NEW DELHI – CIFOR-ICRAF is expanding its technical capacity within its India Country Program, initiating a search for a Research Associate specializing in software development to drive digital innovation in agroforestry systems.
The move aligns with a broader strategic shift toward the digital transformation of environmental systems, where scientific research is converted into scalable software tools for field application. This initiative is part of the wider CGIAR network, a global partnership that coordinates agricultural research to address food security and sustainable resource management across the Global South.
The integration of high-level software engineering into forestry research represents a critical juncture for land-use management in India. By developing decision-support tools and mobile applications, the organization aims to optimize the management of “Trees Outside Forests” (TOF), a key component of India’s strategy to increase carbon sequestration and diversify rural income streams, and a growing focus area under India’s environmental and climate policy framework.
Technical Infrastructure and Digital Deployment
The consultancy focuses on the creation and maintenance of a digital ecosystem designed to translate complex scientific models into actionable data for stakeholders ranging from district-level forestry officials to local farmer producer organizations. The technical requirements prioritize the use of React Native for cross-platform mobile development, ensuring that decision-support tools are accessible to users on both Android and iOS devices, including in low-bandwidth rural settings.
The scope of the role encompasses three primary technical pillars:
- Mobile development: Enhancing existing codebases, implementing new UI/UX standards that reflect field-level usability constraints, and conducting rigorous unit and integration testing to ensure reliability under real-world network conditions.
- Decision-support systems: Developing algorithms that convert scientific data into visual dashboards, charts, and maps to guide land-management decisions, including spatial planning for TOF, species selection, and climate-risk screening.
- Web governance and data stewardship: Managing hosting infrastructure, database optimization, and the deployment of low-code platforms to ensure system uptime, cybersecurity, and compliance with emerging data-governance expectations in the environmental sector.
The project is structured as a 12-month consultancy, including an initial six-month probation period. The technical deliverables include fully functional web portals, interoperable databases, and integrated scientific workflows that can plug into existing government and partner platforms, with a final comprehensive report due by 25 May 2027.
Economic and Policy Implications of Agroforestry Innovation
The push toward technology-driven agroforestry comes as India seeks to strengthen its agricultural productivity through sustainable intensification and climate-resilient practices. Agroforestry-the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems-reduces dependence on chemical inputs, stabilizes soils and microclimates, and provides a hedge against climate-induced crop failure.
By digitizing these processes, CIFOR-ICRAF is addressing a significant gap in the AgTech sector: the translation of academic forestry and land-use research into user-centric tools for farmers, extension agents, and policymakers. The ability to monitor TOF through GIS and remote sensing technologies allows for more accurate carbon accounting and tracking of tree cover outside traditional forests, which is increasingly vital for the design of carbon credit schemes, results-based climate finance, and state-level implementation of national climate commitments.
Such tools could also inform public spending and regulatory choices-helping officials prioritize landscapes for incentive programmes, align agroforestry interventions with watershed management plans, and assess whether land-use changes are consistent with national climate and biodiversity targets.
CIFOR-ICRAF works toward building a more equitable world where forests and landscapes contribute to environmental sustainability and human well-being.
Governance and Application Framework
The position is based in New Delhi and requires a candidate with a degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or Geoinformatics. The organization seeks professionals with one to two years of experience who can operate within interdisciplinary teams, bridging the gap between software engineering, spatial analysis, and environmental science.
Beyond technical competence, the role sits at the interface of research and public decision-making. The selected candidate is expected to work with scientists and policy stakeholders to ensure that digital tools reflect local socio-economic realities, respond to the information needs of state and national authorities, and remain adaptable as climate and land-use regulations evolve.
The recruitment process is governed by CIFOR-ICRAF’s commitment to diversity and gender equality, with a specific emphasis on attracting applications from underrepresented groups.
Applications for the Research Associate position must be submitted by 12:00 PM IST on 15 May 2026.
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