BACKGROUND

The 2SCALE program, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, is one of the most innovative incubator programs for inclusive agribusiness in sub-Saharan Africa. 2SCALE (www.2scale.org) develops a portfolio of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in a selection of target countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which include Francophone and Anglophone countries in West Africa. The 2SCALE program incubates and accelerates inclusive business through partnerships with companies (mainly African small- and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] and some Dutch/ international companies) that want to build commercially viable strategies in African food industries through: 1) sustainable sourcing, based on mutually beneficial relations with smallholder farmers, and 2) by serving local and regional Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) markets.

The program offers a platform to develop new contextualized business models and value chain arrangements that effectively integrate smallholder farmers, employees and other local entrepreneurs that produce agri-food products on the one hand, and supply BoP consumers of quality food products on the other. It will set up and support partnership and business models with significant potential to attract and employ the youth, to engage and empower women, and to improve food and nutrition security, both at grassroots level and at the consumer end of the value chain. The program will specifically focus on the replication of successful business models and on the institutional factors that drive or constrain systematic and transformative change in agricultural sectors and food systems. Translating proven models into replication and cross learning ensures the distribution of knowledge and skills as a global public good and installs multipliers for achieving targets for inclusive development. Moreover, aligning hands-on bottom-up practices to sector or area-based transformation processes catalyzes inclusive development processes towards food security, markets that are more transparent, healthy/ nutritious consumption, and a viable countryside.

POSITION SUMMARY

The action research / M&E specialist for Burkina_Mali_Niger is part of the Partnerships Resource Centre (PrC) team. PrC is a strategic partner to 2SCALE and supports the 2SCALE program through action-research on partnership specific theories of change, prioritization of activities for deepening and scaling of partnerships and related business models, and case studies. The action-research program focuses on strategic questions about the contributions of partnership arrangements to the intervention repertoire for inclusive development and aims to identify pathways for replicating proven inclusive business models and for aligning partnerships with policy. The PrC is also responsible for the design of the Monitoring & Evaluation framework of 2SCALE and for leading the implementation of this M&E framework within the West and East African 2SCALE target countries.

The Action Researcher / M&E specialist is responsible for the co-creation, application and monitoring of the Impact Pathways framework at the level of partnerships in Burkina_Mali_Niger. The Action Researcher / M&E specialist in Burkina_Mali_Niger also contributes to data collecting and regular monitoring of the outcomes and contributions to development impacts at partnership level. The Action Researcher / M&E specialist is responsible for the design and implementation of all research activities related to the partnerships under her/ his responsibility.

The Action Researcher / M&E specialist develops an appreciative and participatory approach to action research and engages with the unfolding processes of inclusive development set in motion by partnerships. In addition to coaching partnership facilitators and supporting partnerships, the Action Researcher / M&E specialist also conducts case studies to deepen the understanding and practice of partnership working on inclusive development. S/he develops a contextual understanding of the capacities developed and mobilized by partnerships and has an open eye to the tensions, risks and unintended consequences of the interventions of and collaboration in partnerships. 

The Action Researcher / M&E specialist works closely with the partnerships and the 2SCALE facilitators in ensuring that information for M&E is gathered in a timely and do-able manner with a specific interest in the influence of partnerships on the terms of inclusion of smallholder farmers, micro-enterprises and workers, and on the terms of access to food of low-income consumers in different market channels.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

S/he will be responsible for the following tasks:

Monitoring inclusive development at partnership level

• Conceive, visualize and broker partnership specific impact pathways and theories of change, initially with partnership facilitator and subsequently deliberated and agreed upon by partners;
• Identify and agree with partnerships on Markers for Change (M4C) and develop ways to monitor impact pathways tailored to the specific conditions under which partnerships operate;
• Integrate secondary baseline data on sector or area dynamics into the deliberation among partners on the monitoring of impact pathways and inclusive development during the diagnostic phase of partnerships and during the identification of M4C and setting of target values for the universal impact indicators;
• Reflect on the relevance and possibly refine M4C in order to support the monitoring and self-reporting by partnerships of the evolving process of change.
• Coach and support partnership facilitators in taking responsibility for organizing monitoring and information sharing at partnership level;
• Regularly reflect with the partnership facilitators on progress and direction of the process of inclusive development and encourage country-level learning processes of 2SCALE teams;
• Support a reflexive conversation among partners on possible amendment of impact pathways and the sequence and priority of interventions and actions.

M&E at partnership level

• Receive and process data monitoring the direction and progress of change of individual partnerships supported by 2SCALE (together with Partnership Facilitators) and to train, coach, collaborate with partnerships and partnership facilitators to design and use easy-to-handle tools for collecting and self-reporting information;
• Orchestrate the active involvement of country-level partnership facilitators, consultants, BSSs/ coaches and other relevant stakeholders (e.g., partners) and – if needed – interns/ students to assure that the data are collected in a reliable fashion and that M&E has been effectively integrated into each partnership’s interventions.
• Pro-actively collect and use feedback from partnership facilitators and partners to identify necessary conditions for implementing the M&E framework and to act when adaptations may be needed;
• Ensure that all partnership agreements and service provider contracts (i.e., service agreements, consultancy contracts) include specifications for the internal monitoring required of them, the reporting systems and the penalties for failure to report as specified;
• Contribute to training and capacity building activities supporting the participatory approach to M&E central to the program, particularly involving partnership facilitators and BSSs/coaches who conduct data collection at (target) value chain and agribusiness cluster levels.

Case-based analysis of the incubation of inclusive agribusiness

• Use process tracing as a method to demonstrate the ways in which a sample of partnerships contribute to transformative processes of inclusive development;
• Assess the capacities of partnerships to co-create, direct and realize inclusive development and incorporate these insights in program-wide learning processes;
• Conduct in-depth case study research documenting the different modalities in which partnerships align business models of leading commercial actors, smallholder farmers and/or micro-enterprises in the making of inclusive development;
• Perform case-based assessments and analyze the contribution of partnerships to making healthy and nutritious food accessible for low-income consumers in peri-urban and rural markets;

Replicating and accelerating inclusive agribusiness

• Support 2SCALE in the replication of models for inclusive development by documenting, typifying, visualizing and presenting emerging modalities of inclusive agribusiness in selected partnerships;
• Facilitate benchmarking by private sector actors of approaches to inclusive agribusiness realized by partnerships supported by 2SCALE;
• Participate in forward-looking dialogues about the conditions for scaling inclusive agribusiness; both by including large numbers and replicating proven practices;
• Explore with country teams ways to engage the public sector in the inclusive business strategies catalyzed by 2SCALE;
• Represent the program in national sector, industry or knowledge networks and at relevant national/ local events enabling connections to other (area-based) programs, industry platforms or business associations.

Any other assignment that the supervisors deem necessary for the success of the program or contribution to the work of 2SCALE.

 SUPERVISION

The Action Researcher / M&E specialist will be part of the team led and coordinated by PrC, the Partnerships Resource Centre. PrC is a strategic partner to the 2SCALE program. It is a dedicated research center positioned within the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, the Netherlands, involving also Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The PrC creates, connects and shares knowledge on cross-sector partnerships for sustainable and inclusive development. The PrC aims to monitor, analyze and understand how cross-sector partnerships work and how they can contribute to sustainable and inclusive transformations. PrC has local staff in both the West and East Africa region to provide guidance and coaching to the 2SCALE team. The PrC team is jointly responsible for the research design and implementation, and team members communicate via skype and when possible organize intensive working sessions in the field with partnership facilitators.

The Action Researcher / M&E specialist is based in Burkina_Mali_Niger and will be supervised by and reports to M&E/AR field team Coordinator based in Burkina. The Action Researcher / M&E specialist is expected to implement fieldwork activities independently and to manage the organizational and financial aspects when in the field. The Action Researcher / M&E specialist writes and submits in time monthly activity reports, as well as other technical reports or notes. S/he works in close collaboration with the entire management of 2SCALE, and the other colleagues of the PrC team.

The Action Researcher / M&E specialist will be contracted by IFDC. The work will involve international and regional travelling. The financial and administrative matters will be handled by the SNV office in Burkina. An allocated budget for expenses and travel costs is available.

WHAT WE OFFER

• TERMS OF CONTRACT: After probation period of 3 months, we intend to offer a contract until the end of the 2SCALE program half 2023 in conditions of labour law in Burkina Faso, which will be renewable periodically based on performance and subject to availability of funds.
• REMUNERATION: competitive remuneration reviewable annually based on performance.
• SUPERVISOR: Reporting to M&E/AR field team Coordinator of PrC team based in Burkina.

 HOW TO APPLY?

Applications should be submitted via this 'apply' section of this portal.

Please clearly indicate the title of the position "M&E specialist for Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger" in the subject of your application email. Your application should include the following information:

1. An application letter explaining your motivation and aptitude for the position.
2. A detailed CV including personal details (name, contact details, age, gender), academic trainings, work experience and a list of publications. Please also include language skills, computing and (academic) software skills and knowledge of research for development (R4D) 
3. Scanned copies of academic certificates (bachelors and masters) and associated lists of marks/qualifications for courses followed.

Names and contact details (email address) of two references.

Required Skills Required Experience

QUALIFICATIONS

We are looking for an enthusiastic team player, with a M&E interest in a complex intervention program, educated in the social sciences, statistics and experienced in fields of M&E in action-oriented research together with private sector partners, governments, base of the pyramid (BoP) consumers and organised farmers. The successful candidate must have the following qualifications:

• A strong academic record in a relevant social science discipline (MSc completed), with proven analytical skills and relevant knowledge of inclusive agribusiness development in Africa and a strong ambition to upgrade scientific knowledge and academic skills.
  • A completed master program in development studies, business or management studies, agricultural extension, sociology or anthropology or any other interdisciplinary field;
  • Knowledge and skills regarding research design and experienced in qualitative approaches to data analysis and presentation.
  • Knowledge of one or more local Burkinabe, Malian or Nigerien languages, while not necessary, will be a plus.
• Hands-on experience in M&E tasks of complex intervention programs.
  • Proven experience in systematically collecting and processing data;
  • Capacity to check quality of data submitted by partners;
  • Affinity with working with theories of change / impact pathways and open to using multiple methods for evaluation.
• Proven ability to collaborate with a range of societal stakeholders and facilitate dialogues and multi-stakeholder processes.
  • Engagement with private sector initiatives, the public sector and public-private partnerships;
  • Capacity to carry out independent fieldwork and organize workshops with a communicative attitude to practitioners in specific targeted value chain sectors and policy;
  • Transdisciplinary attitude and proven experiences with innovative and crafty ways in dealing with different stakeholders.
• Demonstration of strong reflexive capacities both verbally and in writing.
  • A collaborative and team-oriented attitude, with an open mind for an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to M&E;
  • Experiences in sharing insights in the interface between society and sciences and preferably written reflection on M&E and deliberative processes.
• Strong oral and written communication skills in French and English.

EDUCATION AND/OR WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT:

• Problem-solving skills
• Decision-making skills
• Effective listening skills
• Negotiation skills
• Attention to detail 
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to read and interpret construction drawings and specifications. 
• Working knowledge of computers and experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Primavera (AutoCAD is a plus)
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• The ability to work independently as well as part of a team
• The ability to freely access all points of a construction site in wide-ranging climates and environments.
• Degree in Construction Management and/or engineering required.