INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (IITA)

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL ADVERTISEMENT

Call for Expression of Interest (EOI) - Project Design & Implementation Training

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of the CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food-secure future. Please visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information on IITA.

The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is a major continent-wide program designed to boost agricultural productivity across the continent by rapidly delivering proven technologies to millions of farmers. The overall goal of TAAT is to double crop, livestock, and fish productivity by expanding access to productivity-increasing technologies to more than 40 million smallholder farmers across Africa. TAAT aims to generate an additional 120 million metric tons (MT) of food while lifting 130 million people out of poverty.

The program supports the Feed Africa Initiative of the AfDB by providing the needed, proven agricultural and food processing technologies and implementation strategies for inclusion within the Bank’s loans to Regional Member Countries (RMCs). It is implemented by the Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure (RTDI) made up of the Commodity Technology Delivery Compacts (CTDCs); the TAAT Clearinghouse (CH); the Program Management Unit (PMU), and a Program Steering Committee (PSC). The CTDC is currently composed of eleven CGIAR centres, three Advanced regional R&D African centres, National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES) institutions, private sector partners and NGOs. TAAT works with National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) supports the deployment of technologies that enhance productivity, resilience, and market integration within priority agricultural value chains.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the COVID 19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of most African countries to food insecurity. TAAT was therefore compelled to conduct an initial rapid assessment of AfDB Regional Member Countries (RMCs) to determine gaps to technology delivery. The assessment revealed fundamental weaknesses in the seed systems, which necessitated the need to strengthen the capacity of the NARES to sustainably deploy cutting-edge technologies, particularly deliver early generation seeds to the private sector, in building resilience to shocks.

To strengthen the capacity of NARES partners to effectively design, implement, and finance high-quality programs and projects, TAAT intends to engage a qualified service provider to deliver a short-term capacity- to facilitate a targeted training in program/project design, implementation, and resource mobilization. The assignment will support ten (10) NARES institutions in West, Central, East and Southern Africa to improve the quality of their programs, develop bankable proposals, and mobilize diversified financial resources.

POSITION RESPOSNIBILITIES

A. Training Design and Preparation

• Conduct a rapid needs assessment to tailor the training content to the capacity gaps of NARES participants.
• Develop a comprehensive training curriculum and agenda covering:
• Proposal and concept note development for multilateral, bilateral, and philanthropic funding sources
• Program and project design (problem analysis, theory of change, logical frameworks, results frameworks).
• Budgeting, work planning, and risk management.
• Project implementation, governance, and coordination mechanisms.
• Monitoring, evaluation, learning, and reporting.
• Resource mobilization strategies, including donor mapping and engagement.
• Prepare high-quality training materials, presentations, case studies, exercises, and templates.

B. Training Delivery

• Deliver the training through two (2) virtual interactive sessions for English and French speaking audiences.
• Apply adult-learning methodologies, including group work, practical exercises, and real-life case studies relevant to agricultural research and development.
• Facilitate hands-on proposal or concept note development exercises tailored to NARES priorities.
• Foster peer learning and exchange of experiences among participants.

C. Post-Training Support and Reporting

• Provide practical recommendations for strengthening institutional program design and resource mobilization systems within NARES.
• Prepare and submit a training completion report detailing:
• Training content delivered and methodology.
• Participant profiles and level of engagement.
• Key results achieved and skills strengthened.
• Lessons learned and challenges encountered.
• Practical recommendations for follow-up technical assistance and institutional strengthening.
• TAAT will provide overall coordination, facilitate access to participants, and cover agreed logistical arrangements related to the training. The consulting firm will be responsible for developing and delivering the training content in line with this ToR.

Expected Deliverables

The Trainer is expected to deliver the following outputs:

1. A detailed training agenda and curriculum aligned with TAAT objectives.
2. Complete set of training materials (presentations, tools, templates, and reference documents).
3. Delivery of the agreed training sessions to NARES participants.
4. A final training report, including participant feedback and recommendations for next steps.

Requirements

REQUIRED EXPERTISE

The consulting firm shall demonstrate the following minimum qualifications:

• Proven experience (minimum 10 years) in program/project design, implementation, and resource mobilization in agriculture or rural development.
• Demonstrated experience in delivering similar institutional capacity-building and training assignments in Africa.
• Strong knowledge of donor financing instruments, including multilateral development banks, bilateral agencies, and foundations.
• Proven track record in proposal development and successful resource mobilization.
• Availability of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in:
• Program and project design.
• Monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
• Resource mobilization and partnerships.
• Training and facilitation.
• A bilingual team would be an added advantage.

Benefits

Duty Station: The consultancy will be entirely undertaken from home, with regular teleconference communications with the TAAT Clearinghouse. The training sections will be held in Benin.

Period / Duration of the work: The consultancy will be completed over a period not exceeding 1 month, from the date of signing the contract. The consulting firm shall propose the team composition in its technical proposal, which will be accompanied by a financial proposal.

METHOD OF APPLICATION:

Interested applicants should complete the online application on the IITA website: https://apply.workable.com/iita/#jobs and attach a detailed cover letter and curriculum vitae, both saved with their names in Microsoft Word format, within one week of the publication date. The application must include the names and e-mail addresses of three professional referees.

IITA is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse workforce and particularly welcomes applications from women. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.