Post-doctoral Fellow, Gender and Social Inclusion

The **Post-Doctoral Fellow, Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Agribusiness** will provide technical expertise for activities associated with supply-side inclusive finance for agribusinesses, and gender and social inclusion, new and on-going GESI and agribusiness activities and applied, transdisciplinary scientific research. The postdoc will work with multidisciplinary teams and relevant public, private and grassroots stakeholders to develop comprehensive GESI strategies specifically for the Accelerating Impacts of the CGIAR’s climate research in Africa (AICCRA) project and the Regional Integrated Initiative for East and Southern Africa, Ukama Ustawi (UU).

You will design, implement and communicate GESI-related activities for inclusive and gender-transformative agribusinesses in East and Southern Africa, and Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ethiopia specifically. This role will also include the identification of systemic barriers inhibiting inclusive agricultural transformation; map and identify pathways to inclusive finance mechanisms for agribusinesses to scale climate-smart agriculture; and facilitate engagement with policy-relevant and scaling partners in this regard.

**DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES**

**Research**
- Conduct cutting-edge transdisciplinary research that provides evidence and data on barriers, challenges, and opportunities to gender transformative and socially inclusive agri-business with a focus on innovations and actionable solutions.
- With local partners and team members, undertake research priority setting, planning, design and development of GESI-informed methods, tools, and conceptual frameworks.
- Conduct secondary and primary research on sustainable and climate resilient agriculture, GESI in relation to food security through analyses of policy, including policy reforms, legal, constitutional interventions, institutional and programmatic research at country and regional levels.
- Develop impact centered GESI- agribusiness milestones, identifying metrics, as well as a theory of change for assessing enabling conditions for gender transformative interventions and outcomes.
- Design gender transformative research methodologies and toolkits, and lead gender analyses to map practical, strategic and structural gaps to inclusive agri-business, and recommend possible directions and pathways to inclusive interventions and innovations.
- Provide overall technical support in GESI integration into key research activities on scaling climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and delivery of climate information services (CIS) that accelerate technical assistance to women and youth-owned agribusinesses.
- Provide technical expertise to project staff and stakeholders, including consultants in relation to needs assessments, program design and implementation, reporting, MEL activities, etc.
- With relevant team members and partners, translate research evidence to gender equality and social inclusion strategies, also ensuring the integration of these across the projects.
- Work with team members to ensure that a uniform GESI strategy and focus is integrated in all research and project interventions.
- Research and assess the underlying systemic barriers to women and youth-owned agribusinesses’ meaningful engagement in being able to scale climate-smart agriculture and climate information services, including the inclusive finance products available to women and youth-owned agribusinesses.

**Networking and Collaboration**
- Lead and coordinate networking events and facilitate meetings with relevant partners and stakeholders, establishing and strengthening partnerships with public, private and grassroots institutions at all levels in specific locations of work.
- Identify and work with civil society actors to improvise ways of engaging with and empowering marginalized groups, communities - especially women and youth.
- Establish and participate in critical technical working groups on gender equality and social inclusion and, in liaison with project team members, support community consultations, meetings, and/or roundtable discussions to ensure programming remains gender-sensitive and socially inclusive.
- In collaboration with key stakeholders co-analyze GESI related trends in the locations of the projects and co-develop strategies to address these findings.
- Develop and communicate GESI achievements based on data and research.
- Map policy-relevant stakeholders, develop a communications strategy, and manage and coordinate outreach that corresponds to established baseline on GESI and youth engagement advances, gaps and opportunities in agribusiness interventions.

**Capacity Strengthening**:

- Design, develop and implement capacity strengthening for project staff and stakeholders to receive the appropriate GESI technical support to deliver tasks and ensure GESI integration in the monitoring, evaluation, learning, and reporting mechanisms of AICCRA and UU projects.
- Provide capacity-building support for GESI inte