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PIM is sponsoring an Invited Panel session at the upcoming 4th International Conference of the African Association of Agricultural Economists in Tunisia. The theme of this session is the dual emphasis on research and applications; i.e., high quality research results in the domains of interest to PIM and explanation of how the results have been applied or could be applied in practice.

Decisions on selection of papers and sponsorship will be made by the PIM Management Committee.

ILRI vacancy: Program Accountants (closing date 31 May 2013)

Jobs - May/2013

Vacancy Number: PAS/FIN/05/13
Finance
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Duration: 2 years with the possibility of renewal

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in East, West and southern Africa and South, Southeast and East Asia. http://www.ilri.org/.

CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. http://www.cgiar.org/.

The Position

ILRI seeks to recruit various program accountants. Under the supervision of the Program Management Officer (PMO), this position exists to provide financial and budgetary support to the various programs under ILRI.

Key responsibilities

Responsible for ensuring program expenses are charged to the correct budget code and corrections are done by the 5th of every month;
Management of sub grantees by ensuring financial reports are received on time as per specific contracts and properly filed for future reference, reviewing their vouchers and financial reports, facilitating funds transfers and follow up on any matters arising from received documentation;
Responsible for producing monthly financial management reports for the program. Discussing deviations from planned burn rates;
Responsible for preparing timely and accurate donor Financial reports as per specific donor guidelines. Making sure all reports are agreeing with the General ledger and ILRI guidelines;
Support annual budget preparation and periodic project budgets through review, collation and consolidation;
Ensure donor receivables are reconciled to the GL, Invoicing the donors and ensuring cash is received on time and before three months. Ensure provisions for bad debts are done as per policy;
Ensure donor payables are reconciled to the GL and significant balances are explained by burn rates;
Work with Grant Officers to ensure full cost items are charged to the projects as per agreements such as research support, ICT, space and overheads;
Plan and prepare for project close out which includes ensuring all expenses have been charged, partners have accounted, accruals have been included, final report has been submitted and any other specific contractual obligations have been met;
Ensure proposals are fully costed and are in line with ILRI guidelines;
Participate and contribute to ILRI system enhancements.

Requirements:-

Relevant undergraduate degree and accounting qualification;
3 years’ experience in financial management with progressive experience in processing donor reports and following up of sub grants;
Experience preparing and supporting external audit;
Ability to multi-task in dealing with several different issues at a time;
Ability to work under high pressure, meet deadlines, monitor and follow-up on pending matters under minimum supervision;
Ability to communicate fluently in writing and verbally in English.

Terms of Appointment

This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position based at ILRI’s Nairobi campus. The position is on a 2 year contract with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and continued funding.

Job level and salary

This position is job Grade 2C. The job holder will also get other NRS benefits provided by ILRI.

How to Apply

Applicants should send a cover letter and CV combined as one document addressed to the Human Resources Director, explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience by 31st May 2013. Log on to: http://www.myjobsinkenya.com/ilri_jobs. The position title and reference number REF: PAS/FIN/05/13 should be clearly marked on the cover letter. Only online applications will be considered, and only short listed candidates will be contacted.

To find more about ILRI, visit our Website at http://www.ilri.org/

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.

More ILRI jobs

Subscribe by email to ILRI jobs alert

Kenya ban on the import of GM food illegal, not backed by law–Romano Kiome

East Africa Clippings - May/2013

Kenyan children weed a maize plot (photo on Flickr by Care of Creation).

‘A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country—calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law.

‘Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot be enforced because it was imposed by the cabinet, which has no authority in law to do so.

‘Although a “political stand” could hold sway for a time it is no substitute for a considered professional judgement, Kiome told a journalist roundtable at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi on 1 May.

‘The ban came into effect in November 2012 after a cabinet meeting, chaired by Kenya’s former president, Mwai Kibaki, directed the then public health minister, Beth Mugo, to ban GM food imports until the country is able to certify that they have no negative impact on people’s health.

‘But three years before the ban, Kenya had set up the National Biosafety Authority, tasked with supervising the transfer, handling and use of GMOs. The agency was established by the Biosafety Act, which was passed in the Kenyan parliament and became law by Kibaki’s assent in February 2009. It includes the aim of establishing “a transparent, science-based and predictable process” for reviewing the use of GMOs.

Kiome tells SciDev.Net that the biosafety authority is the only body legally mandated to manage GMOs and could not be bypassed by the cabinet.

He adds that the ban is not only unlawful but could also affect biotechnology research to boost food production in the country as there have been fears among Kenyan scientists that it could hold back progress research and development (R&D) on biotechnology in the country.

‘According to David Wafula, Kenya coordinator at the Program for Biosafety Systems—a partnership between USAID and the Kenya government supporting development and use of biosafety systems in agricultural innovation in Kenya—the ban has not been published in the Kenya Gazette, an official government publication containing new legislation and notices required to be published by law or policy.

‘”The ban was not informed by any evidence from competent authorities, including the National Council of Science and Technology, which is mandated to advise the government on research and policy issues,” he tells SciDev.Net.’

Read the article by George Achia at SciDevNet and AllAfrica: Kenya’s GMO ban has no legal basis, official says, 16 May 2013.

Filed under: Biotech, East Africa, Food security, ILRI, Kenya, PA, Policy Tagged: AllAfrica, GMOs, Kenya Biosafety Act, Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya National Biosafety Authority, Kenya Program for Biosafety Systems, Kenya Public Health Minister Beth Mugo, NCST, Romano Kiome, SciDevNet, USAID

Kenya ban on the import of GM food illegal, not backed by law–Romano Kiome

Kenya Clippings - May/2013

Kenyan children weed a maize plot (photo on Flickr by Care of Creation).

‘A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country—calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law.

‘Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot be enforced because it was imposed by the cabinet, which has no authority in law to do so.

Kiome tells SciDev.Net that the biosafety authority is the only body legally mandated to manage GMOs and could not be bypassed by the cabinet.

Read the article by George Achia at SciDevNet and AllAfrica: Kenya’s GMO ban has no legal basis, official says, 16 May 2013.

Kenya ban on the import of GM food illegal, not backed by law–Romano Kiome

PA Clippings - May/2013

Kenyan children weed a maize plot (photo on Flickr by Care of Creation).

‘A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country—calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law.

‘Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot be enforced because it was imposed by the cabinet, which has no authority in law to do so.

Kiome tells SciDev.Net that the biosafety authority is the only body legally mandated to manage GMOs and could not be bypassed by the cabinet.

Read the article by George Achia at SciDevNet and AllAfrica: Kenya’s GMO ban has no legal basis, official says, 16 May 2013.

Kenya ban on the import of GM food illegal, not backed by law–Romano Kiome

ILRI Biotechnology Theme: Clippings - May/2013

Kenyan children weed a maize plot (photo on Flickr by Care of Creation).

‘A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country—calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law.

‘Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot be enforced because it was imposed by the cabinet, which has no authority in law to do so.

Kiome tells SciDev.Net that the biosafety authority is the only body legally mandated to manage GMOs and could not be bypassed by the cabinet.

Read the article by George Achia at SciDevNet and AllAfrica: Kenya’s GMO ban has no legal basis, official says, 16 May 2013.

Kenya ban on the import of GM food illegal, not backed by law–Romano Kiome

Clippings - May/2013

Kenyan children weed a maize plot (photo on Flickr by Care of Creation).

‘A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country—calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law.

‘Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot be enforced because it was imposed by the cabinet, which has no authority in law to do so.

Kiome tells SciDev.Net that the biosafety authority is the only body legally mandated to manage GMOs and could not be bypassed by the cabinet.

Read the article by George Achia at CoastWeek (Kenya): Kenya’s GMO ban has no legal basis, official says, 16 May 2013.

Filed under: Biotech, East Africa, Food security, ILRI, Kenya, PA, Policy Tagged: Coastweek (Kenya), GMOs, Kenya Biosafety Act, Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya National Biosafety Authority, Kenya Program for Biosafety Systems, Kenya Public Health Minister Beth Mugo, NCST, Romano Kiome, SciDevNet, USAID

ILRI vacancy- Administrative Assistant (closing date 31 May 2013)

Jobs - May/2013

Vacancy Number: AA/LGI/05/13
Livelihood, Gender, Impact and Innovation (LGI)
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Duration: 2 years with the possibility of renewal

The Position

ILRI seeks to recruit an Administrative Assistant to provide quality and efficient administrative and logistical support in order to contribute to the achievement of an effective and responsive Livelihood, Gender, Impact and Innovation (LGI) Program.

Key responsibilities

Providing Administrative and Operational Support to the Livelihoods, Gender and Impact program
- Preparing payments for invoices/requisitions in liaison with Budget holders for payment processing
- Support in raising Consultancy requests for approval in liaison with HR for consultancy contracts,
- Managing stationery stock levels, raising purchase requisition for office supplies
- Reporting and following up on office and furniture repairs
- Responding to routine correspondence, handling e-mail and telephone communication, requests & enquiries
- Creating, managing and updating filing systems
Coordinating official travel, field work activities, logistics & itineraries for the Livelihoods, Gender and Impact program.
- Making pre-travel arrangements, request for flight bookings, preparing and getting approval of TAs
- Liaising with Transport department to obtain vehicles and drivers for field work
- Support in post travel activities – preparation of TERs for team and getting approval from budget holders and they are received in Finance Department for Processing
- Organizing local transport for external meetings, visa appointments etc. with liaison with transport Department
Organizing internal and external meetings, conferences, workshops office events, farewells and cocktails as required
- Work with relevant officers to execute all logistics of meetings and functions.
- Booking of venue, arranging accommodation, processing travel & visa.
- Arranging for transfers and local transport
- Preparing and sending out of invitation letters and follow up on confirmations
- Preparing workshop folders and materials – Registration forms, workshop program & Name tags
- Preparing small budget for per diem and incidental payment to workshop participants and executing payment during the workshop
- Advising security to issue gate pas for assets/materials going out of ILRI as well as updating them about incoming workshop visitors/participants

Requirements:-

Bachelor degree in business administration, Secretarial Studies, Office Management or a related field;
A minimum of 3 years recent experience in an administrative role;
Experience in an NGO or international organization environment will be an added advantage;
Proven ability to respond to multiple demands and set priorities;
Proficient in following up issues and resolution;
Proficient in taking notes and minutes;
Excellent command of spoken and written English;
Proficiency in database applications and MS Office suite.

Terms of Appointment

Job level and salary

This position is job Grade 1C with a starting gross salary of KES 61,556 per month. This is exclusive of other benefits provided by ILRI.

How to Apply

Applicants should send a cover letter and CV combined as one document addressed to the Human Resources Director, explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience by 31st May 2013. Log on to: http://www.myjobsinkenya.com/ilri_jobs. The position title and reference number REF: AA/LGI/05/13 should be clearly marked on the cover letter. Only online applications will be considered, and only short listed candidates will be contacted.

To find more about ILRI, visit our Website at http://www.ilri.org/

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.

More ILRI jobs

Subscribe by email to ILRI jobs alert

Dialing back on the drivers of global disease outbreaks: A look inside the ‘black box’

ILRI challenge emerging diseases: News - May/2013

As published in PNAS 2013: 1208059110v1-201208059. Zoonosis emergence linked to agricultural intensification and environmental change, by Delia Grace and others, May 2013.

By Michelle Geis

A new report on the ‘causes of causes’ of H7N9 and other diseases that are emerging in animals and jumping species—into people

The deadly H7N9 bird flu virus in China and the spread of a SARS-like coronavirus in the Middle East continue to make headlines. H7N9 has killed 35 people in China and 20 have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus—which has spread from Saudi Arabia to the UK, France and Germany.

Two opinion editorials in the New York Times last week, The next contagion: Closer than you think and The next pandemic: Not if, but when, correctly warn us about the potential global spread of these killer diseases. They call for more awareness of the dangers of zoonotic (animal-to-people) diseases, faster identification of animal sources of the pathogens and better vaccines to protect us against them. All of those are indeed needed.

But like much of the mainstream press, neither article mentions the root cause of these emerging infectious diseases, that is, the conditions that make zoonoses likely to arise in the first place and then help turn them into lethal pandemics.

These ‘causes of causes‘ of zoonotic disease outbreaks and their spread are pinpointed in a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist and food safety specialist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya, and other scientists argue in this paper that we’ll only become capable of preventing or stopping the next pandemic when we better understand the drivers of disease emergence.

Some of these disease triggers are well-documented, if not well publicized. We know that rising demand for more meat and dairy products in rapidly growing developing countries, where cities and slums are densely crowded with livestock as well as people, can be a culprit. We know that animals kept in stressful as well as crowded conditions can be culprits. And we know that our expanding agriculture is fragmenting habitats, stressing wildlife and bringing people into contact with animals carrying pathogens, and reducing biodiversity, all of which encourage wildlife diseases to jump species.

A table published in the peer-reviewed article (see below) shows what conditions led to Ebola, HIV, SARS, Nipah, avian flu, Japanese encephalitis and more. Acknowledging and investigating these factors can provide governments and global health officials with important clues as to the next probable outbreak.

Table published in PNAS 2013: 1208059110v1-201208059. Zoonosis emergence linked to agricultural intensification and environmental change.

So, what is it that’s preventing us from anticipating and stopping the next global pandemic since we know the conditions likely to produce one? For one thing, as the paper discusses, the conditions that trigger diseases are changing more rapidly than the research that examines them.

Another challenge is that though an emerging disease event is reported somewhere in the world on average every four months, the likelihood of emergence in any given farm or farming system is low.

As Grace explains, ‘Taking action to slow the drivers of disease is good for humanity but not likely to have any observable benefits to the individual farmer. Hence, the society that benefits from less disease emergence must provide the incentives to dial back on the drivers.’

Finally, the world is increasingly farming on the margins, with most of the last few remaining near-pristine ecosystems now being invaded and destabilized. Just as inexorable is the move to rapidly growing cities of poor rural people, who are bringing their livestock with them. The resulting losses of biodiversity, and the rise of genetically improved, and thus similar, animal populations, also increases the risk of a pandemic emerging. Climate and environmental changes are generally making matters worse.

Grace says research must better examine the complex, context-specific, and interrelated nature of zoonotic pathogen emergence.

‘First’, she said, ‘we need to look inside the black box of the big trends driving disease emergence: urbanization, intensification, globalization, loss of habitat and biodiversity.

‘We also need to understand what causes matter most in different situations and which are amenable to mitigation.

‘And we need to develop ways of doing agriculture differently, ways that not only reduce disease emergence but also can be adopted at large scale.

‘Given that disease emergence is predictably unpredictable, much can be achieved by understanding, monitoring and managing pathogen dynamics before infectious agents emerge.’

Read the paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Zoonosis emergence linked to agricultural intensification and environmental change, by Bryony A Jones, Delia Grace, Richard Kock, Silvia Alonso, Jonathan Rushton, Mohammed Y Said, Declan McKeever, Florence Mutua, Jarrah Young, John McDermott and Dirk Udo Pfeiffer, PNAS 2013 : 1208059110v1-201208059.

Michelle Geis is a Washington DC-based science communications expert who works for Burness Communications.

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Dialing back on the drivers of global disease outbreaks: A look inside the ‘black box’

Agri-Health-ILRI news - May/2013