Vacancy title:
Research Officer

Jobs at:
Wageningen UR Uganda

Deadline of this Job:
4th March 2018

Duty Station:
Kampala, Uganda

Job details:
Wageningen UR Uganda is implementing a 4-year ISSD Plus project to be funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kampala The programme aims to strengthen the development of a vibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented seed sector that is able to address key challenges. ISSD Plus project has 4 components: al promotion of uptake of quality seed b) enhancing the Quality Declared Seed system and support Local Seed Businesses; 4:) addressing bottlenecks in early generation seed; and d) promotion of advanced vegetable variety/seed use. The project is implemented in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) for public varieties of food crops and private sector for vegetable seed. Field offices are located at selected Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (ZARDI),

Wageningen UR Uganda seeks to recruit enthusiastic and highly motivated persons for the following position all based in Kampala:
Post: Research Officer — Bundling maize seed with insurance
Reports to: Chief of Party

Research project:
To enhance the scientific understanding of why farmers are not buying quality seed, but mainly use home-saved seed and re-plant grain from the local market, Wageningen UR Uganda Ltd complements the ISSD plus project by conducting scientific research on male and female farmers‘ perceived risks spectrums and low willingness to pay for certified maize seed The project will experiment with bundling drought tolerant maize varieties with index insurance and/or other products that cover farmers perceived risks and find out whether bundling will increase willingness to pay for maize seed and therefore increases demand for these varieties.

Job summary:
The Research Officer (RO) reports to the Chief of Party and in close liaison with the Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator and the Agricultural Economist. RO Will support the Chief of party in the day-to-day co-ordination of the research project, sate-guarding scientific rigor, liaising with key stakeholders and provide (maize) agronomic knowledge on farming systems and climate smart agriculture.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
A MSc degree in Agronomy or Crop Science with experience in the agricultural sector, At least 5 years ‘relevant maize agronomic work experience; Technical experience in managing quantitative and qualitative data collection arid analysis; Proven interest in conducting agricultural related research; Excellent conceptual and analytical skills directly related l0 the work m the seed and/ or maize sector, including excellent writing skills: Capacity to produce high quality reports. Computer literacy skills

Job application procedure
Please refer to our website: www.issduganda.org/news  for the detailed Job roles and responsibilities.
Applications procedure: Interested candidates can send their application letters and CV (max. 3 pages) to hr@issduganda.org  Please DO NOT attach certificates or academic qualification. Deadline for applications is until position is tilled or latest 4th March 2018.