Journalist At The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

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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 CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Journalist

Financing Agreement reference: P- Z1-A00-016
Location: Nigeria
Project ID No.: 2100155036067
Consultancy Services: Short-Term Individual Journalist

Backgound
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is implementing the TAAT Livestock Compact financed through a grant from the African Development Bank towards the cost of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Program and intends to apply part of the proceeds for this grant to facilitate payment for a Short-Term Individual Journalist to capture case stories and pictures, where TAAT Livestock Compact High-Quality Cassava Peels (HQCP) machines have been installed in Ofu LGA of Kogi State and Atiba, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, both in Nigeria.

Job Descriptions

• The Journalist is expected to find out about the evolution of the cooperatives / groups in those locations by asking and documenting responses to questions like; how did the cooperatives begin? What is the composition of members, number, sex, gender, and their roles? Do they have affiliations with any other associations in the state or nationally? What were their motivation and objectives for starting? What kinds of machines did they have before Synergos / TAAT intervention? What are their main products?. How many tons of Cassava do they process each day/week? Is there seasonal variation in their production? What preparations or input did they need to make to receive TAAT support? Have they received help from any other Organisation?, if so what form have these taken – cash, grant, training, or machines.? Etc.
• The Journalist will also find out about the operation of the machines by asking and documenting responses to questions like who are the machine operators? How many persons in this cooperative have been trained to operate the machine? Have they trained any other individuals or cooperatives on the use of the machine? How many hours on average per day are the machines working? What quantity (tons) of Cassava peels are they processing per day/week? What quantity of HQCP mash (tons / kg) are they producing per day / week? How much extra income have they realized per production cycle? Does the income belong to the cooperative or to individuals? What is their source of water? How do they dispose of the wastewater from processing the HQCP? What specific benefits has the donation of the HQCP machines has on their lives and income? Who are the buyers or markets for the HQCP mash? What specific challenges have they faced in using the machine and so on.
• The assignment will also require interviews and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with members of the cooperative; 2 or 3 women / men cooperative members (include at least one woman among those to be interviewed to get a personal angle of the story; other Stakeholders e.g. Synergos, TAAT Compact, ILRI.
• The journalist will also visit the household of the selected man / woman interviewed to be able to capture some important family size, source of income, importance of HQCP machine etc. insights.
• General assessment of the HQCP production environment will be required. This assessment will show for instance, is this group the only one producing cassava products in the area? If not, who are the other processors within 30-50 Km radius of this cooperative? etc

Job Requirements

• The desired candidate, who must be based in Nigeria, should possess at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication, Public Relations, Journalism, or a closely related field with at least 5 years of relevant experience in in the areas of the assignment.
• The desired candidate should possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills in English language with a good working knowledge of the local languages in the two locations, demonstrated ability to conduct interviews, write, publish success stories, and take feature pictures.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their Expression of Interest (EOI), including their detailed CV, Letter of Motivation detailing past related experience similar to this assignment and samples of previous reports written, pictures, website of work or other experience similar to this type of assignment.

Expressions of interest should be delivered by email or hard copies to the address below:
Attn: Chrysantus Akem; PhD
TAAT Program Coordinator | Program Management Unit,
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, www.iita.org
Headquarters & West Africa Hub
PMB 5320, Oyo Road, Ibadan 200001, Oyo State, Nigeria
International Mailing Address: IITA, Carolyn House, 26 Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR93EE, UK
Email: C.Akem@cgiar.org