Senior Technical Expert II- Agricultural Policy

Vacancy Announcement

ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION INSTITUTE

Position:                                      Senior Technical Expert II- Agricultural Policy 

Term of Employment:                One Year with a possibility of extension  

Duty Station(s):                          Addis Ababa 

Required Number:                      One

Application Deadline:                 October 31, 2024

Background 

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI), formerly known as the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), is a strategy and delivery-oriented government institute created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of Ethiopia’s agriculture sector, which is a key contributor to the country’s GDP, exports, and workforce. The ATI’s work is centred on improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers (SHFs) across the country for improved income, inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability. 

The ATI works to transform the agriculture sector in Ethiopia by conducting policy and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support and capacity building, coordinating.  platforms to better integrate partners and projects and designing and directly leading several innovative/pilot interventions. The Institute joins forces with various stakeholders, including policymakers, researchers, farmers, and development partners, to support the implementation of agricultural development programs and initiatives. In addition, the ATI collaborates with national and international partners to facilitate knowledge exchange and learning opportunities. The Institute plays a crucial role in generating and disseminating information to support evidence-based decision-making in Ethiopia’s agricultural sector.

Our Culture

We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results.  Our culture is one where talented, dedicated, and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great teamwork to achieve excellent results. 

At ATI, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector.  We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training.  We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our employees with the tools, training, and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.

Program and position summary

The Agriculture-focused Dignified Employment for Youth in Ethiopia (ADEY) Program is designed to create inclusive and dignified work opportunities for over 600,000 youth across eight regions: Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, Sidama, Southwest Ethiopia, South Ethiopia, Central Ethiopia, and Somali. The program focuses on agriculture and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), aiming to improve access to agricultural input and output markets, finance, and capacity-building opportunities. It seeks to enhance the competitiveness of youth-owned MSMEs through skills development and to create an enabling environment for sustainable work opportunities through targeted policy interventions.

The Senior Technical Expert II will play a pivotal role in supporting the policy unit by providing technical expertise and analysis to develop and draft policy instruments essential for the successful execution of the ADEY Program. This program is central to accelerating ATI’s job creation plan, with a particular focus on supporting young women entrepreneurs and wage-employment seekers, fostering self-sustained livelihoods in alignment with the newly revised agricultural and rural development (ARD) policy.

Working closely with the policy team and the ADEY project team, the Senior Policy Expert’s primary objective is to create an enabling environment by addressing policy gaps and facilitating ecosystems that challenge restrictive gender and social norms. One of the key barriers to youth engagement in agriculture is the need for a conducive policy environment. This includes drafting and amending legislations such as proclamations, regulations and directives, and promoting unenacted policy instruments. The Senior Policy Expert will also lead policy dialogues and advocacy efforts to ensure the successful implementation of ADEY program interventions.

The ideal candidate will have a deep passion for improving the lives of young entrepreneurs in agribusiness, utilizing agribusiness as a pathway for employment (agri-entrepreneurship). A strong familiarity with Ethiopia’s agricultural policy landscape is essential, along with the entrepreneurial ability to visualize transformation, mobilize stakeholders, drive innovation, and implement change.

The Senior Technical Expert II will report functionally to the ADEY Deputy Director and have a matrix reporting line to the Policy and Study Director. The successful candidate needs to be dynamic, possess a problem-solving mindset, and demonstrate excellent communication skills. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES:

Senior Technical Expert II play a critical role in shaping, implementing, and evaluating policies that influence the agricultural sector, ensuring they are both inclusive and sustainable for all stakeholders involved. The Expert contributes substantially to the engagement of youths in agribusiness development and supporting the identification and development of policy instruments necessary to ensure the implementation of the ADEY program interventions that focus but not limited to youth employment in agribusiness with major focus on young women.

• Carry out in-depth policy research in the agriculture and employment sectors, including existing frameworks, emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities to inform policy decisions.
• Desk review of policy environments and facilitating conducive ecosystems that enhance engagement of youths in the agriculture sector. 
• Develop a literature review document which covers the international and local state of the critical barriers to youth employment in agriculture and sound legislative recommendations, especially focusing on job creation in the sector.
• Organize validation workshops to socialize studies, to review findings, and to collect additional inputs to enrich draft policy instruments. 
• Analyze the employment data to understand the impact of existing policies and recommend improvements.
• Assess the socioeconomic and environmental effects of agricultural policies on employment of various youth groups, including women men, persons with disabilities and internally displaced persons.
• Develop and draft agricultural policies that promote inclusiveness, sustainable productivity and growth.
• Provide evidence-based advice to ensure agricultural policies align with broader national development goals, such as food security, economic growth, employment, and climate resilience.
• Engage with stakeholders, including government agencies, the private sector, civil society, and local communities, to gather input and ensure policies are comprehensive and inclusive.
• Advocate for the adoption of policies that address the needs of vulnerable groups, such as smallholder farmers, women, and youth.
• Design and implement awareness raising activities on agricultural policies and their implications on inclusive and sustainable agricultural development.
• Develop implementation plans for agricultural policies, including timelines, resources, and key performance indicators.
• Collaborate with government ministries, agricultural agencies, and international organizations to ensure policies are effectively implemented.
• Continuously monitor the progress of policy implementation to ensure targets are met, addressing any challenges or bottlenecks
• Monitor the impact of policy instrument and legal framework and disseminate lesson learned.
• Provide training and capacity-building supports to government officials, NGOs, and agricultural practitioners on policy frameworks and their implementation.
• Organize workshops, seminars, and forums to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned among stakeholders.
• Advocate for the adoption of modern agricultural technologies and practices through policies that encourage innovation and sustainable farming.
• Design and implement monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track the effectiveness of agricultural policies.
• Regularly assess the social, economic, and environmental impact of policies on farmers, communities, and the agricultural sector.
• Advocate for policies that promote sustainable agriculture, including resource conservation, climate resilience, and biodiversity preservation.
• Ensure policies are inclusive and address the needs of marginalized groups such as youth, women, and smallholder farmers, offering them opportunities for growth and participation in agricultural markets.
• Ensure agricultural policies comply with national and international legal and regulatory frameworks.
• Provide expertise on necessary legal reforms to create an enabling environment for agricultural development, including land reforms, market access, and trade regulations.
• Undertake extensive policy dialogue that strongly focuses and involves youth.
• Support popularization and enforcement of policy and legal frameworks to ensure the engagement of youth in agriculture sector, with its job creation opportunity perspective for the youth and women.
• Improve policy enabling environment through adapting, promoting, and enforcing implementation of legal frameworks.
•  Prepare reports and recommendations for policymakers based on M&E findings to improve policy performance and outcomes.
• Consult and collaborate with interested parties.

Required Qualifications, Competencies, Skills, and Experience

• Minimum of master’s degree in public policy, economic policy, agricultural economics, gender, and other related field of studies.
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in national policy, including analytical issues relating to agriculture and job creation. 
• Good understanding of Ethiopia’s agricultural system, with a broad perspective on how the entire system operates and how public, private, and informal actors operate within the system. 
• Good understanding of the issues of unemployment and the employment opportunities available for youths and women in agribusiness sub-sector both as entrepreneur and wage-based employment.  
• Ability to build relationships with all kinds of people. 
• Highly facilitative and collaborative leadership style.
• Excellent adaptive problem-solver in challenging environment.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• Strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty and desire to be of service. 
• Demonstrated behavior towards organizational values with high integrity.
• Highly collaborative with well-developed organizational skills 
• Ability to multitasking and prioritizing tasks.
• Excellent and effective time management skills and punctual
• The ability to effectively manage email, calendar, travel, and meetings.    
• Ability to work under pressure and in a constantly evolving and challenging environment.
• Strong interpersonal and English communication skills (both verbal and written), including ability to create and deliver compelling presentations.

How To Apply

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to submit (i) a cover letter and (ii) a CV (maximum 5 pages) to https://apply.ata.gov.et

It is mandatory to mention the position title under the subject line of your application email.  

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.  

Women are highly encouraged to apply. 

NB. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.