DIGITAL AGRICULTURE ACTION MANAGER-VACANCY AT INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution. That generates agricultural innovations to improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, and increase employment. Preserve natural resource integrity, and enhance system resilience to biotic and abiotic threats and climate change. To enable agriculture transformation in sub-Saharan Africa. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for food, nutrition, and income-secure future for all.

Digital Agriculture Action Manager Responsibilities:

1. Develop/Improve Integrated ICT Platform For Digital Agriculture Action

• Integrate digital data and develop/enhance the use of available ICTs for discovery research, decision support, development, delivery, and knowledge sharing to ensure widescale adoption for impact.
• Develop a strategy to improve the efficiency of ICT uses within IITA and its partner programs and encourage bundling of complementary apps for simultaneous promotion.
• Create avenues for interoperability of databases and ICT apps using APIs for metadata analysis and analytics for decision support and machine learning models and AI for trends, analytics, data visualization, data-driven decisions, and forecasting.
• Co-develop and execute a Digital Agriculture strategy aligning with the goals and objectives of the Digital Agriculture initiative plans in consultation with the IITA Digital Working Group and the senior management team.
• Coordinate the development of a suite of ICT packages for targeted digitalization of value chains, including development/improving existing ICTs (Web and Mobile Apps, and others) to promote and modernize research, service delivery, and extension.
• Co-design digital advisory services to enable crop advisory information access to various user groups and typologies to improve service delivery to farmers and other value chain actors.
• Set up a dynamic graphical dashboard on the IITA webpage to summarize the progress and key achievements of the IITA activities, and access actionable information.

2, Coordinate Activities of the Digital Agriculture Action

• Lead the Digital Agricultural team in implementing and managing activities and collaborating with different staff in IITA and partners to integrate digital initiatives into broader strategies.
• Prepare annual work plans, targets, performance indicators, and progress reports and provide advice and guidance for implementing the Digital Agricultural Initiative.
• Oversee the development and implementation of use cases and promotion campaigns, including website and social media presence, to encourage a higher adoption rate of digital solutions in agriculture.
• Support IITA staff and partners in identifying opportunities to introduce and strengthen digital technologies to support agriculture research, development, and delivery, facilitate market access for farmers and entrepreneurs, including youth and women, and exchange information.
• Develop ICT Community of Practice (iCOP) at IITA and coordinate its activities, including creating an enabling platform for the co-development of digital solutions, nurturing new ideas, designing promotional campaigns, conducting capacity development activities, and documentation of best practices and success cases.

3. Evaluate User Landscape and Guide the Development of fit-for-purpose ICT applications

• Facilitate an assessment of the digital agriculture landscape at IITA and partners to identify gaps, opportunities, and areas for strengthening in consultation with stakeholders (including developers, input providers, policymakers, enablers, users, and beneficiaries) with a focus on scope, content, digital services needs for various applications in alignment with IITA strategy.
• Provide recommendations for developing novel digital tools. And improving existing tools to enhance the decision support systems, communications, outreach, capacity development, and operational efficiency.
• Identify opportunities for partnerships in promoting and supporting digital agriculture with the public and private sectors.
• Organize training and awareness activities for various stakeholders. On developing and applying digital tools for the most efficient use and data sharing.
• Facilitate cost-benefit analyses of use cases of various digital tools. And provide recommendations for improving efficiency and benefits from using digital tools. Including business models for the promotion and adoption of various ICT decision-support tools.
• Organize feedback surveys for stakeholders and user feedback. On content, suitability, the relevance of applications to end means, operational costs, sustainability for learning, and continuous improvement.
• Document and disseminate the best practices and success cases.

4. Develop sustainable plans for Digital Agriculture Action

• Engage in resource mobilization activities in collaboration with the IITA team and partners. On generating new solutions, enhancing available tools, and promoting their uses, and capacity development activities.
• Ensure the security of ICT assets from malware and phishing threats and compliance with data security and privacy policies.
• Participate in the technical review and consultation meetings. Organized by the IITA and other stakeholders to promote and gain support for digital agriculture.
• Stay up to date on digital trends and new technologies and make recommendations for their adoption and implementation.
• Provide regular reports to senior management on the performance of the Digital Agriculture Action and recommend areas for improvement.
• Perform any other job-related duties relevant to Digital Agriculture Action assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications 

The candidate should have a Master’s degree/MBA in a relevant field. Such as Computer Science, Information Technology, Digital Marketing, Agribusiness, Quantitative Methods, or Development Studies. Working knowledge on developing Web and mobile applications, AI/Machine learning, and developing digital products for development are advantageous.