Last Updated on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 by HEET Website Team

Full Name: Kosei Justin Masaka
Gender: Male
Contacts:     Mobile phone: +255 763 628 461
Email: kosei.masaka@sua.ac.tz / kosei.jr@gmail.com

Biography
I am Kosei Justin Masaka, a university graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). I am also a winner of Sua Vice Chancellor’s Award Prize for best overall 1st year students in BSc. Wildlife Management in 2011. Further, I hold a Dr. Y.H.B Malende Memorial Prize for best 2nd year student in Remote Sensing.

Professionally, I am a young researcher working as a Tutorial Assistant at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Researches focusing on blending natural resources management endeavors with entrepreneurial and business initiatives are my foundational interests. I am fascinated by the idea of designing models or systems that will bring sustainable financial as well as conservational rewards to the local communities found adjacent to natural resources such as forests and wildlife. Hence, I made it my career objective to acquire relevant skills that will enable myself in collaboration with other stakeholders to deliver significant inputs to improve the welfare among local communities with natural resources in their vicinity.

I have participated in some research projects and consultancies as listed below.

Research activities

  • Evaluation of trees planted under different projects/ programmes for improving future delivery in Morogoro, Iringa, Njombe, Shinyanga, Dodoma and Tanga Regions of Tanzania (Ongoing)
  • National Bio-Economies based on Farm-Wood-Production: Narrowing the East African Wood Supply Gap (Wood Cluster) (2017-2021).
  • Controlling Invasive Alien Species Using Sustainable Land Use Practices (SLM’s) to improve biodiversity and livelihoods of local communities in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

 

Consultancy

  • Research on Financing Mechanisms for Sustaining and Scaling-up of Community- Based Forest Management (November to December, 2020) (as a Team Member). Commissioned by Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG).

 

HEET Scholarship
The Higher Education for Economic Transformation project (HEET) has offered me full scholarship to pursue my Masters degree in the United Kingdom. The scholarship has fueled my journey towards contributing to the improvement of livelihoods of local communities as well as enriching the attitudes of students studying courses related with natural resources management.

After accomplishing my studies, I am planning to work with potential stakeholders to strategize on how local communities in the southern part of Tanzania can realize financial gains from the natural forests surrounding them without compromising conservational goals. I am strategically targeting the southern part of the country as it has enormous reserves of natural forests.

Conclusively, I am grateful to the HEET project for investing in my career and future aspirations, Sokoine University of Agriculture who coordinated the project on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the government of the United Republic of Tanzania which made efforts to secure funds required to implement the project and the World Bank which donated the funds.