Policy Analyst, Hub for Agricultural Policy Action (HAPA) at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Job Reference: PA/HAPA/03/2021

The Hub for Agriculture Policy Action (HAPA) which sits within the Policy & State Capability Division of AGRA, is a distinct service offering by AGRA to provide consolidation and translation advisory services to governments seeking to reform, refine and/ or develop a more clearly defined policy direction. The approach recognizes the urgent need for timely policy support to the Agriculture sector, which plays an important role in ensuring inclusive growth. It also recognizes the demands for political expediency and the need to ensure that a particular policy direction is anchored in evidence. The approach proposed also addresses the challenge posed by the high turnover of senior government decision makers by engaging local capacity and building on existing knowledge and partnerships. It will also draw on international and continental best practice and enhance the use of evidence given the salient political realities in policy making.

To support this objective, AGRA is seeking to recruit an experienced and exceptional individual to the role of Policy Analyst, HAPA.

Role Summary

The role reports to the Senior Policy Adviser, HAPA and will interact strategically and complementarily with the Head of HAPA and AGRA’s Policy and State Capability Team. The Policy Analyst will support all aspects of government engagements under HAPA (with support from a Senior Policy Advisor and the Head of HAPA) in order to produce high-quality outputs, but more importantly, to drive each government partner to achieve its inclusive agricultural transformation goals. The Analyst will be required to provide high quality analytical support and evidence-based guidance to senior leaders in partner governments. Towards this end, the Policy Analyst is expected to possess a diverse skill set, including establishing trusted advisor relationships with governments, developing expertise in a broad range of econometric and data tools, and communicating effectively to internal and external stakeholders, including partner governments. In developing related analyses and reports, the Policy Analysts shall work within the Policy and State Capability Division and with other AGRA teams and research partners to inform AGRA’s overall approach to policy engagement.

The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya with frequent travel both local and international.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the Senior Policy Advisor and Head of HAPA in developing HAPA strategy and building impact driven relationships across select priority countries.
• Support the Senior Policy Advisor and Head of HAPA to continuously refine HAPA’s delivery model based on progress, lessons learned, and the evolving policy context.
• Work closely with the Senior Policy Advisor of HAPA in refining the theory of change and operational plans for the sustainability and scaling of HAPA.
• Support the identification, mapping and collaboration with the highest quality institutional sources of data and evidence in Africa.
• Support the validation and prioritization of incoming government demands through a collaborative, consultative process.
• Produce analytical options for the best set of policy options in line with the government request for support.
• Ensure consistency of consolidation and translation of approaches across the regions.
• Support research to inform and shape the effort(s) within policy consolidation and translation and best practices.
• Capture lessons learned from HAPA implementation and disseminate them through production of knowledge products such as occasional papers, blog posts, and webinars.
• Design and iterate a policy engagement plan with the range of leading actors in data and evidence generation, selection, analysis, e.g., national think tanks and policy bodies, advocacy groups and government advisory service providers.
• Innovate and synergize new models for engagement and drive quickly towards early success.
• Provide analytical support in consolidating and translating policy decisions as well provide strategic advice to HAPA and the PSC division during negotiations and wider engagements with government and stakeholders.
• Support HAPA’s interface with the respective AGRA Country Manager and the Policy and State Capability Team to add value from a consolidation and translation perspective to existing policy implementation efforts and ensure the delivery of an integrated policy support package to governments.
• Support knowledge management and thought leadership in AGRA through identification of methodologies and systematization of approaches to consolidation and translation and provide support for production and dissemination via appropriate channels.
• Support HAPA participating country governments in monitoring progress of implementation of evidence-based policies towards achieving Inclusive Agricultural Transformation (IAT).
• Support development, structuring, and occasional implementation of strategic partnerships in collaboration with the resource mobilization team, technical teams and in-country teams.

Academic, Professional Qualifications and Relevant experience

• A PhD or Master’s degree in Economics, Agricultural Economics, International Economics, Statistics, or closely related field.
• Minimum five (5) years’ experience in agricultural policy and political economy analyses in Africa. Experience advising governments and other types of organizations on the use of data and evidence preferred.
• Proficiency and experience with data analysis and modelling techniques using software programs such as Excel, STATA, R, SPSS and SAS.
• Experience in survey design, questionnaire design, and conducting and supervising surveys. Familiarity with data entry software packages (ODK, Survey CTO, Epi Info, etc) desired.
• Demonstrable ability to assist and backstop governments through ministries of agriculture and related ministries to diagnose and assess, prioritize and reform policies, laws, regulations and administrative practices aimed at enhancing Inclusive Agricultural Transformation (IAT).
• Ability to provide technical assistance to HAPA participating country governments to make data-driven policy choices that reduce distortionary effects and support progress towards Inclusive Agricultural Transformation (IAT).
• Strong relationships with key national, regional and international partners working on state capability and policy development.
• Strong ability to track the implementation and impact of AGRA supported policies and regulatory frameworks on HAPA investments in the agriculture sector.
• Strong analytical skills and demonstrable ability to support HAPA in providing rigorous analysis on indicator quality and data systems and use these to validate and support AGRA’s work in the HAPA participating countries.
• Demonstrated understanding and familiarity with Africa’s policy and political economy landscape including policy issues related to poverty, economic growth, food security, and agricultural or rural development.
• Excellent oral, facilitation and written communication skills; works well in diverse teams, with efficiency and diplomacy.
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, problem solving, programming and decision-making skills;
• Strong oral and written communication skills required, including the ability to communicate complex technical analyses to non-technical audiences. Good command of English required, and fluency in French and Portuguese will be an advantage