Background
To feed its growing population amid climate change and other challenges, the developing world needs a flourishing food system that is nutrition-sensitive, efficient, safe, healthy, and environmentally sustainable. This requires bringing modern technologies to local communities, helping stakeholders to acquire the relevant technical know-how, and building strong partnerships and institutions. Developed countries around the world can play important roles in these efforts and Japan is one of them. We explore how Japan can lend its expertise to address food and nutrition challenges in the developing world by examining the transferability of Japanโs advanced technologies, know-how and institutional innovations to the developing world.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), under the financial support through the Japanese Governmentโs FY2024 Supplementary Budget, implements the project โEmpowering women to sustainably increase incomes and improve welfare through innovations: Intervention in shea butter value chains in underdeveloped areas of Ghanaโ.
We introduce bundled innovations to improve efficiency as well as augment value added at womenโs cooperatives engaged in shea collection in disadvantaged areas of Ghana. The empowerment of women, driven by the technological change, in the above context is expected to not only increase productivity, reduce loss in shea collection and thus womenโs incomes but also create welfare improving impacts such as human capital investments in children and additional investments to generate household incomes, e.g., farming activities and marketing. Specifically, the intervention introduces tricycle trucks and de-husking machines to all target womenโs cooperatives. In particular, the introduction of the two innovations will not only significantly increase productivity and reduce loss during shea collection and transport, but also create more time available to other activities, free from the shea butter related operation.
The technological arm of our intervention has three components: (a) tricycle truck, (b) de-husking machine and (c) others such as personal protective equipment and drying mats (hygiene improvement) to boost the productivity of shea collection, reduce loss, improve time allocation, and increase value added. The components (a) and (b) are a time-saving technological change, which makes more time available for other activities. All the above empower women engaged in the shea butter production and create positive impacts not only in the shea butter production, but also to other productive and household activities such as farming activities and human capital investments in children.
The institutional (socioeconomic) arm of the intervention aims to improve the incentive structure of the cooperative to utilize the technological innovations, introduced through the technological arm of our intervention, in an efficient and effective manner. This can be called incentive design intervention.
IFPRI seeks a qualified consultant who is based in Ghana to work with IFPRI between March 15, 2025 and March 14, 2026 with possibility of extension.
Scope of work
Support IFPRIโs scoping visits to shea butter womenโs cooperatives in northern Ghana
Understand and align all activities in this intervention with the randomized controlled trial, which IFPRI designs
Contribute to the selection of eligible cooperatives
Introduce (a) technological and (b) institutional (socioeconomic) innovations, described above, to the target cooperatives, randomly selected from the eligible cooperatives
Support the survey team who conducts baseline, endline 1 and endline 2 surveys, scheduled in April, October 2025 and February 2026, respectively
Monitor the actual utilization of technologies introduced in the intervention
Implement the incentive rules, as part of the institutional (socioeconomic) innovation, in the target cooperatives
Regularly report to IFPRI โ both Ghana team and headquarters
Submit baseline, midline and final reports to IFPRI
Required qualifications of the consultant
Demonstrated superb knowledge of current and recent agenda in shea butter value chains
Experience over years in working in the shea butter sector in Ghana, and importantly with womenโs cooperatives to produce shea butter
Experience over years in training and building capacity for shea butter womenโs cooperative to improve efficiency in shea butter production as well as the quality of shea butter products
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Proficiency in English and local languages in Ghana
Preferred qualifications
Part of the shea butter or related global value chain network
Excellent tracking records on activities supporting shea butter womenโs cooperatives in northern Ghana
Linkage to Japan
Application Deadline: February 19, 2025