Intern - Sustainable Agriculture

India Resources Trust; New Delhi; On-site; INR 254,000 - 304,000; Full time

Job summary

WRI India’s Food, Land and Water program seeks a Research Intern to study how carbon finance can drive sustainable rice farming in India. You will perform desk-based research and data analysis on carbon registries and methodologies, with focus on greenhouse gas reductions from rice cultivation.

You'll examine project data, contribute to a project database and visualizations, and support policy reviews for promoting sustainable rice practices. This is a 3‑month internship in New Delhi.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree in Environmental Sciences, Agriculture, Climate Change, Agricultural Economics or related disciplines.
• Strong desk research and data analysis skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications - Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• General awareness of carbon markets and carbon crediting mechanisms in Indian agriculture.
• Ability to present complex information clearly.

Responsibilities

• Conduct landscape assessments of agricultural carbon projects across selected registries.
• Conduct a comparative assessment of rice emission-reduction methodologies.
• Analyze data to identify trends in project scale, geography and approaches.
• Prepare a structured project database, a methodology matrix, and data visualizations.
• Support policy review for promoting sustainable rice cultivation practices.

Skills

Desk research

Data analysis

Microsoft Office

Communication

Teamwork

Data visualization tools

Presenting information

Independent work

R

Python

Power BI

Education

Postgraduate degree in Environmental Sciences/ Agriculture/ Climate Change/ Agricultural Economics

Tools

Power BI

Python

R

Microsoft Office

Job description

About Us

WRI India, an independent charity legally registered as the India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. Through research, analysis, and recommendations, WRI India puts ideas into action to build transformative solutions to protect the earth, promote livelihoods, and enhance human well-being.

Program Overview for Food, Land And Water

WRI India’s Food, Land and Water program supports India’s shift toward more sustainable and climate-resilient food and land systems. The program focuses on practical, nature-based approaches such as restoring landscapes and promoting sustainable farming practices that can reduce climate risks, create jobs and livelihoods, and improve nutrition security. To support long-term change, the program also works on reducing food loss and food waste through fair and inclusive strategies that strengthen circular food systems and lower environmental impacts. Taking a systems-wide approach, we work with governments, businesses, civil society organizations, and farmer producer organizations to develop land-use strategies grounded in evidence and data. Our work helps strengthen the resilience of local communities, address capacity gaps, track progress, and support a restoration economy that benefits people, nature, and the climate.

Job Highlight

The Food, Land and Water Program at WRI India is seeking a Research Intern to support its ongoing work on the role of carbon finance in enabling the transition towards more sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural systems in India. The work will focus on understanding the evolving agricultural carbon market landscape, particularly the opportunities and challenges associated with generating carbon credits through the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, with a specific focus on rice-based systems. As a Research Intern, you will undertake desk-based research and data analysis to assess agricultural carbon projects listed across selected carbon registries. You will examine eligible agricultural activities and carbon crediting methodologies, with particular attention to approaches for quantifying GHG emission reductions from rice cultivation. You will also analyse project-level information to understand the scale, geographic distribution, implementation approaches, carbon credit generation and reported environmental and socio-economic co-benefits of agricultural carbon projects. Your research will contribute to a better understanding of how carbon finance can incentivise the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, support farmers during the transition and contribute to India's broader climate mitigation and sustainable food system objectives.

What you will do

• Conduct landscape assessments of agricultural carbon projects across selected carbon registries, focusing on eligible activities and sustainable agricultural practices and extract specific information from their project documentation using a predefined data collection framework.
• Conduct a comparative assessment of rice emission-reduction methodologies across selected carbon registries.
• Analyze the extracted data to identify trends in project scale, geographic distribution, implementation approaches, GHG mitigation potential, carbon credit issuance and the adoption of different agricultural practices.
• Prepare a structured project database, a comparative methodology matrix, data visualizations and a concise analytical note summarizing key findings.
• Support in policy review to identify policies, schemes and institutional support for promoting sustainable rice cultivation practices.

What you will need

• Postgraduate degree in Environmental Sciences, Agriculture, Climate Change, Agricultural Economics or related disciplines.
• Strong desk research and data analysis skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications- Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• General awareness of carbon markets and carbon crediting mechanisms, along with key issues in Indian agriculture.
• Ability to present complex information in a clear and concise manner.
• Good interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team.
• Exposure to data analysis or visualization tools such as R, Python or Power BI.
• Ability to think critically and creatively.

Compensation & Duration

• Stipend: INR 25000/ month
• Location: New Delhi
• Duration: 3 months (extendable upto 4 months)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) @WRI India

WRI India values and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion across all areas of our work and workforce.

Integrating these values into our actions fosters a progressive and collaborative culture and can also enhance our impact. It is our responsibility to create a welcoming working environment for people of diverse cultures, backgrounds and experience to learn together. We are responsible for fostering a safe and inclusive workplace where questions, concerns and information about diversity, equity and inclusion are part of our ongoing dialogue and development.

Learn more about WRI India’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

WRI India, an independent knowledge organization registered as India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. Through research, analysis, and recommendations, WRI India puts ideas into action to build transformative solutions to protect the earth, promote livelihoods, and enhance human well-being.

Know more: wri-india.org