Scholarship for a Master’s Degree

Background

The Center of Excellence on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Nutrition (CE SAIN) aims to foster private sector innovation, agricultural research, education and training, and public-sector capacity building through improved collaboration and knowledge sharing focusing on enhancing food and nutritional security in Cambodia. Founded in 2016 by the Royal University of Agriculture and Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sustainable Intensification at Kansas State University through the support from USAID, CE SAIN has been implementing various programs​ and projects to capture best management practices and promote expertise, innovations in agriculture, food security and nutrition as well as engage with the private sector to promote agricultural entrepreneurship  through partnership with national and international entities.

Under the of CE SAIN Scholarship Program, we are offering a scholarship for a master’s degree study to conduct research under a theme “Challenges and opportunities in ICT adoption to improve marketing of smallholder agricultural producers”.

Location           : Royal University of Agriculture (Phnom Penh) with travels to provinces

Citizenship        : Cambodian

Stipend             : 300$/month (Tuition fee and research costs will be covered.)

Contract           : two years – full time basis

Summary

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been introduced in agriculture including the production guides and marketing of agricultural products. ICTs play important roles in leveraging the market access of farmers in relation to the time of sale, place of sale, and type of buyers to sell their products. These information are crucial to improve decision making on where and when to sell their products following the market-oriented production and also to improve the marketing capability of smallholder farmers. The ICT solutions range from voice call, SMS, information delivery platforms to integrated market facilitation systems. However, the adoption of these technologies by the producers and buyers remains low. The scholar will be responsible for developing and implementing the activities to answer the research questions: I). what are the challenges that prevent smallholder farmers and buyers to adopt ICTs? and II). what are the opportunities to improve the adoptions of ICTs to leverage the marketing of agriculture products? The scholar may enroll in a master’s degree program in Agricultural Extension, Development Studies, or related majors.

Specific roles and responsibilities:

• Conduct desk review on the existing ICT solutions on agricultural marketing in Cambodia.
• Conduct interviews with various stakeholders to understand the perception, challenges, and opportunity of ICT solutions to enhance agricultural marketing.
• Analyze and evaluate the results.
• Report and communicate the study results in seminars, conferences, scientific publications, and thesis.
• Participate in the project partner meetings in-person and remotely.
• Provide support to CE SAIN’s activities as requested.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in social science or agriculture-related disciplines
• Good understanding of agricultural marketing and ICTs
• Knowledge and working experience in social survey and adoption study
• Be familiar with quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses
• Good interpersonal, negotiation, facilitation and time management skills
• Good communication skills both oral and written (English and Khmer).

Application Information

Interested and qualified applicants should submit their current resume, cover letter, and academic interest referring the scholarship applied by closing date below to cesaincareer@rua.edu.kh.

Closing date: February 11, 2022.

ToR_GRA_CE SAIN II_ICT in Ag marketing