Job Title: Project Associate - Improving the Measurement of Farmers' Skills, Kenya
Reports to: Country Director and PI
Location: Western Kenya
Deadline to Apply: August 15, 2013
Start Date and Duration: ASAP Prefered or September, 2013; 1 year commitment is required for this position with a possibility of extension.
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), is an international non-profit research organization. Based in New Haven, CT, with offices in Washington, D.C. and worldwide, IPA works with development partners and academic researchers to create and evaluate approaches to solving development problems, to communicate 'what works' in development and to scale up successful projects in a variety of fields, including health, education, microfinance, governance and agriculture.
Position Summary:
Innovations for Poverty Action(IPA)seeks qualified applicants for the position of Project Associate for the two projects 'Improving the Measurement of Farmers' Skills' and 'Heterogeneous quality of commercial inputs and learning through experimentation.'
For the first project 'Improving the Measurement of Farmers' Skills', the LSMS-ISA initiative of the World Bank aims to integrate some measurement of skills of farmers into their rural surveys. We will try a range of questions that measure cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills (entrepreneurship, aspiration, etc.) and technical skills (agricultural knowledge). This large questionnaire will be implemented twice on the same 900 households with one to two months between survey rounds in order to test the reliability of the questions (stability of answers in the test-retest).
The second study 'Heterogeneous quality of commercial inputs and learning through experimentation' is a randomized impact evaluation of the COMPRO 2 project managed by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). COMPRO 2 found a high degree of heterogeneity among available farm inputs; most inputs were not profitable or sometimes completely ineffective, while a few inputs did have very high returns, generating high yields and a good margin for the producer. Farmers are often reluctant to invest in technologies that have uncertain benefits or only long-term payoffs. We will analyze whether learning about the possible returns of pre-selected high quality versus lower quality products through on-farm trials or knowledge dissemination increases adoption of high quality inputs by farmers.
The 2 projects will be implemented jointly given their complementary nature. The piloting of the survey and randomized research trials starts in July 2013 and the first large scale survey will start around October 2013.
The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. The principal investigators are Karen Macours (Paris School of Economics) and Rachid Laajaj (Paris School of Economics).
Responsibilities:
The Project Associate will work closely with the IPA-Kenya Country Office and the PIs (academic researchers) to perform a variety of tasks including,but not limited to: sophisticated logistic planning, assisting with project design,designing survey questionnaires,conducting focus groups,running pilot exercises, introducing the project to and negotiating with government officials, managing survey teams,checking
and analyzing data,cleaning data and assisting in preliminary analysis, assisting in the writing of project reports and policy memos, financial accounting,HR,and various administrative tasks. The Project Associate will be based in Kisumu, Kenya.
Qualifications:
A Bachelor's degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, or related fields
Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills
Strong computer skills with the ability to quickly assimilate new software
Fluency and good communication skills in English
Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, a team player
Experience living in a developing country is a strong plus
Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations
Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred) or other data analysis software
Familiarity with randomized controlled trials
Previous knowledge of or desire to learn Swahili
Application Instructions:
Please follow the application instructions below. Any applications or CVs submitted outside this process will not be considered. Note, only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
1. Please send an email to jobs@poverty-action.org and cc jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org, following the instructions below:
In the subject line: Copy exactly the following position line: 100963IPAKenya, PA-Improving the Measurement of Farmers' Skills
Attachments: Please attach ONLY your CV and cover letter.
In the email body: Put your full name, first (given) name followed by last (family) name
2. Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application indicating that you are interested in applying for a 'Type 1: Research Analyst or Project Associate' position. Please include two letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and transcripts. Please do not include any text besides your name in the body of the e-mail. Adding extra text will interfere with the processing of your application.
IPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer
All persons shall have the opportunity to be considered for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
IPA will endeavor to make a reasonable accommodation to a qualified applicant with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. If you believe you require such assistance to complete this form or to participate in an interview, please contact us at ipajobs@gmail.com.
DISCLAIMER:The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work to be performed by the Project Associate. The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary. Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization. Please direct questions to ipajobs@gmail.com.
How to Apply:
http://www.povertyactionlab.org/jobs/project-associate-improving-measurement-farmers%E2%80%99-skills-100963
Deadline: 21/08/2013.
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