Internship 2024 in Bolivia

 

Internship with Mollesnejta – Institute for Andine Agroforestry

Agrecol e.V. can arrange one internship in Bolivia in 2024 and will provide support in the following areas:

• Agrecol e.V. will cover the cost of the outward and return flights (economy class) between Europe and Bolivia.
• At least one member of the association as well as former interns are available to prepare and answer questions before and during the overseas stay.
• After completing the internship, an invitation will be made and the costs for travel and accommodation will be covered for an Agrecol e.V. meeting (in Germany or a neighbouring country), where the interns will present their experiences abroad.

Agrecol e.V. is not in a position to cover any additional costs associated with the internship (e.g. visa, vaccinations, health insurance) beyond those listed above.

For the year 2024, the partner organisation Mollesnejta – Institute for Andine Agroforestry in Bolivia is prepared to accept and supervise one trainee. It is expected that the student selected for the travel scholarship will agree on the further modalities for the internship with the host organisation.

For Agrecol e.V. (Germany), the intern will report regularly on his/her activities with posts on the Agrecol e.V. internship blog. In addition, a final report will be prepared and presented at an Agrecol meeting (preferably together with a photo presentation).

Information about the internship at Mollesnejta – Institute for Andine Agroforestry in Bolivia

Mollesnejta is a demonstration, experimental and teaching farm for Andean agroforestry. Here, agroforestry systems are built and tested. The combination of agroecological mixed cultures and taking into account perennial species enables an improved soil fertility and better adaptation to climate change. Mollesnejta’s 23-hectare experimental area is located in the arid Cochabamba valley partly on slopes below the Tunari peak, partly in the valley plain, both at an average altitude of 2,750 meters with an average temperature of 18°C and 500 mm rainfall/year. The director, Noemi Stadler-Kaulich, has over 20 years of experience with agroforestry. She advises and teaches in the field of agroforestry from planning to implementation and management of agroforestry plots in Latin America, Africa and Europe.

The tasks and location of the trainee will be specified by Mollesnejta according to the requirements of the respective project. The exact preparation for the internship will be agreed with Mollesnejta.

Your tasks as an intern:

• Each intern is required to do a (small) research project in Mollesnejta or to join a larger, long-term trial
• Data collection for a bachelor or master thesis can also be done in Mollesnejta as part of the internship

The practical knowledge of agroforestry – from planning and implementation to plot maintenance – is learnt by assisting with daily tasks. The following activities are carried out throughout the year:

January: Planting, pruning in the agroforest parcels
February: Pruning in the agroforest parcels
March: Collect seed, prepare seedlings in the nursery
April: prepare seedlings in the nursery, prepare plant bags for sowing
May: Sowing trees into plant bags
June: Water young trees, sow trees into plant bags, grafting fruit trees
July: Irrigate plants, prepare cuttings and put them in plant bags
August: Irrigate plants, pruning, planting of Opuntia cactus
September: Irrigate plants, preparing new agroforestry parcels
October: Irrigate plants, prepare new agroforestry parcels
November: Implementation of new agroforestry parcels
December: Implementation of new agroforestry parcels

Assistance required in the vegetable garden, in the production and application of terra preta and fragmented branch wood is desired throughout the year.

More information about Mollesnejta can be found on the internet: https://mollesnejta.org

Services provided by Mollesnejta to the intern:

Free accommodation and shared use of the guesthouse kitchen. Meals (lunch and/or dinner) are provided by the cook Doña Crecencia for a fair price of 1,30 €. Vegetarian or vegan meals are available upon request.

More information about Mollesnejta can be found on the internet: https://mollesnejta.org

Required profile for the internship:

The internship holder should:

• • be studying at a university or college of applied sciences in a German-speaking country (non-German students can also apply);
  • have basic knowledge and/or experience in the management of organised groups (farm production, processing and marketing);
  • bring along a notebook (PC) which can be used at work;
  • have basic knowledge of (organic) agriculture;
  • show interest and empathy for working with small-scale farmers in different sociocultural contexts;
  • be a dynamic, open and committed personality;
  • have good Spanish language skills for communication at the working level (an interview with Mollesnejta will be conducted via Skype as part of the selection process);
  • be not older than 30 years.

Period of the internship:

The internship should start, after consultation with the host organisation, in the second half of 2024 and should last at least six months, but can be extended up to 12 months after agreement.

General application information

The application, consisting of a convincing letter of motivation in German, concrete details about the desired period of internship and a curriculum vitae in German and Spanish should be sent by e-mail as one pdf file to:

praktikantinnenprogramm@agrecol.org (Markus Frank).

The deadline for applications is 29.02.2024.

Applicants will be notified at latest by end of March 2024.