Research Associate ? Incentivizing Sustainable Paddy Cultivation

Flooding fields for paddy cultivation is water-intensive, power-intensive, and releases methane that contributes to climate change. Projections suggest that water demand will exceed the supply by 50% by 2030. Free power exacerbates the fiscal cost to the state of over-consumption of water. Agricultural practices like direct seeded rice (DSR) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) already exist and are being actively promoted by many state governments including GoT to reduce water use in paddy cultivation without affecting the productivity or quality of rice. We suggest increasing the adoption of these practices by paying rice farmers as an incentive for reducing water use. Whether or not a farmer is using alternate methods of growing rice will be validated through a new model. The incentive program implementation model would be: (i) use satellite imagery of field flooding to measure adoption at scale and (ii) deliver timely direct transfers via GoTs existing payments infrastructure. Farmers would receive additional extension information on AWD and DSR alongside the incentives. This proposed DBT for sustainable practices would encourage conservation of groundwater and power.

Research Associate Roles and Responsibilities:

The RA will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to:

• Overseeing implementation of the evaluation in accordance to the research design.
• Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative pilots, conducting quantitative analysis of study data and refining surveying instruments.
• Managing field teams: Recruit, train, and supervise field-based teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators.
• Supervising data collection and ensuring data quality and productivity.
• Maintaining relationships with Department of Agriculture at both headquarters and field levels and with our remote satellite imagery partner.
• Assisting with data cleaning, preliminary data analysis, and preparation of documents and presentations for dissemination.
• Reporting to PIs on all of the above-mentioned activities.

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

Required:

A Bachelors degree in Economics (or related field) or Engineering

At least 1 year of work experience is necessary

Prior experience working with government partners is desired but not necessary

Prior experience with field data collection is desired but not necessary

Familiarity with impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials is required

Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills

Fluency in English and strong communication skills are required. Spoken fluency in Telugu is also required.

Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player

Willingness to live in Telangana and travel extensively within the region

Intermediate knowledge of STATA or other data analysis tools

Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations

Desired:

Masters degree in economics, engineering or related disciplines is preferred

Experience living in a developing country and/or liaising with government officials is a strongly desired but not necessary

Proficiency in STATA (or other tools such as R, SPSS etc.) is desired