Internship announcement - 2015 Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) Internship within the Polices, Markets and ICTs (PMI), Neitherlands

Starting date: as soon as possible
Duration: 6 months (renewable once)
Location: Wageningen, the Netherlands
Closing date for application: 19 April 2015

1. ABOUT CTA

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries.

It facilitates access to information and knowledge; supports evidence-based, multi-stakeholder development of agricultural policies and strategies; promotes inclusive value chain development and use of ICTs and strengthens the capacities of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities.

CTA has several openings for interns within the Policies, Markets and ICTs Programme.

2. BACKGROUND AND MAIN PURPOSE OF THE INTERNSHIPS

In recent years, governments and donors around the world have shown growing commitment to increasing investment in agriculture and improving the well-being of smallholder farmers. Additionally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of agriculture in providing employment for youth and in combating the challenges of climate change. However, agriculture must become a growth sector, a source of prosperity and a global business if the aspirations of the Post-2015 Development Agenda are to be reached. The image of farming as a low-paying, tedious, low-status occupation must be transformed into one that is profitable, modern and respectable.

Based on regions' agricultural-sector priorities and its own comparative advantages, CTA has formulated Regional Business Plans (RBPs) for each ACP region, identifying pathways for the transformation of agriculture and CTA's possible contributions to this process. Each RBP identifies a set of actions that addresses challenges and realizes opportunities specific to that region. Broadly speaking, the proposed actions fall in the following areas:

• Development of inclusive value chains and better organized intra-regional trade in strategic food commodities;
• Policies and practices that promote the development and uptake of climate-resilient agriculture for strategic crops;
• Improvements to all critical phases of the agriculture-nutrition pathway;
• Better developed agribusiness and effective public-private partnerships.
• The internships, based at CTA Headquarters in Wageningen, are primarily to service the evolving needs of the Regional Business Plans. Within this context, each intern will have a substantive area of focus, with the topic dependent on the candidates' particular strengths

3. DUTIES OF THE INTERN FOR THE INTERNSHIP ON DETERMINING BASELINES AND DOCUMENTING PROJECT PROGRESS AND RESULTS

Assist in improving and standardizing existing data collection mechanisms;

Systematically gather baseline data for all ongoing PMI projects and sub-projects;

Assist in the gathering and processing of data for M&E purposes and for assessing projects, and sub-projects outputs, outcomes and impacts;

Coordinate and implement ex-ante and post event perception surveys and assessments;

Collaborate in the implementation of external evaluations of PMI projects and sub-projects;

Interact and collaborate remotely with consultants, host organizations and beneficiaries using cutting edge technology.

4. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Recent graduate, 29 years old maximum.
• National of one of the ACP or EU States signatory to the Cotonou Agreement (79 African, Caribbean and Pacific States – http://www.acp.int/content/secretariat-acp and the European Union Member States).
• Graduate from university or similar institution of higher education in agriculture, finance, management or related field.
• Experience and keen interest in agricultural development.
• Good organization, inter-personal and communication skills.
• Thorough knowledge of one of the Centre's two working languages (French or English) and a satisfactory knowledge of the other.
• Experience with MS Office programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and ability to draft reports including charts and graphs.

5. BENEFITS

• Participation in CTA activities will give you an invaluable experience at international level.
• Internship stipend (€ 800 per month for holder of a Bachelor's degree, € 1,000 for holder of a Master's degree).
• Payment of travel costs when joining and leaving the Centre.
• Medical coverage for emergency cases of sickness and accident during the internship.

6. HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates are required to send the documents listed below via email to Pascal Deleu, Human Resources Officer. Email: intern4@cta.int

Please indicate in the "Subject" of the email the title Internship PMI 1 'Project progress and results'.

• A letter of motivation (maximum one page explaining why you qualify for this position and what you expect to gain from the internship. The date of earliest availability should be specified as well);
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae, preferably EUROPASS format;
• Copies of the highest diploma/degree as well as training certificates related to the position. Original documents are to be presented once you are selected.
• Two letters of recommendation and/or references.

Deadline for applications: 19 April 2015. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Source: http://www.cta.int/

Picture credit: MySocialAgency