CORAF/WECARD Associate Scientists Programme for West/Central Africa 2018 (Fully-funded to Dakar, Senegal)

Applications are open for 2018 Initiative for Capacity Strengthening of NARS Scientists in West and Central Africa. Like previous years, the 2018 Programme aims at recruiting three (3) young professionals from NARS, working in research and agricultural developments. They will support the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) Executive Secretariat in its mission of coordination, facilitation of regional research and management of knowledge flowing from agricultural research.

Successful candidates will stay one whole year (12 months) at CORAF/WECARD Headquarters in Dakar, Senegal and may travel within West and Central Africa sub-region depending on needs.

About

The Vision of CORAF/WECARD is “a sustainable reduction in poverty and food insecurity in WCA through an increase in agricultural-led economic growth and sustainable improvement of key aspects of the agricultural research system”.
The mission is to ensure “a sustainable improvement of the competitiveness, productivity and markets of the agricultural system of West and Central Africa by meeting the major demands of target groups of the sub-regional research system”.

• The process for developing Strategic and Operational Plans is facilitated with substantial support;
• Keys research areas covered by CORAF/WECARD priority programmes are adequately controlled;
• Procedures for developing and managing regional projects are adequately controlled;
• Administrative and financial operations of CORAF/WECARD and management of relationships with CORAF/WECARD partners are facilitated;
• Operating mode, results and lessons learnt from management of regional projects coordinated by CORAF/WECARD are capitalized;
• A model for capacity strengthening of NARS stakeholders within a sub-regional organization is developed;
• A distance learning model focused on capacity strengthening of NARS stakeholders in management of regional research is developed.

Benefits

Selected candidates will be given a round trip ticket from and back to their country, a health insurance subscribed for the duration of the stay and a monthly allowance of 900,000 FCFA (Nine hundred thousand CFA) to cover accommodation, food, transport and various local expenses.

Eligibility

• Applicants should be scientists, lecturer-scientists or specialists in the development and management of research and development projects
• Be at most 40 years old with some potential to benefit from capacity strengthening in agricultural research and development.
• They should also hold a Master or Doctorate (PhD) in Agronomy, Veterinary Science, Zootechnics, Sociology, Rural Geography, Agroeconomy, Biotechnology, Natural Resources, Statistics, Biometrics or any other field in relation with agricultural research and development.
• Candidates should also have strong ability in analysis and study of reports, results, data and information from various sources and summarize them in a well-structured manner.
• They should have excellent oral and written communication skills in English and French.
• Applications from women are strongly encouraged.

Countries:

The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) is composed of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of 23 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tomé et Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Application

Applications should include :

• Curriculum vitae with certified copy of degrees ;
• a written authorization from the Director General of the Institution to which the candidate is affiliated, specifying that salary and other advantages of the candidate will be maintained during the stay at CORAF/WECARD;
• an expression of interest (maximum two pages) specifying the usefulness of the training to their Institution and;
• indicate their availability to assume duty one month after their notification by CORAF/WECARD in case they are selected.

Applications should be sent by e-mail at [email protected] and addressed to CORAF/WECARD Executive Director, 7, Avenue Bourguiba, Dakar, Senegal latest by 15 January 2018.at 17 :00 GMT