Cassava Commodity Specialist at IITA - International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

Position/Responsibilities:
• Lead the technical work on cassava and along the value chain.
• Lead the preparation of the technical reports of the cassava value chain as required by the donor and in conformity with the IITA requirements.
• Make necessary arrangements and work out logistics for project workshops, meetings, and monitoring tours related to the cassava value chain.
• Work out logistics for all training activities related to the cassava value chain planned under this project.
• Lead a series of regional trials of near-finished cassava cultivars in all participating countries.
• Provide leadership in designing, planning, and implementing on-Farm/Demonstration Trials.
• Include the youth in project implementation as a way of generating jobs in agribusiness.
• Present the activities, results, and impacts of the cassava value chain of the project at scientific meetings within and outside the region; and present scientific papers for publication in peer- reviewed journals s appropriate.
• Assist and collaborate fully with specialists involved in project areas such as Socio-Economics, Farmer Participatory Research, Agronomy, Natural Resource Management and External Advisory Committees; and
• Undertake any other project-related task assigned by the Outreach Program Coordinator or the Director General of IITA or his designated representative.

Qualification and Experience
Education: PhD in agriculture with a major in plant breeding, agronomy, or a related field.
Working Experience: A minimum of 10 years experience in tropical agriculture, five of which will be with the development of cassava value chains in Africa.

The ideal candidate must: i) have the capacity to work effectively in a team; ii) be competent in the use of Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; iii) have demonstrated evidence of the ability to lead research work with clear results on this; and iv) experience in working with the youth in agribusiness would be an additional asset.

Language: The candidate should communicate fluently (orally and in writing) in the English language.