Job Description:
To feed its growing population amid climate change and other challenges, the developing world needs a flourishing food system that is nutrition-sensitive, efficient, safe, healthy, and environmentally sustainable. This requires bringing modern technologies to local communities, helping stakeholders to acquire the relevant technical know-how, and building strong partnerships and institutions. Developed countries around the world can play important roles in these efforts and Japan is one of them. We explore how Japan can lend its expertise to address food and nutrition challenges in the developing world by examining the transferability of Japan’s advanced technologies, know-how and institutional innovations to the developing world.

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), under the financial support through the Japanese Government’s FY2025 Supplementary Budget, implements the project “Reducing food loss with AI-assisted photo-based quality assessment in conflict-affected Northeast Nigeria”.

In many developing countries, including Nigeria, much of fruit and vegetable production is lost largely because of lack of an adequate cold chain, including postharvest handling, cold storage and temperature-controlled transportation. As a result, not only the availability of fish, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs and meat but also the safety and nutritional content of the food are affected. Under such conditions, all agents in the supply chain including farmers suffer from income reduction, while consumers face un-stable and lower-quality supply of normally more nutritious foods. The proposed intervention aims to accurately measure the magnitude of food loss and identify critical areas to reduce the loss at the post-harvest chain from farmgate to retail markets. AI-assisted photo-based quality and food loss assessment will be introduced to understand (a) quality distribution (including the rate of spoilage) and (b) the volume of loss in the tomato value chain at up to 40 wholesale and retail markets.

IFPRI is seeking qualified consultants who can develop AI programs for photo-based quality and food loss assessments on tomato. Tasks also include developing 3D measurement methods to estimate the volume of discarded tomatoes.

Scope of work:
• Proof-of-concept trial: Tomato quality classification and waste estimation via AI
• Development of a cloud-integrated operational system
• Deployment of an integrated market survey platform

Indicative Timeline:
April 2026 to March 2027. We anticipate signing a contract as soon as possible.

Required qualifications of the consultant / survey team leader:
• Demonstrated outstanding experience in developing (training) AI
• Demonstrated experience in applying AI to agricultural science and practices
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with international researchers

Preferred qualifications:
• Based in Japan
• Excellent tracking records in AI development
• Private company that has been engaged in applying AI and related technologies to improve agriculture
• Knowledgeable about tomato food loss in northeast Nigeria
• Proficiency in English

Requirements in the application:
• CV (project leader: PhD)
• Firm profile
• List of past/current projects with brief descriptions
• Cover letter
• Technical proposal (7 pages at minimum)

Deliverables:
• AI program: tomato quality assessment
• AI program: 3D measurement
• Refining the programs
• Extensions including other commodities

Deadline:
February 4, 2026