Job Description

The objectives of the project are: (1) To identify barriers to adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) practices, including biophysical, socioeconomic, and institutional and policy constraints; (2) To identify labor-efficient mechanization options for smallholder farmers; and (3) To identify approaches and strategies for inclusive scaling of CA practices. The project will go beyond bio-physical science (agronomic benefits) to encompass social and scaling science to understand not only the bio-physical performance but also the socio-economic and institutional drivers and barriers to adoption of CA technologies and practices.

Under the guidance of the Socio-economist for the ACASA project, the Research Associate will:

Design and conduct household surveys.

Conduct focus group discussions and key informant interviews.
Develop a database and conduct a meta-analysis of available data from surveys and on-station/on-farm experiments on adoption and benefits of conservation agriculture practices in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Conduct high-quality, scholarly literature reviews.
Analyze data and contribute to the writing of research reports, journal articles, policy briefs, and other publications of relevance to the project.
Assist with the organization of stakeholder workshops and consultations.
Participate in scientific workshops and conferences.
Train survey supervisors and enumerators.
Carry out any other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Requirements

MSc degree in Agric. Economics or Agribusiness from a recognized university.

Experience conducting economic analysis and familiarity/proficiency with various statistical software packages, such as Stata
Demonstrated ability to write research reports and journal papers.
Familiarity with both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
Proficiency with computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) software such as ODK, CSPro, etc.