Achieving sustainable food security in a world of growing population and changing diets is a major challenge under climate change. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is looking for an innovative, results-oriented young scientist with excellent skills in agricultural systems analysis and modeling. The scientist will work as a member of CIMMYT Global Conservation Agriculture Program (CIMMYT-GCAP), and will play a key role in a large multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team. The selected scientist will work closely with CIMMYT’s research teams in the different regions where systems research is conducted, as well as partners in advanced research institutes, national research programs, and the CCAFS (CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) community. He/she will be responsible for assessing the potential of conservation agriculture as an adaption measure to climate change in the Indo Gangetic plains and East Africa, in coordination with similar studies in South Asia region and in East Africa. The position is supported by the CGIAR Research Program (CRP7-CCAFS) and other donors.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Ex-ante assessment, through modeling and system analysis, of the impact of various management practices on farm productivity, profitability, risks under climate change scenarios.  
• To achieve the above, the scientist will have to: 

1)    Collect and organize primary and secondary data at field and farm scale

2)    Evaluate the drivers of changes in the various agro-eco-systems at different scales that are likely to influence systems trajectories on top of climate change 

3)    Identify data gaps at farm at field scale for the various systems and liaise with team agronomist to update field experimentation protocols and possibly implement trials in new locations 

4)    Develop an analytical framework for ex-ante analyses

5)    Conduct in coordination with research teams scenario analyses  

• Use ex-ante assessments to guide future adaptive research
• Exchange, communicate with and benefit from the community of practice developing similar approaches in other regions of the world.
• We are seeking candidates with the following qualifications:
• PhD in agriculture, ecology, biology, environmental science, or a related field
• Solid background in agricultural systems modeling at farm and field scales and experience in dealing with system trajectories, changes and resilience
• Good working knowledge of crop growth models (DSSAT, APSIM)
• Ability to analyze jointly biophysical, socioeconomic, and environmental components   
• Excellent analytical/quantitative skills
• Experience in formulating complex problems
• Good peer-review publication record
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary/multi-cultural team on trans-disciplinary issues
• Willingness to travel frequently  

CIMMYT is a non-profit agricultural research institute committed to ensuring food security and reducing poverty in developing countries.  Through strong science and effective partnerships, CIMMYT creates, uses and shares knowledge and technology to improve the productivity and profitability of wheat and maize farming systems and to sustain natural resources.

While relatively small with a budget of less than US$100 million and 800 employees, CIMMYT has had enormous impact in the developing world. It is the center of excellence for work on two of the three most important food crops in the developing world. Its most famous employee, Dr. Norman Borlaug, is credited by many with saving more lives than any other individual in the history of the world. Borlaug’s work dramatically increased yields of wheat in the Indo-Gangetic plains in the 1960s and 1970s, staving off starvation for hundreds of millions. For this work, Borlaug received the Nobel Prize in 1970. Scores of other CIMMYT efforts have saved or enriched millions of lives, from releasing disease-resistant varieties and varieties resistant to drought and heat and soil deficiencies, to dispersing techniques to reduce farmer costs and post-harvest losses.  In developing countries, wheat varieties developed by CIMMYT and its partners cover 75% of the area planted to modern wheat varieties.

The position will be based either at CIMMYT headquarter office in El Batan, Mexico, in Delhi or Hyderabad, India, or in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The position is for an initial fixed-term contract of 3 years, after which further employment is subject to performance. CIMMYT offers an attractive remuneration package paid in US dollars, with a range of benefits including housing allowance, life and health insurance, education allowance (to Grade 12), home leave, retirement fund, and relocation shipping assistance. 

CIMMYT is an equal-opportunity employer and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality.

Apply online no later than December 15th, 2011. 

At www.cimmyt.org, click on “About us – Job Opportunities- 2011/24 Position” Please complete the online application, including your cover letter, competencies and experience for the position, and a detailed CV/resume.

For further information, contact Dr. Bruno Gerard, Director, Global Conservation Agriculture Program, b.gerard@cgiar.org or the Human Resources Office, jobs-cimmyt@cgiar.org.  Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.