Intern - AI-Driven Climate-Smart Beekeeping for Women (AID-CSB)
ICARDA, Ethiopia
Job Description
About the AID-CSB project
The project goal is to support biodiversity and enable improved hive management among women by leveraging traditional knowledge and technical assistance to become more productive beekeepers, using a gender-sensitive, participatory and inclusive app development process.
Based on a participatory design and user-research process with women beekeepers in Ethiopia, AID-CSB will localize a beekeeping companion app and make it available to beekeepers. Enhanced by Artificial Intelligence and the crowdsourcing of data-collection, this app will incorporate traditional and local knowledge of beekeepers to train women, support their decision-making for hive management, and provide a low-barrier means of livelihood improvement. The women beekeepers will use the app to monitor and manage their hives by entering data on hive inspections and receiving helpful notifications on when to inspect the hive, weather, pests, diseases, and more.
In Ethiopia, using a gender-sensitive, participatory and inclusive feedback process, we will train and develop the app with 10 women beekeepers and enhance their beekeeping with the long-term aim to become entrepreneurs for their own enterprises while improving local biodiversity and crop yields.
Intern Responsibilities
The intern will provide support over a period of 3 months full time or 6 months part time (between June-November) to help with digitization of local beekeeping practices and knowledge, background research and data collection, and support to the field assistant. We expect the intern’s responsibilities to require ~8h/week during the school year, ~30h/week during the summer holiday period.
- Digitization for app development: Before the app is developed, beekeepers will keep paper records during hive inspections. The intern will help enter this data into excel or other data collection software. As other information is collected on local beekeeping practices and knowledge, the intern will also help translate this into quantitative data.
- Data collection/background research: The intern may aid in research and collection of data as needed on topics such as blooming times of flora; locally present pests, diseases and treatments; and other subject areas as requested.
- Support to field assistant: During the project monitoring period (approximately September-November) while the beekeepers will be using the app to monitor and manage their hives, the field assistant will be visiting the beekeepers and providing in-person support. During this time, the intern may support the field assistant through beekeeper records and data management, coordination of beekeeper visits, and/or in-person attendance.
- Presentations amp; Reporting: For workshops with beekeepers, the intern may provide support by preparing and reviewing workshop materials, and/or in-person facilitation. The intern may be requested to allocate 20h of their time to support the final project report.
Requirements
We are looking for a current or recently graduated student with a background in entomology (preference for those with background in honeybee health) or agronomy. Given the project focus on women beekeepers, a woman intern is preferred.
- BSc and background in entomology (preference for those with background in honeybee health) or agronomy
- Experience with data management and analysis
- Fluent in Amharic and English
- Access to a computer and a smartphone, familiar with using a smartphone
- Experience with beekeeping will be beneficial
- Interest in app development will be beneficial
Benefits
The intern will be provided with a monthly all-inclusive stipend of USD 350 (for full-time) payable in local currency.