Overview

Job Title: Regenerative Agriculture – INTERNSHIP

Job location: Katavi

Job duration: 1 year

Rikolto

 

 

About Rikolto:

For over 30 years, Rikolto in East Africa has worked tirelessly to achieve a single goal: a better deal for farmers. Rikolto is an international NGO with over 40 years of experience working with farmer organizations and food chain players in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Rikolto is ambitious in addressing one of the most pressing issues we face: ensuring that we have food systems that provide for all of us today and in the future while without burdening our planet beyond its capacity. As a result, we pose the question: “What will we eat tomorrow?” Rikolto operates programs in 17 countries through seven regional offices.

 

Rikolto has boots on the ground in Congo DRC, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. In Tanzania, Rikolto’s headquarters are in Arusha, with sub-offices in Mbeya, Iringa, Dodoma, Katavi, and Tanga We are a close-knit network of accessible and competent colleagues who are eager to share their experiences and encourage others.

 

The Project background:

Tanzania has 115 identified wetlands, which cover 10% of the country. They support biodiversity and provide ecosystem services such as flood and erosion management, tourism, plant and animal habitat, and food. However, Tanzania’s wetlands are under threat from unsustainable water resources and land use practices. Population expansion, poor water resource management, and intensive land use are all contributing to an increase in the strains on existing water supplies.

 

There is insufficient current data and information on minimum river flow to inform the issuance of water use licenses; also, significant water users, such as irrigation farmers, lack expertise and access to improved and adapted farming methods. The most serious threat to the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem’s long-term survival is excessive water use in the river’s headwaters, which are located before the national park.

Effective water resource management and the identification of environmental flows are crucial for ecosystem health and biodiversity conservation, and should serve as the foundation for any project focusing on biodiversity conservation and wetlands/ecosystem protection.

 

The Rikolto is collaborating with GIZ under the Ministry of Water (MoW), SNV, and IUCN to carry out a three-year project titled Conservation of biodiversity in wetlands through integrated water resource management. Thus, the project intends to develop water and natural resource management institutions, as well as improve water user capacities, in order to effectively manage water resources for the protection of wetlands ecosystems and biodiversity conservation.

 

The Rikolto’s role in this project will be to increase the capacity of Water User Association (WUA) leaders and members through awareness-raising and training initiatives, such as efficient water management (including irrigation infrastructure investment) and ensuring compliance with their water withdrawal permits. Training for all water users on sustainable water use and environmentally friendly farming techniques.

 

 

The responsibilities:

  • To organize project meetings, workshops, and seminars in partnership with your agribusiness advisor and other stakeholders.
  • Manage demonstration plots, gather data, and coordinate outreach activities for TOTs.
  • To organize ToTs’ participation in training sessions on water efficiency and ecologically friendly activities.
  • Help ToTs on cascading water use efficiency measures that irrigators will implement (for example, in irrigation efficiency and practices, river management, and water storage) with the goal of increasing available water for biodiversity conservation (minimum environmental flows) along the Katuma River in Katavi.
  • Should serve as a liaison between the project, water customers’ community members, and the LGA.
  • To support the function of the Icra agribusiness Model on both production and commercial packages, while also facilitating the collection of monthly production and conservation practices reports for inclusion in the Quarter report.
  • With the help of the LGA and Rikolto agribusiness advisors, farmer leaders and farmers are being trained in water use efficiency techniques and management practices, ecosystem conservation/restoration, and regenerative agriculture, with a focus on reinforcing compliance with water draw permits.
  • Collaboration with WUA professionalization technical experts facilitates skill growth and practice of governance, management, and leadership abilities for the three WUA.
  • Through the establishment of a demonstration plot, train and promote sustainable water management strategies such as alternative wetting and drying (AWD), seedling transplantation, land levelling, and the use of climate smart seedlings.
  • Encourage farmers to fill out farmer management journals and WUA to keep track of group project information.
  • To support WUA leaders and TORs by providing farmer field schools and demonstration places to disseminate knowledge/skills on water and soil nutrient conservation outreach training to additional farmers in the basin outside the three WUAs.

 

The Minimum qualifications:

  • A degree in conservation agriculture, environmental management, and agronomy.
  • Must be a dynamic, efficient, and well-organized individual who can operate with minimal supervision.
  • An agronomist with experience in community development, mobilization, ecosystem conservation, and conservation methodologies is required.
  • Must be computer literate, particularly with word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.
  • Must be willing to work extensively in remote areas.
  • Must have great communication skills and be fluent in English and Kiswahili.
  • The Mpanda residents will be given the utmost priority.

 

 

 

The mode of application:

The interested candidate should send an expression of interest to eastafrica.recruitment@rikolto.org via a one-page application letter, a detailed CV, and copies of relevant certificates by February 24th, 2025, along with the names of two referees with valid contact phone numbers, emails, and postal addresses.

Only the shortlisted candidates will be notified and invited for an interview.