Agriculture Economist, USAID Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services Midterm Performance Evaluation at Social Impact (SI)

Locations: Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger
Timeline: August 2022 – December 2022

Scope of Work

• Agriculture Economist of Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services Midterm Performance Evaluation
• Social Impact is a global development management consulting firm. We provide monitoring, evaluation, strategic planning, and capacity-building services to advance development effectiveness.
• We work across all development sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. Since 1997 we have worked in over 100 countries for clients such as US government agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and nonprofits.
• In Nigeria, SI supports Navanti in implementing the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Support Activity which provides comprehensive MEL and Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) support to strengthen USAID/Nigeria’s results for increased learning and accountability and contribute to the implementation of its Country Development Cooperation Strategy.

Project Objective

• USAID/Nigeria has engaged the MEL Support Activity to conduct an external Midterm Performance Evaluation of integrated health activity.
• This Activity aims to partner with SMEs to test, replicate, and scale models of smallholder-oriented service delivery that will rapidly, effectively, and sustainably provide access to agro-inputs and services and disseminate extension messaging to two million smallholder farmers in Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Niger.
• The primary purpose of this mid-term performance evaluation is to determine whether the assistance provided by USAID/Nigeria to beneficiary MSMEs through the Agriculture Extension and Advisory Services Activity is meeting the stated development objectives and to understand the lessons learned from this Activity in Nigeria.  
• It is intended to provide an independent examination of the overall progress and accomplishments of the Activity. 
• The estimated start date will be August 15, 2022. The evaluation is expected to last until December 2022, and the estimated LOE will be 37 days, maximum.

Position Description

• We are seeking an Agriculture Economist who will be supporting the evaluation team’s effort.
• Under the technical leadership of the MEL Support Activity, the Agriculture Economist will be working alongside one Team Leader and two Nigerian team members.
• The Agriculture Economist will consult with the team and provide input to the deliverables throughout the duration of the evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Contribute expertise and technical inputs to the work plan. Support the design of the evaluation, methodology, development of instruments, data collection, synthesis of data, presentations, and report.
• Perform desk review and identify additional information required for analysis.
• Schedule and interview key stakeholders and beneficiaries.
• In consultation with the Team Leader, support the team's ongoing analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.
• Support the preparation and presentation of the In brief and Out-brief to USAID/Nigeria and other stakeholders as requested.
• Write assigned sections of the draft Evaluation report in coordination with the team members, taking into consideration feedback from the Out-brief presentation.
• Support the Team Leader to respond to USAID comments on the draft report and prepare a final report.
• Work collaboratively with team members throughout design, implementation, analysis, and report writing to complement each other's areas of expertise.

Qualifications
The candidate is expected to have the following qualifications:

• A Master's Degree in Agriculture Economics, Development Economics, Public Policy, Economics, Business Administration, Agriculture or a related field.
• Must possess technical competence in the field of Agriculture, Agricultural Policy, Agribusiness and Agriculture value chains, Economics, or related fields.
• S/he must have a minimum of five (5) years of conducting economic assessments and studies in the agriculture sector and must have strong report writing and analytical skills.
• S/he must demonstrate strong knowledge of the Nigerian agricultural policy and agricultural extension services.
• Strong background in qualitative data collection methods, including focus group discussions (FGD), and key informants/ in-depth interviews (KII/IDI).
• Strong communication skills, both interpersonal and written.
• S/he must demonstrate a high command of English language written and verbal fluency.