Program Research Intern

TechnoServe Inc. is seeking a Program Research Intern in Lagos, Nigeria, to assist the program development team in researching challenges faced by entrepreneurs, particularly in agribusiness. Responsibilities include identifying investment opportunities, documenting support roles in agricultural development, and generating project ideas for job creation. Candidates should have a relevant degree or experience, strong research skills, and be fluent in English and a local language.
Internship Title: Program Research Intern

Background: TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. We are a nonprofit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital, and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hardworking men and women in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs, and wealth for their families and communities. With more than four decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.

Program Description: The primary objective of the TNS New Business Development department is to Lead the resource mobilization, partnerships, and program design efforts of TechnoServe in Nigeria. They do this through opportunity research, establishing quality partnerships, and responding to bids. The department provides strategic leadership and support on donor engagements and relationship management.

Duties & Responsibilities

INTERN- The Program Development Intern will work with the program development team to:
• Research the challenges that entrepreneurs and SMEs face in Nigeria, especially agribusiness entrepreneurs. The focus will be on access to finance, international trade, and export to international markets across different value chains.
• Identify and compile a list of local and international organizations that invest in the agriculture sector in Nigeria and how TechnoServe can leverage those investments.
• Research and document the roles of different organizations in West Africa that support agricultural developments either as processors, producers, suppliers, or consumers.
• Conduct a wide spectrum of research to enable Technoserve to position itself for different bidding processes
• Research digital innovations for smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs that have been implemented internationally and can be replicated locally to inspire program design.
• Assist with generating project ideas that will create digital and green jobs for women and youths.
• Other tasks that may be assigned by the Program Development Manager within the evolving scope of the role.

Learning Benefits:

Selected candidates will have the opportunity to learn
• How to identify, collect, and analyze data into useful insights.
• Learn teamwork and collaboration.
• Basic working ethic in a professional environment.
• project ideation to conceptualization processes.
• Basic professional communication skills.

Required Skills & Experience:
• Willingness to be based in assigned locations and willingness to spend significant time on desk research and out of the office on field research.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field – Plant Science, Horticulture, Crop Science, Agriculture, etc. May accept candidates with demonstrated potential instead of a degree.
• Interpersonal and cross-cultural skills as well as problem-solving skills.
• Planning skills and working with strict time guidelines.
• Fluency in English and local language (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba)
• English oral & written presentation skills
• Computer literacy, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.