Research Associate -Paying Smallholder Farmers to Increase Carbon Sequestration by Changing Agricultural Practices: Evidence from Odisha (PESO)

Position: Research Associate

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Country: India

Start Date: July 1, 2026

Project: Paying Smallholder Farmers to Increase Carbon Sequestration by Changing Agricultural Practices: Evidence from Odisha (PESO)

Location: Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

Length of Commitment: 6-8 months and extendable availability to funding

Language requirement: English, Odia

PIs: Aprajit Mahajan, Shuo Yu, Elizabeth Saunders (Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley)

 

About J-PAL South Asia:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) was established in 2003 as a research center at the Economics Department at MIT. Since then, it has grown into a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL is propelled by a first-rate team dedicated to research, policy, training, and other vital work, supporting J-PAL's mission to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.

J-PAL South Asia, based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, leads J-PAL’s efforts to advance evidence-informed policymaking in the region. By conducting rigorous randomized evaluations, forging impactful strategic partnerships, and scaling effective programs, we strive to deliver better evidence to help governments design better policies so people can live better lives. Established in 2007, J-PAL South Asia is the oldest and the largest among all J-PAL offices. We have 255 ongoing and completed evaluations in the South Asia region across 11 sectors to date. We have a growing number of partnerships in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

 

About the Project:

In Odisha, smallholder farmers face significant challenges due to monocropping, rabi fallow practices and soil degradation. Addressing these issues requires scalable solutions that improve soil health, crop productivity and farmer livelihoods. This project tests whether financial incentives can drive smallholder farmer adoption of regenerative agricultural practices (rotavator residue incorporation) that improve soil carbon sequestration.

The current RCT builds on a three-year pilot, where consistent SOC improvements and stable yield outcomes provided the empirical basis for scaling. The study is implemented across Balasore and Bhadrak districts - selected for their rice-fallow systems and agroecological relevance - with randomization at the cluster level (approximately ten spatially contiguous farmers), enabling direct measurement of peer effects and reducing testing costs. While SOC improvement and yield neutrality remain the primary environmental outcomes, the central analytical focus lies in understanding adoption behavior - specifically, how take-up varies across different incentive structures, with direct implications for designing scalable payment models for smallholder farmers.

 

About the Role:

J-PAL South Asia at IFMR seeks qualified applicants for the position of Research Associate. The project is transitioning from design and enrollment to intensive field operations, interventions, and monitoring across approximately 2,000 farmers in Balasore and Bhadrak districts, Odisha. This phase requires dedicated research support across several concurrent workstreams: monitoring intervention delivery across treatment arms, managing multiple survey rounds, coordinating field activities including geotracing and soil sampling, and maintaining data processing pipelines for survey, spatial, and agronomic datasets. The RA will also contribute to process documentation to support long-term research continuity. The RA will work closely with the Research Manager and Principal Investigators, who will guide and supervise them across tasks.

This role will offer first-hand field management experience in a large-scale RCT in an organisation undertaking cutting-edge development research, exposure to the full research pipeline - from field implementation to data systems to analysis and direct mentorship from senior researchers and PIs affiliated with leading global universities.

 

Key Responsibilities:

While the scope below reflects the demands of this specific project phase, it is broadly representative of the work RAs undertake across J-PAL South Asia. The responsibilities of a Research Associate typically include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Supporting researchers in developing and refining study protocols through in-field scoping activities. You will provide contextual and operational insights - particularly around intervention delivery across treatment arms and field conditions across dispersed sites in Balasore and Bhadrak - to help shape protocols that are methodologically rigorous and operationally feasible.
2. Strengthening measurement validity and reliability by assisting in the development and piloting of survey instruments. You will organise field tests, analyse pilot data, and integrate structured feedback loops to improve the precision and accuracy of indicators across survey rounds.
3. Enabling accurate and efficient data capture through the programming of digital surveys and development of end-to-end data workflows. This includes incorporating survey logic, real-time checks, and secure data transmission to ensure clean, analysis-ready datasets across survey, spatial and agronomic data streams.
4. Ensuring collection of high-quality primary data by recruiting, training and managing field teams. This includes coordinating enumerators and supervising field activities such as soil sampling, GPS-based geotracing, and crop cutting across geographically dispersed study sites.
5. Safeguarding data integrity in consultation with the research team by setting up and maintaining systems for real-time quality monitoring. You will identify issues in incoming data, work with researchers to diagnose problems, and implement corrective measures before they compound.
6. Preparing analysis-ready datasets by writing reproducible code in Stata (preferred), R or Python, generating summary statistics, and contributing to analytical preparation in close coordination with the PIs.
7. Facilitating alignment between the research team and implementation partners - including local contractors, farmer groups, and government advisory and soil research institutions - to ensure field operations remain consistent with study protocols. You will coordinate timelines, share updates across teams, and help troubleshoot day-to-day challenges.
8. Ensuring transparency and reproducibility by developing and maintaining detailed documentation, including field protocols, data architecture records, sampling frameworks, randomisation records, and dataset READMEs, to standards that support eventual replication and publication.
9. Maintaining strict adherence to J-PAL's research protocols throughout all stages of the research lifecycle.

 

What We’re Looking For:

● Bachelor's or Master's degree in Economics, Agriculture, Social Sciences, Public Policy or a related field

● Preference for candidates who demonstrate:

● Speaking and comprehending Odia (Non-negotiable for this role/project)

● Ability to read and write Odia is an added advantage

● Familiarity with rural Odisha field contexts

● Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive approach to addressing operational and analytical challenges

● Prior field management experience conducting field surveys in rural settings is non-negotiable

● Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations and institutional stakeholders - government bodies, NGOs or quasi-government organisations

● Baseline familiarity with SurveyCTO or equivalent survey platforms

● Working knowledge of Stata or R for data cleaning and analysis

● Excellent time management and attention to detail with ability to manage day-to-day work with minimal supervision

● Demonstrated curiosity and ability to quickly learn and adapt in fast-evolving environments

● Interest in academic research and evidence-based policy and prior exposure to qualitative fieldwork methods

● Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt messaging for diverse audiences

 

Desirable:

● Prior experience in a research or field coordination role, preferably within a research organisation, NGO or academic institution

● Familiarity with ArcGIS, GPS data, or spatial data tools

● Understanding of sampling frameworks or spatial sampling strategies

● Willingness to learn and take on additional data and research skills on the job.

 

Note on Work Authorizations:

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.