Project Summary:
In the face of growing food demand from a burgeoning population, East African grain markets are plagued by poor integration. Given the inability of markets to efficiently move food from surplus to deficit regions, this poor integration has a major effect on both farmer incomes and on food security. The most likely culprits are imperfect information and contractual uncertainty, which lead to high search costs and large information rents for intermediaries. Improving farmer welfare and stimulating greater market integration, appears to require strategies that fundamentally shift the nature of intermediary relationships and the degree of contractual uncertainty.

The study brings together three institutions to implement an intervention that aims to 1) improve the information available to farmers and brokers across the country; 2) engage a novel technology to offer a completely new vehicle through which long-distance agricultural transactions might be conducted; and 3) provide the reputational and financial guarantees that may enable this new system to thrive.

See http://www.poverty-action.org/project/2124 for more information

Position Summary:
IPA seeks a qualified applicant with excellent Stata skills for the position of student volunteer for the endline data collection of the project Market Linkages in Uganda. The Market Linkages student volunteer will work with the Research Coordinator, Research Associate and other staff on a multi-pronged research project which aims to address the aforementioned research questions and build sustainable, private-sector solutions to some of the intermediation issues that have plagued African food markets.

The student volunteer will work on a variety of tasks including, but not limited to: Data cleaning, ensuring data quality, data management, cleaning of data sets, organizing endline data and assisting in any data related tasks that may come up.

This position offers an excellent opportunity for first hand project management and data management experience on a project at the intersection of agriculture markets and ICT, with an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research.

Desired Qualifications and Experience:
 Bachelor’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, or related fields;
 Master’s degree preferred
 Excellent Stata skills; Experience, comfort and fluency mandatory (you will be expected to do a Stata test as part of the selection process)
 Experience with data management
 Experience with project management
 Flexible, pro-active, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently and a team player;
 Fluency in English;
 Familiarity with randomized controlled trials preferred.
 Experience living in a developing country is a plus.