THE ORGANIZATION
The Alliance of Bioversity International delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.
The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.
BACKGROUND
Recent reports indicate that low quality and quantity of feeds is a major constraint for livestock production in Rwanda. In addition, feeding practices are highly inefficient resulting in low animal productivity (milk and beef) and high greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product. Cattle feed resources in smallholder dairy farming systems in Rwanda mainly rely on cut-and-carry forage grasses and crop residues such as maize stover. Soil degradation associated with poor management practices such as continuous cultivation with limited crop inputs decreases soil organic carbon, leading to a poor fertility and low productivity in these systems. In addition, the dairy production sector is highly susceptible to climate variability, as water and land have become more limited for fodder production. Therefore, measures are needed to not only increase dairy production through well-managed farming systems that incorporate climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices and technologies, but also to mitigate the adverse effects of production on the environment.
In this context, approaches that quantify the economic and environmental impacts of introducing improved forages alongside climate-smart agricultural practices in cropping systems are needed to inform the proper scaling of these technologies. The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (ABC), university of Florida and Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), has designed a project on \"Developing climate-smart management strategies to improve sustainability of smallholder dairy cattle production systems in Rwanda.--\" The project funded by USAID through the Livestock Systems Innovation Lab (LSIL) aims to assess the benefits of adopting CSA practices in improved forage and maize-based systems on feed production, and analyse their economic and environmental sustainability, in smallholder dairy production systems in Nyanza, Burera, and Nyagatare districts in Rwanda.
About the position
The project team is planning to conduct a detailed survey in 244 households covering the three study districts. The survey will gather information on the type of dairy farming systems, the type of feeds the farmer use (including commercial), management strategies, farm resources, farm productivity, and household economy, as well as the economic constraints to expanding forage production in the dairy farming systems.
Key duties & responsibilities
The student intern will support this project in the following key activities:
- Administering of the survey in 244 households in the three study districts
- Exploratory analysis of the collected survey data
- Construction of mixed-dairy farmer typologies using the survey data for application in bioeconomic modelling
- Participate in the set-up of FarmDESIGN simulations for the different farmer typologies using key data from the surveys.
- Contribute in analyzing the environmental and economic trade-offs associated with the improved management practices in forage systems and maize production systems.
Requirements
- At least an MSc in Agricultural economics, Applied or Development economics, Agribusiness management, or related field.
- Experience in conducting household surveys.
- Good data analysis skills in R, STATA or SPSS
- Experience in GIS is an added advantage.
Terms of employment
This is an internship position based in Kigali, Rwanda. The initial contract will be for a period of three (3) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources.
The Alliance Bioversity-CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities.
- At least an MSc in Agricultural economics, Applied or Development economics, Agribusiness management, or related field.