Impact intern: Fieldwork in Tanzania

While consumers are paying too much for low-quality coffee, farmers are earning below what they need to sustain their livelihoods. That's why we are all about selling the best coffee – not just in taste, but also in fair pay for the farmers we work with. Our beans are traceable to the farm and poured by us in your cup or freshly delivered at home through your mailbox. We are a no-nonsense, ambitious start-up with a profound mission: impacting the world with exciting coffee.

There are different ways we contribute to a sunny future for coffee farming. Paying a good price and making coffee farming a job to aspire to is one side of it, but if coffee won’t grow, then paying an amazing price will not help. So, combatting the effects of climate change, pests and disease and soil degradation are key to a future in coffee farming.

This goes beyond certification and complying to third party requirements. It is all about hitting exactly those notes that make sense for farmers in each specific reality.

Mbinga, Tanzania
Our longest standing partnership is with exporter and coffee producer CBC in Mbinga, Tanzania. We are at the start of a journey to implement a regenerative production system with over 50 farmers to phase-out the conventional use of fertilisers and pesticides. In order to safeguard yield and income for farmers in an ever changing climate, a measured and customised approach is required.

This internship will consist of four main components. 1) Setting up and preparing the research/fieldwork. 2) travelling to Tanzania and doing farmer group research, benchmarking regenerative practices and cost of production. 3) setting up pilots/testplots and production of organic fertiliser/pesticide and 4) reporting on the results.

Research and fieldwork preparations (1.5 months): Amsterdam
The start of the internship will take place in Amsterdam, preparing the field work and setting up the research. Working closely with our impact manager and lead on regenerative agriculture in Wakuli value chains. 

Fieldwork (max 3 months): Mbinga, Tanzania
The first two weeks of work in Mbinga will be done together with our sourcing and impact team to set up one compost facility at the CBC farm and prepare for other activities. The remainder of the field work you will do in close collaboration with the CBC team and farmers in the area. 

• Take farmer interviews documenting farm practices, yield, productivity and basic cost of production

• Supporting with geo data collection for EU deforestation regulation (EUDR)

• Identify farmers ready and willing to implement reg ag principles

• Set up compost production in three to five central points in the Mbinga area

• Set up small scale decentralized liquid fertilizer and organic pesticide production 

• Set up logistics for compost and fertilizer production (and distribution)

• Help setting up test plots in at least five different coffee farms, combining compost, mulching, cover crops, liquid fertilizer, organic pest controls and new farm design principle

• Help setting up a nursery for fruit trees, shade trees and coffee seedlings

Wrap up (1,5 months): Amsterdam

Reporting and presentation + advice to Wakuli and CBC+ work on a publication for broader communication.

What you will get

• First of all, the best internship experience ever. Working with amazing people in an unforgettable area

• A chance to make a positive contribution to the coffee industry

• 500 EURO internship allowance per month based on full time employment

• Travel expenses covered 

• Working from home flexibility (at least 50/50) and an inspiring workplace above the roastery and in Mbinga

• A lot of responsibilities and a steep learning curve

• Regular check-ins and online support from our team in the Netherlands during the field work

• A chance to learn more about the coffee business as well as Tanzanian agriculture, traditions and society 

• Talented international and impact driven colleagues with a great team spirit

What we are looking for in a candidate:

• A hands on attitude

• Adventurous

• open and communicative

• Experience with travelling and working in an international, challenging environment is a plus

• Affinity with regenerative (coffee) production

• Master level and studying in a relevant area: agricultural university or agricultural University of applied science

• Affinity with micro biology and chemistry

• Knowledge of and experience with farming systems

• Fluent in English

• Physically able to do some proper lifting, digging and shovelling.

• In possession of a driver's licence is a plus

• Available for 6 months, starting on the first of September (so Christmas holidays in the sun!)

If you love coffee and agriculture, if you are adventurous and independent and if you want to make real impact? Drop us a message and let’s have a (digital) cup of coffee!