Background

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). Our mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries. We provide access to information and knowledge, facilitate policy dialogue and strengthen the capacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities.

Central to achieving our mission is our valued partnerships with ACP national and regional bodies. We also work with a wide network of ACP-EU public and private sector bodies as well as international organisations around the world.

One of CTA’s three strategic goals is to support priority agricultural value chains in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) regions that contribute to food and nutritional security and poverty reduction.

The Value Chain project concentrates on two critical and inter-linked issues: (i) the value chain governance which refers more to the institutional, organisational and regulatory framework in which the chain is operating and the relationships between the stakeholders; and (ii) the value chain competitiveness which relates to the ability of actors in the chain to meet buyers’ demands at prices that are competitive and provide adequate returns.

The project comprises four main activities:

• Value chain governance enhancement -- through public-private collaboration and research-extension-market links, strategic partnerships, communities of practice, and international multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary dialogues, events, platforms and networking;
• Support to the adaptation and adoption of marketing tools and mechanisms that facilitate transactions along ACP regional value chains (e.g. warehouse receipts, regional market information systems - MIS, continental network of MIS) -- through publication and dissemination of materials, trainings, networking events;
• Skills building of value chain experts and organisations involved in ACP regional value chains development and agricultural innovation systems -- through training materials and workshops, study tours, and value chains-based exposure that are specifically targeted to the needs of value chains actors; and
• Generation of knowledge and awareness-raising on priority regional value chains -- through syntheses and impact studies, multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary dialogues, events, platforms, networks, portals, articles and other relevant channels.

Responsibilities

The Internship will mainly consist in supporting the Senior Programme Coordinator in the management of the Agritrade website (http://agritrade.cta.int) and if possible in the development and management of the Value Chains Development partnership projects.

The intern will have the following responsibilities:

• Support to the management of the Agritrade site
  • coordinate with the Editor in Chief the production and posting of all news articles, newsletters, executive briefs, special reports and other products
  • coordinate with the IT support team any possible technical development (Content Management System)
  • participate in the editorial line (participation in editorial meetings, contributing to discussions on the content and the identification of new themes, reports of the meetings, etc.).
  • participate in the promotion of the site
  • participate in the evaluation of the use of the site through webstats monitoring (e.g. Google Analytics), online surveys, etc.
  • administrative oversight (preparation and monitoring of contracts, financial management, etc.).
• Contribute to the development and management of the Value Chains Development partnership projects:
  • contribute to the preparation of concept notes, project profiles, Terms of Reference, etc.
  • contribute to the technical, administrative and financial management of the projects
  • participate in the management of logistics activities (e.g. workshops) to support the secretary / assistant department

Qualifications

• Master degree in agriculture economics, agricultural marketing, development economics or related field.
• Experience required of one year within an international organization, government agency, NGO, or development projects preferably in the ACP region and preferably in conjunction with the agricultural sector;
• Overall knowledge of issues related to agricultural trade, agricultural marketing and/or value chains;
• Good analytical and writing skills;
• Familiar with Web 2.0 applications;
• Fluency in English or French and working Knowledge of the other
• Good organizational, interpersonal and communication in a multicultural working environment;
• National of a Member State of the European Union or of one of the countries in the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, signatories to the Cotonou Agreement.

Interested candidates should submit documents listed below to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with a copy to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and enter the following text in the email subject field “Agricultural Value Chains Internship Application”

• Curriculum Vitae
• Scanned copy of university degree(s)/ relevant certificates
• One-page letter explaining why the candidate considers that he/she is in a position to successfully contribute to project implementation and what he/she expects to gain from the internship. The date of earliest availability should be specified as well.
• Two letters of recommendation and/or references.
• Applicant should be less that 30 years of age

Internship details

• Duration: Six (6) months renewable once
• Duty station: Brussels, Belgium
• Accident and sickness insurance: provided for the duration of the internship
• Stipend: 800€ (holder of a Bachelor’s degree) to 1,000€ (holder of a Master’s degree).
• International travel from home country: not covered by CTA

Deadline for application: 3rd December 2012

Source: CTA - see the original announcement