Unleashing the Potential of African Rural Economies through Green Growth

Application Deadline: 31 August 2014,

POSITION:Visiting Scholar
LOCATION:Accra

UNU-INRA, with funding from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is undertaking a three-year project entitled “Unleashing the Potential of African Rural Economies through Green Growth”. The project aims to provide empirical evidence on how green growth strategies can, amongst others, influence employment, income generation, innovation, competitiveness and social inclusion for rural Africa under four thematic areas:

1. Green business opportunities in rural Africa
2. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and resource efficiency, productivity and resilience in rural Africa
3. Rural SMEs and ecosystem services
4. Institutions and governance for environmentally-friendly business practices

Under the project, up to ten visiting scholars will be selected each year to spend 3-4 months carrying out research at UNU-INRA headquarters in Accra, Ghana, or at one of its operating units based in Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Namibia, Senegal and Zambia.

Who should apply?

• This programme is reserved for applicants from the African continent who are faculty members or researchers at African universities and other research institutions.
•  Applicants should have a PhD degree in environmental economics, natural resource economics, ecological economics, development economics, agricultural economics, soil science or any other relevant field of study.
• Female candidates are encouraged to apply. (In recent years, four out of ten visiting scholars have been female.)
• All candidates are expected to demonstrate excellent communication and writing skills in either French or English. A working knowledge of the second language will be an advantage.

Stipend

• UNU-INRA will provide a monthly stipend of around USD 1,500.00 to successful applicants.
• The stipend is a contribution towards travel, accommodation, and medical and other expenses.
• In exceptional cases, the Institute will consider subsidizing the travel cost to the location of the programme.

Applications

• UNU-INRA will accept applications once each year.
• 31 August 2014, for the academic year 2014–2015;
• Acceptance decisions will be sent to successful applicants within three weeks of the closing dates.

Notification:

• Successful candidates will be expected to notify UNU-INRA of their acceptance of the offer within two weeks of receiving the notification.
• The acceptance letter should also include a letter from the head of the candidate’s institution confirming that the applicant is authorized to participate in the programme.

Application Procedure:

• Interested applicants should complete and submit the application form, including their curriculum vitae, to [email protected].
• Only applications with research proposals that address green growth issues will be accepted.

For more information about the programme, contact the programme coordinator at[email protected].

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UNU-INRA Visiting Scholars Programme