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https://phg.tbe.taleo.net/phg02/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=SOCIIMPA2&cws=39&rid=5173
Horticulture and Protected Agriculture Specialist (Protected Agriculture)
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
About Social Impact:
Social Impact is a global development management consulting firm. We provide monitoring, evaluation, strategic planning, and capacity building services to advance development effectiveness. We work across all development sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. Since 1997 we have worked in over 100 countries for clients such as US government agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and nonprofits.
We believe Social Impact is a great place to work and are passionate in our efforts to ensure that this endures. We are proud of our diversity and actively seek to expand it as a way of improving our employees’ experience, our collective professional breadth and the quality of the work we do. We promote equity and inclusion through our policies and practices and build a culture of belonging for everyone where differences and authenticity are honored and embraced. We work hard to create opportunities for growth and ensure that our staff are fulfilled and engaged. We believe we are better when we collaborate, learn from one another and have fun while working hard.
About MESCLA 2.0:
Social Impact, together with partner IBI, is implementing the USAID/Honduras Monitoring and Evaluation Support for Collaboration, Learning, and Adapting (MESCLA 2.0) Activity. MESCLA 2.0 provides USAID with flexible and adaptive support, as well as reliable information to inform its programming in the face of demanding challenges in the Honduran context. MESCLA 2.0 is organized around three main components: (1) evaluations, studies, and assessments; (2) collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA); and (3) monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) capacity development. All tasks under MESCLA 2.0 are implemented with a focus on learning on USAID’s key priorities, including migration, youth, anti-corruption, gender-based violence, and gender and social inclusion (GESI).
Objective:
MESCLA 2.0 intends to conduct a feasibility study of protected agriculture, as part of Sustainable Agribusiness activity and Feed the Future (FtF) activities in general. The objective of this feasibility study is to generate evidence on production under protected agriculture systems to inform future programming and evaluate current efforts, by documenting the technology, costs, production, productivity, and profitability, and the potential to create better paid specialized agriculture jobs. It will also generate evidence for scale-up of protected agriculture. The study will evaluate protected structures such as greenhouses, macro tunnels and hydroponic production systems. The study will use key horticulture crops grown in rotation, several cycles per year, assessing the use of bioinputs to fertilize and for pest control. An assessment of the proper balance among the selected levels of bioinputs will be part of the feasibility study establishing trial plots.
This study is also an opportunity to take stock of the lessons learned and best practices to scale-up these types of structures in agriculture and under which circumstances they are likely to be effective.
The study will be implemented from January 2025 to August 2026.
The study will be implemented in two phases phases:1) January 2025 to June 2025, and from July 2025 to August 2026. Phase I of this study will design the study and collect data on investment costs of the protective structures. Phase II will establish the key selected crops and monitor the establishment, agricultural practices, and harvest of plots. Monitoring includes data collection of the different stages of the crops to estimate production costs, yield, and profitability of the different crops and input level use.
Position Description
MESCLA 2.0 is seeking a Horticulture and Protected Agriculture Specialist for the USAID/Honduras MESCLA 2.0 Protected Agriculture Study. The subject matter expert is responsible for supporting and advising the technical team including the production of the statement of work (SOW). In collaboration with MESCLA 2.0 and the technical team, the subject matter expert will guide the development of the desk review, and support and advise the evaluation team, coordinate technical inputs with the technical team members, provide supporting evidence for the recommendations and use in key technical decisions, and support the production of the statement of work (SOW).
The Horticulture and Protected Agriculture Specialist will assist in the quality assurance and timeliness of the SOW, including adherence to MESCLA 2.0’s quality assurance standards. This is a short-term consultancy with an estimated level of effort (LOE) of 15 days, and a period of performance from December 2024 through January 2025.
Responsibilities
The Protected Agriculture Specialist will:
Support the technical discussion with USAID related to protected agriculture.
Work collaboratively with the MESCLA 2.0 team to respond to the concept note by USAID/Honduras.
Responsible for the elaboration of the statement of work (SOW)
Gather and provide investment costs for protected agriculture structures (i.e., greenhouses, macro tunnels, and hydroponic systems).
Gather and provide production costs for key horticultural crops with historical evidence of cost and yields.
Provide technical advice on selecting key horticultural crops to grow in protected agriculture structures according to key criteria.
Provide technical advice on selecting key technological packages for the selected key horticultural crops.
Support the elaboration of the Request for Proposal for the data collection firm procurement process, if needed.
Work closely with MESCLA 2.0 team and communicate in a timely and effective manner with all project personnel.
Qualifications and skills:
Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in agronomy/crop science.
Minimum of 10 years of professional experience in the field of horticultural production in Honduras.
Experience working with organizations in Honduras that work in the horticultural production sector across regions in Honduras.
In-depth knowledge of technological packages for horticultural crops in protected agriculture and open field production.
Excellent oral communication and written skills in Spanish or English.
Demonstrated experience communicating with local stakeholders at managerial and technical level.
Preferably, the applicant will possess:
Experience working with international donors, especially USAID.
Excellent oral communication and written skills in English.
Level of Effort (LOE): Up to 15 days
Expected timeline: January 2025 - Februrary 2025
The closing date for application: January 6, 2025. The selection and interviews will be performed on a rolling basis, and interested candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
This position could serve as basis for a new contract based on performance on this position to support other phases of the research.
To apply, please merge both your CV and a cover letter into one pdf file and submit it through the online portal
To learn more about Social Impact, please visit our website: http://www.socialimpact.com
SI is an EEO/AA/ADA Veterans Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.
Only selected candidates will be contacted for an interview. Please, no phone calls.