Precision Agriculture for Development, Inc. (PAD) seeks a Project Associate to support PAD research and operations in Rwanda pertaining to the delivery of digital coffee agronomy advisory services to small landowning coffee farmers.

PAD was established with a keen eye towards rigorous evaluation, constant experimentation, and quality implementation. Each of our programs and partnerships have a strong complement of research, ranging from large- and small-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to A/B tests to pilot trials. Project Associate for this project will support M&E and other research activities as part of program implementation.

Rwandan citizens are strongly encouraged to apply.

Organization background

PAD is a US-based non-profit organization with a mission to support smallholder farmers in developing countries by providing customized agricultural information and services that increase productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability. PAD is pioneering a model for agricultural extension: delivering farmers personalized agricultural advice via their mobile phones. PAD implements this model in collaboration with partner organizations and gathers evidence on its impact. PAD aims to improve the lives of 100 million farmers in developing countries with its services.

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A key element of our approach is helping partners with wide reach such as governments, contract farming organizations, telecommunications firms, agribusiness, and NGOs to design, build, evaluate, and improve customized mobile phone-based agricultural advisory systems. We help partners structure and improve their service offerings through incorporation of the latest availability technologies and data as well as insights from behavioral economics and social learning theory. Taking a global approach, we bring experience on what has worked elsewhere to every engagement and continue to optimize to local contexts using A/B testing and rigorous evaluation.

PAD currently has operations in seven countries (Kenya, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Uganda) and is working towards new endeavors in Ecuador. These opportunities have allowed PAD to reach over 2.5 million farmers in the second quarter of 2019 both with our own services and research efforts as well as through partnerships.

Responsibilities

The Project Associate will be responsible for the following main tasks:

  • Support and manage the development of SMS and/or voice platforms to disseminate information to small holder coffee farmers via their mobile phones;
  • Monitor and analyze usage of the SMS and/or voice platform; including using Stata to clean and supervise data collection;
  • Hire, train and supervise local staff;
  • Organize and oversee data collection for focus groups and phone surveys, including building the data collection tool and resourcing language translation;
  • Develop and update project documentation regularly;
  • Assist in managing partner relations and working with external stakeholders for implementation of field operations;
  • Develop and execute workplan objectives and report progress and issues to the East Africa team in a timely manner;
  • Work with PAD team to ensure that all projects and operations adhere to policies, protocols, and timelines;
  • Meet all deadlines and expectations laid out in the Project Associate’s workplan and promptly communicate issues or barriers resulting in delay of completion.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree in statistics, public policy, agriculture, economics or other related fields.
  • At least 2 years demonstrated professional work experience in one or more of the following areas: project management, research, or coffee agronomy.
  • Competent computer skills including typing, emailing, and navigating operating systems
  • Knowledge and some experience with cleaning, monitoring, and basic analysis commands in Stata or R ‘a Stata or R test will be required for all short-listed applicants
  • Previous experience in data collection, survey administration, and conducting or supervising focus groups
  • Strong written and spoken English skills

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

  • A master’s degree in a relevant field
  • Demonstrates a good understanding of the Rwandan coffee industry in both coffee agronomy and the cooperative sector
  • Experience working with Rwandan coffee farmers
  • Experience working with weather and/or weather advisory services

Position details

  • Full time
  • Start date: ASAP
  • Location: Rwanda- Kigali, Gakenke or Huye District
  • Rwandan citizens are strongly encouraged to apply
  • Compensation: commensurate with experience
  • Reporting: Project Associate will report to the East Africa Research Manager
  • Must have their own computer to work from

To apply, please visit the PAD website and use the online application form. The job position will be available until 31st August 2019 Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

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