Position: Internship

Organization: The Climate Resilient Odisha Produce Study (CROPS)

Location: Berhampur, Odisha / Bhanjanagar, Odisha / R.Udayagiri, Odisha 

Duration of internship: 
May 15th, 2024, to July 15th, 2024

Location:
Berhampur, Odisha / Bhanjanagar, Odisha / R.Udayagiri, Odisha 

Project:
The Climate Resilient Odisha Produce Study (CROPS) is a randomized control trial that aims to improve nutritional status by increasing dietary diversity of residents – with a particular focus on women and children under five – in rural areas of Ganjam and Gajapati districts in Odisha, India. The study is led by Emory University in partnership with CARE USA, World Vegetable Center, and Gram Vikas, a nongovernmental organization serving villages in Odisha. CROPS seeks to layer a homestead food production intervention (focused primarily on vegetable gardening) on top of an existing Gram Vikas program that delivered improved sanitation and piped water systems with multiple connections to each household in participating villages. The CROPS intervention has five main focal areas: 

a) Agriculture: household-level adoption of improved homestead food production practices.

b) Nutrition: dietary diversity, with an emphasis on filling gaps in dietary intake.

c) Greywater: reuse of greywater from dishwashing and bathing room for use in homestead gardens to facilitate year-round production and improve water security.

d) Gender: promoting men’s involvement in labor and women’s involvement in decision-making.

e) Markets: women have skills, connections, and agency to sell excess produce for profit and purchase nutritious foods.

The study has completed it’s pilot phase in 12 villages. A baseline survey will be conducted in around 90 villages in Odisha during the period of May 15th to July 15th.

Roles and Responsibilities: 

a) Training: The interns are supposed to report at our office in Berhampur on 14th May 2024 and attend training in Berhampur for 12 days. The accommodation will be taken care by us. 

b) Accommodation: On 27th May, the interns will be sent to our shared accommodation facilities in either Ganjam, Gajapati or Bhanajanagar areas. The shifting and accommodation will be taken care by us. 

c) Data collection and field transportation: From 28th May onwards, the interns will survey four to five households per day in either Ganjam or Gajapati districts, get it checked by the field 
supervisor, upload them on the server and the same will continue until the end of the internship period. We will arrange four-wheeler transportation for the interns for all sorts of fieldwork. 

d) Meetings: Bi-weekly full team meetings will be conducted in our Berhampur office. 

e) Holidays: All Sundays will be holidays. All Odisha government holidays will also be considered as holidays. 

Qualifications: 

a) Mandatory qualification: 
 Must know how to speak, read, and write in Odia. 
 Must have completed bachelors in any stream. 
 Ready to adapt to long fieldwork days. 

b) Desirable qualification: 
 Currently pursuing master’s in public health, Population Studies, Social Sciences, Public Policy, 
Sociology, Anthropology, Gender Studies and any such humanities course. 

Perks:
 
a) INR 20000 per month for two months with applicable TDS. 

b) Free shared accommodation with other interns. 

c) A letter of appreciation by the Principal Investigator (PI) of CROPS. 

What will you learn from this internship? 

a) Dietary Diversity, Minimum Dietary Diversity, and public health concerns around it. 

b) Pilot intervention of CROPS and interactions with some participants. 

c) Basic research methodology and research ethics

d) Dietary data collection methods

e) How a questionnaire is designed and what are the objectives of each question. 

f) Issues and challenges with data collection among rural communities

g) Lots of fieldwork 

How to apply? 

Email your updated CV to our Research Coordinator Mr. Sadasiva Kothia Please add the subject as ‘CROPS data collection internship’. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview. We request candidates to apply as soon as they can. In case of queries, please contact the Research Manager of the study at: abisoyi@emory.edu