ACIAR review of PNG research and outreach activities

The Australia Center for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) is interested in reviewing its research and outreach activities in Papua New Guinea to inform opportunities to build from existing work portfolios and identify pathways to achieve greater research impact for development. ACIAR’s has built a strong on-the-ground network of local research analysts and local institutes that it continues to collaborate with on a variety of research programs. Collaborating with these networks, there is an opportunity to implement an in-depth review of 3-4 of ACIAR’s large research initiatives in PNG to gain insight on how to strengthen:

1) strategic research investments;

2) in-country partner collaboration;

3) linkages of research and outreach / extension; and

4) opportunities for embedding research outcomes into local policy planning.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has been working with local partners in PNG for over 5 years (since 2018) and is embarking on a 4-year food policy research and support program in PNG. Many of the local partners that IFPRI has engaged are similar to those that ACIAR is also collaborating with. There is an opportunity for both IFPRI and ACIAR to learn from ACIAR’s long-standing research work and collaboration in PNG. Ideally, with insights revealed from this review exercise, both ACIAR and IFPRI will be better informed and equipped to build stronger, more-independent and sustainable research networks within PNG.

The output of this review will be 3-4 research briefs (8-10 pages each) that describe each of the ACIAR research activity and its outcomes. To inform the above 4 themes, the consultant will review the existing literature produced by the research activity, interview the lead investigators, consult collaborating partners in Papua New Guinea, and understand the current and ongoing status of the research and who and how it has informed agriculture development within the country. In doing so, it will identify the strengths, challenges, and risks of the research implementation design and outcomes.

To continue to build capacity and strengthen knowledge of agriculture research to inform development, we propose that the review team is led by 1 international IFPRI-hired senior consultant and 1 senior PNG agriculturalist that will dedicate 2 months, respectively, to the review. The internationally hired senior consultant will ultimately be responsible for delivering the final review documents. The senior PNG agriculturalist will be responsible for identifying key information on challenges and opportunities related to the ACIAR project evaluations and provide local-knowledge of how the agriculture system (and agricultural research system) works and where opportunities for entry exist to strengthen or transform certain components of the system. Both leaders may travel together within PNG and collaborate to draft key insights from interviews in PNG with research and outreach partners if deemed as necessary to complete the task with in-depth insights.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in Agricultural or Social Science or closely related field and at least 5 years of post-PhD research experience.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct interdisciplinary and mixed-methods research on research areas identified above.
• Demonstrated ability to perform critical analyses of own & others’ research.
• Demonstrated experience in effective interactions in a multicultural setting with other researchers and with policymakers, donors, and civil society, facilitating impact of research & capacity strengthening.
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills with demonstrated excellence in written and oral presentations.
• Demonstrated leadership skills and strong experience building and managing teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability and experience in managing internal and external relationships with project teams, donors, policymakers, and collaborators.

• Experience in collecting quantitative and qualitative data in low- and middle-income countries.

Payment and Deliverable Schedule:

Required documents for application:

– Most recent CV

– Cover letter with proposed daily rate