Consultant - Water Resources Economist

Consultant

Water Resources Economist

Job Location

New Delhi

Duration

Three months  

Start Date

February (Tentatively) 2019

Purpose

CEEW intends to hire a Consultant (Economist cum Statistician) having specialisation and proven ability in the area of Water Resource Management with a major focus on the estimation of technical and cost efficiency in Indian agriculture. CEEW offers an intellectually challenging and conducive work environment, with a focus on research rigour, innovative thinking, and strategic outreach. We are looking for an enthusiastic and detail-oriented individual to join the interdisciplinary Risks & Adaptation team, to contribute in their work on water resources management in agriculture sector.

The Risks & Adaptation team is one of the seven focus areas at the CEEW which examines both local and global environmental risks in order to develop strategies to mitigate them. The team analyses the impacts of climate risks on health, water, agriculture and urban infrastructure, the links between clean energy and water, other human development priorities, and designs effective responses to air pollution and water resource management related challenges.

The Council’s major projects on water governance and security include the 584-page National Water Resources Framework Study for India’s 12th Five Year Plan; irrigation reform for Bihar; Swachh Bharat; supporting India’s National Water Mission; collective action for water security; mapping India’s traditional water bodies; modelling water-energy nexus; circular economy of water and wastewater; participatory irrigation management in South Asia; domestic water conflicts; modelling decision making at the basin-level; rainwater harvesting; and multi-stakeholder initiatives for urban water management.

Currently, CEEW is initiating the research work to understand the current water productivity and efficiency in Indian agriculture, the missed benefits from poor technical efficiency and associated cost of inaction. This study will further propose the mechanisms to enhance productivity of Indian agriculture and reallocate the water for the growth of the others sectors and/or maintain the required environmental flows.

The applicant will assist the fellow researchers in undertaking robust quantitative and qualitative analysis in the field of water resource management in agriculture sector.

Job Duties and Accountabilities

 Research

The consultant is expected to assist the fellow researchers in the following:

·         Carry out the estimation of technical efficiency (TE), water use efficiency (WUE) and cost efficiencies (CE) for various crops for select three states using Stochastic Production and Cost Frontier Functions (Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier model) to understand the scope for Trade-off among different inputs to enhance the agricultural water productivities and calculate potential water savings.

·         Carry out the estimation of cost of inaction and missed benefits from existing water resource management practices and water productivities in agriculture.

·         Preparation of Production Possibility Curves (PPCs) to identify optimum crop mix

·         Devising the financial mechanism for water reallocation among various sectors (agriculture, industries and domestic) to optimise the water productivity in view of India’s development goals.

Selection Criteria

Academic qualification and professional skills

·         Master’s or higher degree in Economics with a major in water resource economics

·         Strong statistical and analytical capabilities

·         Strong understanding of agriculture practices and productivities

·         Proven experience and expertise in the above sectors

CEEW operates in a dynamic environment and the candidate will be required to demonstrate flexibility in undertaking the assignment. The consultant would be expected to extend her/his expertise beyond the scope of the work, if required, as decided mutually by the consultant and CEEW.

Application

Interested candidates are requested to share their curriculum vitae (CV) and cover letter explaining your interest in the position (in one PDF) and send it to jobs@ceew.in with ‘Application – Consultant: Water Resource Economist’ as the subject line. Please do not contact individual researchers for any open position. We are an equal opportunities employer and female candidates are encouraged to apply. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified by us.