INTERN WORKSITE LOCATION: Kitgum with frequent trips to the field.
DATES OF INTERNSHIP: Summer 2013
LENGTH OF INTERNSHIP: 2-3 months
FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR THE INTERNSHIP:
- Mercy Corps responsibilities
For the duration of this internship assignment the intern will receive:
- Accommodation in Kitgum
- Communications (cellphone),
- Reimbursement for 3-month visa,
- Transportation between Kitgum and Kampala
- Accommodation while in Kampala and any other field offices.
- ISOS Emergency Med-Evac Coverage
- Intern responsibilities
Intern will remain responsible for all costs associated with:
- International travel to/from Uganda
- Living expenses and food
- Medical Insurance
- other costs associated with this internship
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Mercy Corps implements high-quality, analytical work in the world’s toughest places. Within Uganda, Mercy Corps works principally in post-conflict or transitional areas, including the Karamoja and Acholi sub-regions, integrating targeted assistance for the immediate needs of critically vulnerable populations with a larger strategic focus on market facilitation that promotes long-term systemic change. Mercy Corps addresses a number of overlapping and associated needs within a wide range of activities (market development in support of agriculture/livestock, energy, water and sanitation, and health and nutrition; conflict mitigation and governance).
In partnership with TechnoServe, Mercy Corps is implementing Revitalizing Agricultural Incomes and New markets (RAIN), a three-year, USDA-funded agriculture development program in Lamwo District, northern Uganda. Now in its second year of operation, RAIN is well on the way to its goal of stimulating economic prosperity and food security in the northern Uganda by enhancing agricultural productivity and profitability, improving trade performance of key input and output markets, and expanding access to quality, locally-available financial services.
The RAIN program has identified contract farming as an entry point for impacting a broad number of smallholder farmers across all of its key areas. In its first year of operation, RAIN partnered with several privately-run contract farming schemes. One partner, Gulu Agricultural Development Company (GADCO), invested with Mercy Corps in a pilot to develop the market for organic sesame in three sub-counties of Lamwo District. GADCO and Mercy Corps availed access to quality inputs, to skill development with respect to organic production techniques and post-harvest handling, and to a guaranteed end buyer offering competitive prices. In the first production season, 2,131 farmers chose to participate in the scheme and planted sesame on 4,561 acres. In total, GADCO purchased 774,857 kg of sesame through their agent network now established in Lamwo. The total value of all sesame purchased reached nearly USD 1 million, injecting significant cash into the economy.
But what was the success of this pilot? What elements of the scheme had the greatest impact? How did production change as a result of technical guidance and/or improved seed? Who benefited from this scheme? How has the pilot impacted interest in contract farming participation within the district? How was the added income used? Do results indicate that the intervention improved quality of life and economic opportunity? What more needs to be incorporated or rethought in an expansion of the pilot? These are all key questions that the intern will examine in an impact assessment of the pilot program.
Working in close collaboration with the RAIN team, the intern will compare those farming households that adopted or participated in specific components of the farming scheme and those that did not. The intern will collect and collate quantitative and qualitative data and develop associated analyses and recommendations in an impact study assembled with the RAIN team.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: The intern will have a unique opportunity to examine contract farming, one mechanism for aggregating and developing smallholder farmers, as well as broader social enterprises that have the capacity to significantly impact marginalized households in developing economies. The intern will also develop greater skills in market analysis and increased field-based experience.
DELIVERABLES: There are two deliverables:
- An impact assessment examining the RAIN contract farming pilot. This will consist of desk research and field research.
- Recommendations for improving contract farming interventions and piloting further interventions developed in close collaboration with the RAIN team.
IDEAL CANDIDATE SHOULD POSSESS THE FOLLOWING QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experienced researcher
- A Bachelor’s degree in business/agribusiness, economics, public policy or a related field
- Strong written and verbal communicator
- Enthusiasm, creativity, and a tremendous amount of flexibility
- Willingness to work under minimal direction in difficult and inconvenient circumstances
- A sense of humor on par with one’s level of curiosity
LIVING CONDITIONS:
The intern will reside primarily in Mercy Corps’ Kitgum guesthouse, sharing the residence with other team members and interns. Facilities are clean and sufficient, but basic. Internet is readily available in all Mercy Corps offices. Access to water in Kitgum is problematic, with occasional shortages. Security in Acholi is good.
Mercy Corps interns and volunteers represent the agency both during and outside of work hours and are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
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