Research Agronomist

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

About the Role

One Acre Fund runs a robust R&D program, spanning over half a dozen countries and including modelling, agronomic trials, soil sampling and survey work with tens of thousands of farmers every year. As a data-driven organization, our R&D program is the beating heart of many strategic decisions which directly affect the wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers every year.

Responsibilities

Research

• Literature reviews, rapid evidence assessments, expert consultation etc to identify impactful pest prevention and control technologies, especially to guide country programmes on interventions to trial.

• Design and support on-farm experimentation to evaluate and adapt decision support tools and novel pest management technologies (e.g. locally sourced botanical pesticides, micronutrient fertilization, improved varieties)

• Oversight over surveys to characterise farmers' pest challenges and adoption of IPM practices, and prioritize opportunities for impact.

• There may also be opportunities to work on innovation projects around pest diagnostics, threat forecasting and surveillance

Extension

• Develop farmer-facing IPM recommendations. Translate research-based IPM approaches into simplified recommendations and protocols that empower smallholder farmers with limited resources to meaningfully reduce pest pressure and increase yields.

• Support the testing of scalable IPM training and decision-support tools through providing technical expertise in design workshops and (with the HCD team) piloting with extension workers and farmers

IPM Strategy Leadership

• Advocate for IPM as an organizational priority, ensuring it remains visible on leadership and planning agendas, with adequate resourcing to maximise farmer impact through IPM.

• Maintain indicators to monitor and evaluate the scale, quality and impact of IPM strategy implementation (e.g. in terms of farmer uptake of IPM, pesticide usage, profitability), and generate recommendations for improvement.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

We are seeking an exceptional professional with 5+ years' experience in agriculture research, and a track record of leading complex agriculture research challenges in a systematic and efficient way. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

• 5+ years' experience in agriculture research, and a track record of engaging complex agriculture research challenges in a systematic and efficient way.

• Strong candidates will likely have a PhD or MSc with extensive experience in applied agricultural science, and excellent working knowledge of general agronomy and crop management

• Experience in smallholder farmer extension and pest management projects, especially in Africa, a plus but not mandatory

• Experience of agricultural trial design, management and analysis

• Experience in driving projects towards results by working with a range of internal and external partners.

• Language: Fluent English required.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Kigali, Rwanda

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Eligibility

One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.

Application Deadline

06 February 2026. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here ([email protected]), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.