22 July 2015: The three-year project, titled ‘Unleashing the Potential of African Rural Economies through Green Growth’ and implemented by the UN University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), aims to provide empirical evidence on how green growth strategies can influence employment, income generation, innovation, competitiveness and social inclusion for rural Africa. The project is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.

The project explores four thematic areas: green business opportunities in rural Africa; small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and resource efficiency, productivity and resilience in rural Africa; rural SMEs and ecosystem services; and institutions and governance for environmentally-friendly business practices.

UNU-INRA invites faculty members or advanced PhD researchers at African universities and other research institutions to participate in a four-month PhD internship programme exploring research questions linked to the four thematic areas. Successful candidates will be based at the UNU-INRA headquarters in Accra, Ghana, or at any of its operating units based in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Namibia, Senegal and Zambia. The deadline for applications is 15 September 2015. [UNU Announcement]