agriculture and expertise in the management and analytics of data related to climate information and predictive models of future climate
• A strong publication record, as evidenced by research papers in refereed journals.
• Strong statistical knowledge of computer applications and software for data management and analysis.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural team and in working with a wide range of stakeholders and interest to work in interdisciplinary team
• Ability and willingness to participate in field work and travel extensively in West and Central Africa (WCA)
• Excellence in English and French (both spoken and written)

General:

This is a contractual position for a period of 36 months.

How to apply:

Applicants should apply on or before 10 November 2024 with their latest Resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

ICRISAT is an equal opportunity employer

Key Skills: systems modelling, APSIM, DSSAT, farming systems, climate risk management, cropping systems, climate data

Additional/Preferred Skills: publications, communication skills, capacity building

Preferred Qualifications: PhD degree in Agriculture, PhD in Agrometerorology, PhD in Crop Science, PhD in Soil Science, PhD in NRM, PhD in Agronomy

Preferred Industry Experience: 2-4 years

Why ICRISAT?

ICRISAT offers a rewarding career opportunity in dryland agricultural research to have a lasting impact on millions of lives and communities. The state of the art research infrastructure with high performance culture, ICRISAT provides global exposure and learning. For more details, visit www.icrisat.org