Intern - Restore4Food

About the Internship

The Restore4Food Initiative in Kenya is delivered by a lean team whose responsibilities span planning and budgeting, field implementation, partnership engagement, fundraising, events, and knowledge-sharing activities. Hosting an intern will not only strengthen the initiative’s field presence and support implementation and learning activities but also provide an opportunity to engage and mentor the next generation of African agri-food professionals. Through a structured, mentored placement, the intern will contribute to field implementation, monitoring, and learning activities while gaining practical experience in regenerative agriculture, data analysis, stakeholder engagement, and community-based research The intern will support day-to-day field implementation, monitoring, and learning activities under Restore4Food initiative, while building practical skills in regenerative agriculture, data collection and analysis, stakeholder engagement and community-based field research.

Project description

WRI Africa has worked across Africa for more than 30 years, partnering with governments and local organizations to advance forest protection, landscape restoration, sustainable food systems, clean energy, and sustainable cities. Through Restore Local, WRI supports more than 120 Restoration Champions across three landscapes - Kenya's Greater Rift Valley, the Ghana Cocoa Belt, and the Lake Kivu/Rusizi River Basin (Rwanda, Burundi, DRC), applying an Outcome-Based Restoration approach that moves beyond from tree planting to whole-ecosystem restoration with verifiable results. Building on this foundation, Restore4Food (R4F) integrates agroecological and regenerative agriculture by scaling a proven model centered on farmer capacity building, Farmer Field Schools, extension support, participatory research, bio-inputs, policy engagement, and learning. Success depends on sustained field presence and close collaboration with farmer groups, demonstration sites, cooperatives, and extension services to support adoption and generate evidence for scaling.

Internship Scope

The internship will:

• Support the delivery of farmer training and Farmer Field School (FFS) sessions in target wards and sub-counties.
• Support the establishment, management, and monitoring of on-farm agroecology demonstration plots and bio-input trials.
• Assist with data collection, management, and preliminary analysis to support the R4F research, monitoring, evaluation, and learning agenda.
• Facilitate engagement with farmer groups, cooperatives, partner CBOs, county governments, and bio-input suppliers.
• Contribute to field documentation, knowledge products, and communication materials that capture farmer experiences, lessons, and program results.
• Strengthen the intern’s research, analytical, and scientific publication skills through practical, mentored experience.
• Build interns’ research and publication experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the planning and delivery of Farmer Field Schools (FFS), farmer exchange visits, and field days, including farmer mobilization, training logistics, and feedback collection.
• Assist farmers in implementing regenerative and agroecological practices and provide routine technical support.
• Support the establishment, management, and monitoring of demonstration plots and bio-input trials, including protocol implementation, field observations, and record keeping.
• Assist with soil sampling, data collection (surveys, FDGs), yield assessments, and documentation of field performance and farmer learning outcomes.

Learning Opportunities for the Intern

The intern will strengthen their knowledge in food systems, building technical skills in sustainable food production practices, including practices that improve soil health, such as cover cropping, organic matter management and integrated pest management, alongside landscape restoration, on-farm trial design and monitoring, and data collection. They will gain experience in participatory community engagement with farmer groups, cooperatives and local government, and in preparing technical reports, case studies and knowledge products, building toward research and publication experience. Exposure to a wide range of stakeholders will also build the intern's presentation and communication skills, as they engage with and present to different audiences across the program.

Expected Contribution to the Team

The intern will strengthen R4F's field presence and data quality across demonstration plots and FFS sessions, directly supporting the program's field-implementation and MEL work. Their documentation of farmer case studies and field stories will also contribute to the program's knowledge products, reporting and visibility, evidencing how food-restoration integration builds soil health and sustains community commitment to tree-based restoration across the wider Restore Local program. They will complement the work of VIA field staff by focusing specifically on non-tree, food-restoration initiatives.

Eligibility and Qualifications

• Education: Currently enrolled in, or having completed within the last twelve months, a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in agriculture, agronomy, soil science, agroecology, agricultural economics, environmental science, natural resource management, horticulture, food systems, development studies or a closely related field.
• Experience: Demonstrated interest in agroecology, regenerative agriculture, soil health, land restoration or smallholder food systems.
  • Willingness and physical ability to work in rural field conditions, including regular travel and extended periods outdoors.
  • Good interpersonal skills and the ability to work respectfully with farmers, community groups, and government officials.
  • Prior field attachment, practical training or volunteer experience with a farmer organisation, research institution, extension service or NGO.
  • Familiarity with mobile data collection tools (ODK, KoboToolbox, SurveyCTO) or basic GIS.
  • Experience with participatory approaches such as Farmer Field Schools, participatory varietal selection, or farmer-led research.
• Language: Strong written and spoken English, and fluency in the working language of the target landscape (Kiswahili for Kenya).
  • Cultural sensitivity, humility, and respect for farmer knowledge and local institutions.
• Competencies and Attributes: Attention to detail and discipline in record keeping - field data quality is central to this role.
  • Initiative and the ability to work with limited supervision once activities are agreed.
  • Sound judgement, personal integrity, and adherence to safeguarding and ethical standards.
  • Adaptability in the face of weather, transport, and rural logistics.