Postdoctoral Researcher – Crop-Livestock-Tree Production Systems Analysis

The Organization

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium (www.cgiar.org) – delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives in a climate crisis (https://alliancebioversityciat.org). The Alliance focuses on the nexus of agriculture, nutrition, and environment, working with local, national, and multinational partners across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and with the public and private sectors and civil society. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people.

The Alliance is a new venture created to turn food and agriculture systems around to be more sustainable healthy, and inclusive. Combining the experience and strengths of the two organizations – including gene-banks, use and conservation of agrobiodiversity, climate-smart and digital agriculture, nutrition, and participatory research – will help the Alliance lead the way on six key Levers of change: (1) food environment and consumer behavior, (2) multifunctional landscapes, (3) climate action, (4) biodiversity for food and agriculture, (5) digital inclusion, and (6) crops for nutrition and health. These are all the pressure points where the Alliance can play a catalytic role with interventions that can trigger multiplier effects for positive change.

About the position

The Crops for Nutrition and Health lever of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Systems Analyst to support the Tropical Forages team in Asia and work in the CGIAR in Sustainable Mixed Farming Systems. The candidate needs to develop a deep understanding of smallholder crop-livestock-tree production systems in South-East Asia. He/she will hereby build on their strong technical skills in quantitative modeling approaches and tools. The desired candidate should be an innovative, dynamic professional able to work independently with minimal supervision, but also to participate as a team member in the accomplishment of duties.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and oversee on-station and on-farm agronomic experiments and data collection and integrate with socio-economic data for further analysis
• Design, implement and maintain databases for storing farming systems and environmental data
• Apply bio-economic and biophysical models to identify best-bet forage-based technologies across household and landscape levels in crop-livestock-tree systems
• Write-up and publish research results
• Communicate research results and practical implications to a variety of stakeholders

Qualifications and requirements:

• A Ph.D. degree related to agriculture, environment, ecology, natural resource management and/or related fields or an MSc degree with a minimum of 3 years of work experience
• Good understanding of crop-livestock-tree production systems, preferably in South-East Asia. Experience in forages is an added advantage
• Experience with participatory co-design approaches of mixed farming systems
• Experience in setting up and monitoring field trials
• Strong technical skills in quantitative household-level modeling, programming, and data analysis.
• Experience with R programming, GIS mapping and spatial analysis skills are added advantage
• Excellent English communication skills, both written and oral
• Proven experience in writing various publications including peer-reviewed journal papers
• Ability to work with various researchers across teams, regions, and projects
• Willingness to travel including to remote locations for fieldwork

Terms of employment

This is an internationally recruited post-doctoral position and will be based in Vientiane (Laos) but will involve regular travel to other South-East Asian countries. The initial contract will be for up to two (2) years, subject to a probation period of six (6) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources. This position is currently graded at level BG08 (on a scale of 14 levels, BG14 being the highest level) with a view on career development.

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with a competitive salary and excellent benefits. We are an equal opportunity employer, and strive for gender, diversity, and inclusion in our staff, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic.