4:20 AM
Unknown
Post:Project Coordinator - Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project, AccraGhana
Organization:Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
Location:Accra, Ghana
Salary:Very Attractive
Project Coordinator, Terms of Reference for Impact Evaluation (Ghana)
Reports to: Deputy Country Director and Research Manager
Project: Commercial Agriculture
Location: Accra,Ghana and will involve frequent travel to rural areas of Ghana.
Deadline to Apply: October 15, 2013; Applicants are reviewed on a rolling base
Desired Start Date and Duration: ASAP or October 1; 2 year commitment required
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 is seeking a Project Coordinator to assist with the design and implementation of the impact evaluations that will take place as part of the GCAP Project. The Project Coordinator will be based in Ghana. The Project Coordinator will work closely with the World Bank's Africa Region Gender Innovation Lab; the Government of Ghana's Project Coordination Unit for GCAP; and any Ghana-based survey or research firms that may be assisting with the impact evaluation.
This position involves working with a cluster of interventions, a number of different partners, and Government and private sector counterparts. This Project Coordinator will have primary responsibility for day to day supervision and management of the GCAP impact evaluations' fieldwork, but will also play a key role in helping design the impact evaluations, and identifying and creating opportunities within GCAP for rigorous impact evaluation.
Innovations for Poverty Action is working with the World Bank and the Government of Ghana on impact evaluations being carried out as part of the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP). GCAP aims to increase agricultural productivity and improve livelihoods via increased access to land, private sector finance, and input- and output-markets by smallholder farms and others engaged in commercial agriculture in the Accra Plains and Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) zone.
The Accra Plains component of GCAP is more focused geographically in its design, and will involve fewer counterparts. It is centered around the Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP) – a state-managed irrigation scheme ostensibly for small-holder rice farmers. Kip covers an area of 1,825 hectares, and the plan under GCAP is to rehabilitate the existing system and to develop an additional 7,260 ha. Reflecting the PPP approach, an investor will be sought to take on both the work of rehabilitating the existing system, building the expansion, and operating the entire system. The SADA zone component of GCAP includes increasing the total area under irrigation through bunding in inland valleys; expanding warehousing capacity for crops; helping to generate new employment opportunities on commercial farms and promoting new outgrower schemes between nucleus commercial farmers and smallholders; and stimulating entrepreneurial activity in agri-business.
The overall responsibility for implementing GCAP rests with the GoG, with the World Bank providing constant implementation support throughout the project. Rigorous impact evaluation has been incorporated as an integral part of the Project, as all project partners are interested in learning throughout the GCAP process, and incorporating lessons learned into the later phases of the GCAP project, and other projects.
Impact Evaluation Focus and Objectives
GCAP is comprised of a collection of interventions, all with the same objective of promoting agricultural productivity and livelihoods. Within GCAP, there is the opportunity to evaluate the impact of some of these interventions. The plan is to create several distinct IEs as part of GCAP, each of which is designed to evaluate the impact of different elements of GCAP's approach. Some possible impact evaluations that might take place under GCAP include: (a) The impacts on smallholders of becoming outgrowers; (b) The welfare, investment, and gender impacts of wage labor positions on commercial farms; (c) The impacts of a childcare intervention on women's labor supply and productivity; (d) The impacts of warehouses on smallholder's post-harvest losses and profits; (e) The impacts of an agricultural input voucher subsidy and advance purchase scheme on smallholder's input use and productivity, and on agri-businesses' growth and profitability; (f) Testing nucleus farmers' provision of agricultural extension, in contrast with a public cell-phone based agricultural extension service; (g) Measuring and mitigating risks associated with weather-based crop failures and their impacts on smallholders' investments and futures; (h) Measuring the long-term welfare impacts of land use agreements signed with large investors on land owners and original inhabitants of the land; and (i) Identifying the most effective land dispute resolution mechanisms, Accra Plains. The final selection of which impact evaluations to take place will be made by the impact evaluation team, in consultation with the Government of Ghana, and in response to how the project evolves, as the PPP approach of the project requires that designs are adapted as partnerships are formed and developed.
Responsibilities:
Effective Cooperation
- Provide daily coordination between the impact evaluation team and the project implementation team, ensuring that concerns are effectively communicated between parties, flagging emerging issues that may be of potential concern to one or both parties, and in general ensuring that effective and productive collaboration is maintained.
- Work closely with the project implementation unit (PIU) to ensure that design and roll-out of interventions accommodate, to the extent possible, the impact evaluation. Help identify which interventions will form part of the impact evaluations.
- Help ensure that all project implementation activities are in accordance with the impact evaluation design, i.e., in a way that supports and does not damage the impact evaluation.
- For interventions that form part of the impact evaluation, work with these subprojects on recruitment, targeting, and selection of beneficiary smallholders. Help ensure that targets are met on time, and that all is done in accordance with the study design. And help ensure that benefits are rolled out only to the smallholders selected by the impact evaluation team.
- Cooperate effectively with all project implementation agencies and co-workers, as well as national, provincial, and local government officials, and any other stakeholders or external collaborators.
Baseline, Midline, and Endline Survey Design and Data Collection Management
- Support the impact evaluation team creating baseline, midline, and endline survey instruments.
- Design data collection instruments and protocols; recruit, hire and supervise Surveyorss to collect and enter data; and compile and summarize the data. Oversee and monitor data collection and survey field work, including planning, logistics, hiring, and training. For each data collection effort, ensure data quality, integrity of analysis, and adherence to budget.
- Conduct qualitative research to inform research and survey design.
- Run pilot survey exercises, provide feedback on field operations and survey instruments, and monitor improvements.
- Provide quality control for collected data through data cleaning and analysis.
- Provide close, on-site supervision of data collection, while surveys are ongoing.
Report Writing and Analysis
- Keep both the rest of the impact evaluation team and relevant members of the project implementation team routinely updated on activities, concerns, and decisions that need to be made. Provide routine updates on activities, plans, and any observations or emerging findings that may be of importance to the PIU and the impact evaluation team.
- Communicate regularly with relevant members of the PIU and impact evaluation leadership on matters including finance and logistics.
- Write up reports on findings from qualitative investigations on particular matters.
- Write reports with feedback and analysis on relevant project implementation progress.
- Write reports with feedback and analysis of how the survey instruments seem to be working.
- Assist in the analysis of the survey data, and the writing of project reports, academic papers, and policy memos. Important note: the Project Coordinator will NOT be listed as a co-author on the papers that result from this project.
- Review monitoring reports and help identify the causes of potential bottlenecks in project implementation.
Resource Management and Supervision
Prepare a budget and track and oversee expenditures for all activities and expenses related to impact evaluation, keeping activities on budget, initiating changes to the budget where needed, and figuring out ways to control costs. Prepare and produce Terms of Reference for individuals and firms hired to support the impact evaluation activities; ensure that qualified individuals and firms are selected; and supervise those hired to ensure that work is carried out in accordance with specifications and plans.
Capacity Building
As needed, organize and conduct capacity-building and training workshops to support and strengthen the Project's M&E, including with data collection consultants, external partners involved in data collection, primary stakeholders and the various partner organizations involved in implementing the Project.
Organize (and provide) refresher training in M&E and impact evaluation for project and implementing partner staff, local organizations and primary stakeholders, in line with the Project's objectives.
Collaborate with staff and implementing partners on qualitative monitoring to provide relevant information for ongoing evaluation of project activities, effects and impacts.
Qualifications:
- A Master's degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, or related fields;
- Training in development economics;
- A strong conceptual grasp of how to design rigorous impact evaluations, including randomized controlled trials, is required. Experience actually designing and running rigorous impact evaluations is preferred;
- Experience in designing survey questionnaires, and analyzing quantitative survey data, is preferred;
- Prior work or volunteer experience in development in developing countries a plus;
- Experience living and conducting field research in a developing country is a strong plus;
- Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills;
- The ability to present positions and to negotiate with senior officials;
- Fluency and excellent communication skills in English;
- Flexibility, self-motivation, the ability to manage multiple tasks efficiently as a team player.
- Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations.
- Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred), SAS, or other data analysis software
- Well organized, detail-oriented, able to prioritize, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously with minimal supervision.
- Project management experience, as well as experience supervising, designing, and implementing data collection and/or field work activities, and managing teams of field workers, is preferred.
- Several years of relevant work experience preferred.
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) Send an email to info-ghana@poverty-action.org and cc jobs@poverty-action.org, following these instructions exactly:
In the email body: Copy exactly the following position line: 100985 IPAGhana, Project Coordinator Commercial Agriculture
Attachments: Please attach ONLY your CV and cover letter.
In the subject line: Put your full name, first (given) name followed by last (family) name.
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
2) Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application indicating that you are interested in applying for a 'Type 3: Research Manager or Project Coordinator' position. Please include two letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, CV, and transcripts.
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 jobs@poverty-action.org.
DISCLAIMER:
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work to be performed by the Project Coordinator. 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 jobs@poverty-action.org.
Closing Date: Tuesday, 15 October 2013
How to Apply
http://unjobs.org/vacancies/1381092660129
Posted in: 