ILRI Consultancy Jobs in Nairobi Kenya - GIZ Green Innovation Centre Project
ILRI Consultancy Jobs in Nairobi Kenya - GIZ Green Innovation Centre Project
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has been contracted by The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) to undertake a project on “Training materials for tools and smallholder dairy farmers: towards achieving climate smart livestock”.
This proposed project will consist of three components:
The development of a mobile phone application
Training materials for smallholder farmer training courses, and
An assessment of the potential of smallholder farmer training courses to meet the three pillars of climate smart agriculture.
ILRI works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR research centres dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa.
The position:
General background
ILRI seeks to recruit consultants to undertake the three components of this programme as follows:
Specialist technical advisor
This role’s primary function is to provide the scientific and technical input required for each of the other consultancies activities, which will include provision of the scientific input for each of the modules and sub-modules of the “e weigh “” app (see below), and identification of and access to the background materials for production of the farmer training courses. Given this crucial technical input, the advisor will also have oversight of the other two consultancies and the leaders of these will consult with the technical expert on all aspects of their activities.
Consultant to lead the development, testing and roll-out of “e-weigh “app
This component will deliver an android-based mobile phone application which will allow farmers to accurately estimate the liveweight (LW) of cattle using a heart-girth measurement. It will consist of two distinct modules, designed so that it can be upgraded or expanded for additional applications.
Consultant to write training materials for smallholder farmer training
Five training modules based upon the existing dairy farmer manual.
Final Products
Specialist technical advisor
Achievements
Milestone 1: Workplan for “e-weigh” application and 5 learning modules submitted to and approved by ILRI
Milestone 2: Documentation of Module 1 of “e-weigh “app architecture and design, software requirements specification, and a user guide; Acceptance of Module 1 Learning materials is submitted to ILRI.
Milestone 3: A brief report summarizing the delivery of the data base, plus sub-modules (a-c) for the “e-weigh app; Delivery of Training modules 2 &3.
Milestone 4: Report on farmer training/sensitization to “e weigh” app, including action to be taken regarding refinement/ revisions. Completion of training modules 4 &5.
Milestone 5: Handover of the apps: After the user request/modification, is complete the client will receive all reviewed and approved handover documentation at the end of a project in digital format within an agreed table of contents and structure, in the form of a Digital Facility Manual, as well as application source code. (10%)
Consultant to lead the development, testing and roll-out of “e-weigh “app
Achievements
Milestone 1: first release version of the mobile phone application. The mobile app will be developed on Android Studio IDE, in Java language to run on android 5.0 (API level 21) and later.
Milestone 2: establishment of a database to store the data generated from farmers using the application platform.
This will be hosted on the cloud for monitoring purposes. The database will be developed and deployed to be hosted on either Google Cloud App Engine or AWS (Amazon Web Services). These platforms ensure data high redundancy and also have a high service level availability coupled with ease of data access and data security. Both the cloud application and the android app will be tested in-house during development to ensure they are bug free.
Milestone 3: “Lite” version of feed ration formulation program, plus pest control and breeding submodules. This module will allow farmers (based on the LW estimated by the module 1 to and some additional information provided by the farmer) to determine feed rations required for either particular level of milk production or a specified growth rate. The ration module
will initially include 2-3 basal diet components, complemented by 4-5 “concentrates” style feeds that’s are commonly available. The choice of the specific feeds will be based on local availability and values in the application will be according to nutritive values of the same stored on the app.
Milestone 4: Field Testing and training/sensitization of completed modules to ~200 farmers over 3 counties (to be specified)
Milestone 5: Completed project handover to ILRI
Consultant to write training materials for smallholder farmer training
Achievements
Milestone 1: (Background) A practical manual to train smallholder farmers in better dairy production was developed in 2015/16 and while successful, it was recognized that the publication would benefit from adoption of farmer feedback as to content. The current document lacks the organizational structure and written guide markers that make for an approachable and useful manual and it will benefit from substantial revision.
Key tasks in milestone 1
Creating written learning objectives at the start of each chapter which includes brief guide to the content of the chapter
Editing and rewriting content of each chapter to maximize effectiveness of the presentation of the material. Tasks include (but are not necessarily limited to) fixing out of order presentations, streamlining and clarifying content, and creating differentiated sections and subsections, with uniform headings and other content, to allow for easy navigating of main topics and sub topics.
Rationalization of graphics. Correction of placements, titles, and some image correction as possible given received file types.
Writing of study, or skills application, questions for the end of each chapter
All chapters harmonized for uniformity of headers and internal organizational logic of the chapters.
Detailed table of contents and list of tables (currently lacking)
Production of one entirely new section within fertilizer on Application of Bioslurry from received materials.
Milestone 2: Training module on maintaining dairy herd health
Milestone 3: Training module on feed diversification
Milestone 4: Training module on dairy animal breeding
Milestone 5: Training module on milking of dairy animals and milk safety
Essential skills and qualifications:
Specialist technical advisor
PhD in Animal Science/Nutrition
Able to demonstrate leadership in animal science
Proven track record of producing educational materials for smallholder farmers and of managing large and complex projects.
Specialist application developer
Demonstrate knowledge and experience of developing specialist technical applications for mobile devices, particularly in relation to practical application development for non-technical target groups
Demonstrate a successful track record of collaborating with scientists to create and implement applications for non-expert target groups.
Training materials developer
Higher degree in education or related discipline
Demonstrate extensive experience in preparing teaching materials, including lesson plans and learning outcome statements
Strong writing skills aligned with the ability to tailor their writing to a non-specialist audience and to present complex science concepts in approachable language.
Strong editing skills including meticulous attention to detail, is an essential requirement
Post location:
Homebase
Duration:
From approximately February to December 2019
Expected places of travel:
Nairobi, Kenya
How to Apply
Applicants should send a cover letter and CV expressing their interest in the preferred position, what they can bring to the role and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the director of ILRI’s People and Organizational Development through our recruitment portal. The preferred position title should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.
Screening of applications will start on 14th January 2019 and continue until the position is filled. The position title and reference number, GIZ/12/2018, should be clearly marked in the subject line of the online application.
ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.
For more information and job application details, see; ILRI Consultancy Jobs in Nairobi Kenya - GIZ Green Innovation Centre Project
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