World Agroforestry Jobs in Kenya: 4 Open Positions at CIFOR-ICRAF, CIMMYT and SEI
World Agroforestry, through CIFOR-ICRAF, has announced several job opportunities in Kenya for professionals interested in research, agriculture, agroforestry, climate services, machine learning operations, programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and transport support. The available vacancies are hosted under CIMMYT and SEI, with duty stations in Nairobi and Kiboko, Makueni County. CIFOR-ICRAF is a non-profit science institution and a CGIAR centre working on forests, trees, agroforestry landscapes, climate, biodiversity, livelihoods and food security.
The advertised positions are suitable for candidates seeking roles in international research environments, agricultural innovation, digital agriculture, field research, climate services, and institutional support. The roles are locally recruited positions, and successful candidates will support work connected to applied agricultural science, climate and environmental research, and research operations in Kenya.
Available Positions
- Research Technician – Breeding – CIMMYT
Location: Kiboko, Makueni County, Kenya
Organization: World Agroforestry Centre / CIFOR-ICRAF
Hosted programme: CIMMYT
Job category: Local position
CIMMYT is seeking a Research Technician – Breeding to support field-based breeding operations and multi-location trials for finger millet. The role is designed for a detail-oriented professional who can support breeding research through nursery management, pollination, controlled crossing, field trial implementation, data entry and coordination of field teams.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Coordinate, execute and manage finger millet breeding nurseries.
- Support bi-parental crossing activities as guided by scientists.
- Implement and coordinate Forward Accelerated Selfing Technique activities on breeding populations.
- Work with agronomists and station operations teams on land preparation, fertilizer application, irrigation scheduling, weed control and pest management.
- Supervise seasonal workers involved in planting, pollination, rogueing, bagging and harvesting.
- Train field workers on cross-pollination, contamination avoidance, teamwork, safety and operational efficiency.
- Operate and maintain breeding data in the Enterprise Breeding System.
- Ensure nursery layouts, field books and phenotypic data are entered and updated on time.
- Manage crossing work, pollination and bagging to generate new breeding populations.
- Supervise controlled pollination activities, including bagging, pollen collection and hand pollination.
- Monitor crop progress and address issues affecting breeding populations.
- Organize harvesting, drying, threshing, cleaning and grading of seed lots.
- Implement regional multi-location trials in collaboration with partners.
- Prepare, pack and document trial seed kits.
- Coordinate shipment of trial seed to partner sites.
- Liaise with NARS partners and trial site teams on trial preparation and management.
- Coordinate digital data collection across trial sites.
- Support data cleaning and long-term maintenance of trial data and metadata.
- Prepare field management reports, trial logs, seed inventory summaries and recommendations.
- Provide field training and coaching to seasonal staff, students and visiting researchers.
Requirements
- Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in Plant Breeding or a related field.
- Minimum two years of practical experience in field crop research.
- Specific experience in pearl millet or hybrid seed production is preferred.
- In-depth knowledge of pearl millet floral biology and pollination.
- Familiarity with digital data collection apps such as Fieldbook and tablets.
- Ability to drive a field car, including pickup vehicles with manual or automatic gear.
- Willingness to travel occasionally to partner locations.
- Strong organization and time management skills.
- Ability to supervise field teams and work in multicultural environments.
- Attention to detail and commitment to high research standards.
- Ability to work in hot, semi-arid field conditions.
- Good communication skills in English.
- Swahili proficiency is beneficial.
- Problem-solving mindset and ability to work with minimal supervision.
- Machine Learning Operations Specialist – CIMMYT
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Organization: World Agroforestry Centre / CIFOR-ICRAF
Hosted programme: CIMMYT
Job category: Local position
The Machine Learning Operations Specialist will support the establishment and management of scalable machine learning operations for AI models used in agricultural research. The role focuses on digital phenotyping, data-driven research, image-based AI solutions, drone and mobile data, model deployment, monitoring, automation and institutional data governance.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines and scalable MLOps frameworks.
- Develop and maintain data pipelines, training pipelines and deployment pipelines.
- Support reproducible and efficient machine learning workflows.
- Deploy machine learning models into production environments.
- Monitor deployed models to ensure reliable performance.
- Implement logging, alerting and monitoring systems for model accuracy and drift.
- Support image recognition model development and deployment using drone and mobile imagery.
- Use tools such as Roboflow and Databricks for image-based workflows and scalable machine learning operations.
- Work with CGIAR partners and internal teams to harmonize MLOps practices.
- Facilitate knowledge sharing across multidisciplinary teams.
- Ensure compliance with data governance, security and privacy standards.
- Provide training and support adoption of best practices in machine learning operations.
- Contribute to reliable, reproducible and secure model and data pipelines.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Agricultural Informatics or a related quantitative field.
- Minimum 1 to 3 years of relevant experience in machine learning, data science or MLOps environments.
- Understanding of machine learning workflows, including data preprocessing, model training, evaluation, deployment and monitoring.
- Experience working with machine learning models, deep learning frameworks and Large Language Models in research or production settings.
- Experience in international research organizations, CGIAR centres or agricultural research projects is an added advantage.
- Practical experience with Python.
- Experience with common machine learning libraries or frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn or equivalent.
- Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Git, workflow orchestration and cloud-based ML platforms.
- Experience with computer vision, digital phenotyping, drone imagery or mobile imagery is an added advantage.
- Exposure to Databricks, Roboflow, MLflow, Azure ML, AWS or GCP is desirable.
- Understanding of data governance, reproducibility, model monitoring and data security principles.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving and communication skills.
- Ability to work in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.
- Programme Coordination & MEAL Officer – SEI
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Organization: World Agroforestry Centre / CIFOR-ICRAF
Hosted programme: Stockholm Environment Institute Africa
Job category: Local position
SEI is seeking a Programme Coordination & MEAL Officer to support programme delivery, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning within SEI Africa’s energy and climate services work. The role will support research and capacity-building initiatives, with a major focus on ENACTS, which stands for Enhancing National Climate Services.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Facilitate and participate in research and capacity-building meetings, workshops and trainings.
- Develop materials for programme meetings and trainings.
- Support in-region travel coordination, mainly within Africa.
- Coordinate with partners and stakeholders involved in programme implementation.
- Monitor and report project progress to the Cluster Lead and project managers.
- Support communication with funders and project partners.
- Contribute to proposals, project reports and outreach materials.
- Support development of web features, newsletters and programme communication outputs.
- Present project activities and progress during meetings and engagements.
- Keep centre project management systems updated with accurate project information.
- Ensure donor agreements and amendments are reflected in project records.
- Update time planning for cluster team members in the centre time management system.
- Ensure monthly timesheets are approved according to allocation.
- Support monthly sharing of project budgets and financial reports.
- Assist project managers in reviewing spending and resource planning.
- Take minutes during meetings and support event organization.
- Oversee implementation, reporting, monitoring and learning for assigned projects.
- Support preparation of agendas, minutes, workplans, coordination frameworks, reports and proposals.
- Provide technical leadership in designing and implementing project MEAL frameworks.
- Support Theory of Change development for cluster programmes.
- Integrate MEAL into project design, implementation and reporting.
- Support online solutions for MEAL projects and programmes.
- Oversee data collection and assess project progress and results.
- Generate insights to improve project design and implementation.
- Update project results frameworks as needed.
- Train and guide partners and stakeholders in MEAL and field monitoring where appropriate.
- Support proposal development and donor requirement review.
- Help build partnerships with governments, civil society, private sector actors and donors.
- Prepare documents related to research projects as assigned.
Requirements
- At least 4 years of experience with a Bachelor’s degree or 2 years with a Master’s degree in Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Development Studies or related fields.
- Experience working with government and international non-profit or research institutes.
- Experience with climate or environmental issues.
- Experience in administration and coordination on diverse and complex issues.
- Experience organizing events and logistics.
- Some knowledge of budget planning and resource management.
- Excellent communication and coordination skills.
- Good command of written and spoken English.
- Close attention to detail and ability to plan ahead.
- Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills.
- Good interpersonal skills.
- Proficiency in French is an asset.
- Driver – CIMMYT
Location: Kiboko, Makueni County, Kenya
Organization: World Agroforestry Centre / CIFOR-ICRAF
Hosted programme: CIMMYT
Job category: Local position
CIMMYT is seeking a Driver to support transport, logistics and fleet operations at the Kiboko Crop Research Station in Makueni County. The role involves safe transportation, vehicle maintenance, roadworthiness checks, support to field movements, machine operation and compliance with transport and safety policies.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Provide safe and timely transportation of staff, visitors and goods.
- Support field movement logistics, meetings, CIMMYT events and emergency transport needs.
- Conduct pre-trip and post-trip vehicle checks.
- Keep accurate mileage, fuel, trip and vehicle usage records.
- Submit weekly and monthly vehicle usage reports.
- Provide logistical support for field operations.
- Inspect, service, clean, lubricate and perform minor repairs on farm machinery, attachments and fleet vehicles.
- Escalate major mechanical issues to external service providers.
- Support routine vehicle maintenance, including cleaning, oil checks, water checks, brake checks and tyre rotations.
- Ensure vehicles meet inspection and roadworthiness requirements.
- Support preventive maintenance planning.
- Monitor vehicle performance, fuel efficiency and maintenance schedules.
- Maintain farm tools, workshop orderliness and spare parts inventory.
- Operate tractors and implements for land preparation, including ploughing, harrowing, disking and levelling.
- Support slashing and field cleaning activities.
- Perform machine planting of trials and nurseries using tractor-mounted planters.
- Operate combine harvesters during harvesting seasons.
- Ensure vehicles are equipped with safety kits, first aid kits, fire extinguishers, spare tyres and other essentials.
- Report accidents, incidents and violations promptly.
- Ensure compliance with traffic laws and organizational transport policies.
- Promote road safety, courtesy and professionalism.
Requirements
- Valid driver’s licence with clean driving record.
- Class D1 PSV Van and G tractor driving licence.
- Certification or proven experience in automotive mechanics.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in driving manual vehicles and vehicle maintenance.
- Knowledge of local traffic regulations and vehicle compliance standards.
- Strong mechanical aptitude and troubleshooting skills.
- Excellent driving skills and road safety awareness.
- Good communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work independently and manage time effectively.
- High level of integrity and reliability.
Terms and Conditions
The listed roles are locally recruited staff positions. CIFOR-ICRAF offers remuneration packages based on experience and qualifications. For Kenya-based locally recruited staff, employment contracts are issued under ICRAF in line with Kenyan labour law. Benefits may include a non-contributory pension scheme, comprehensive medical insurance, paid annual and statutory leave, and learning and development opportunities in line with CIFOR-ICRAF policies. The appointments are for two years, including a six-month probationary period, with possible extension depending on performance, continued relevance of the position and availability of resources.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should submit their applications through the official CIFOR-ICRAF recruitment portal and ensure they select the correct position before applying. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
