Research Assistants - Responsible Investments in Property and Land (RIPL)

Duty of Station: Arusha

Reporting to: LBI Coordinator

Terms of Reference

In support of the Responsible Investments in Property and Land (RIPL) project, Tanzania Natural Resource Forum (TNRF) is in need of four (4) research assistants who will assist RIPL team to undertake research work and other project activities.  As such, these Terms of Reference (TOR) describes the background, tasks and deliverables for research assistants to provide related services.

1. Background

With global attention focused on inequitable land-related investments, governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector have come together to improve land governance and investment practices. The African Union’s Guiding Principles on Large Scale Land Based Investments, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT), and other standards and principles are emblematic of the international community’s commitment to improving policy and practice leading to socially responsible land-related investments.

The RIPL project contributes to these on-going global efforts by supporting the participation and empowerment of communities, governments, and investors in such investments. Significantly, RIPL is committed to facilitating gender-equitable investments in land to ensure that women and men are not harmed by such investments and that women and men share equally in the benefits of investments.

The primary output of the RIPL project, in partnership with local land tenure experts, is the development of how-to guides, called “Playbooks,” for each stakeholder group (one for communities, one for investors, and one for government). The Playbooks will be developed in two focus countries—Tanzania and Ghana. These country-specific Playbooks will, in turn, inform the development of Model Playbooks that can be used as templates in other countries.

Thus, the services under this TOR are intended to provide the RIPL team in undertaking comprehensive review of various policies and laws that relate to land, investment and agriculture among other activities.

2.  Tasks and Deliverables: 

Researchers will do desk review of the available literature on land and investment in Tanzania and conduct field interviews as directed by the RIPL team.   More specifically researchers will:

1. Conduct comprehensive review of policies and laws on land, investment and agriculture in Tanzania
2. Conduct comprehensive review of literature on land investments in the Southern Agricultural Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT)
3. Do gender analysis from all data collected during desk review and field interviews
4. Assist RIPL team in preparations of meetings/workshops
5. Write research and workshop quality reports
6. Participate in initial stage of drafting playbooks
7. Participate in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning activities
8. Aid in collection of land based investment communication evidence for TNRF future use.

3. Qualifications

1. Bachelor degree in law, natural resource or in any social science discipline. Advanced degree will be an added advantage 
2. Strong research, analytical, and writing skills is required. Applicants must submit a sample of their writings along with CV and cover letter.

4. Terms of Contract

This is a short term (six months) project funded position which will not attract salary. However, a reasonable monthly allowance will be paid. The project will pay for all costs incurred by researchers when outside their place of work.