The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries keep their farm animals’ alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases. www.ilri.org
ILRI is a not-for-profit institution with a staff of about 700 and in 2016, an operating budget of about USD 83 million. A member of the CGIAR Consortium working for a food-secure future, ILRI has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in other countries in East, West and Southern Africa and in South, Southeast and East Asia. www.cgiar.org
DAAD is a German Academic Exchange service which is a publicly funded, self-governing organization of the institutions of higher education in Germany. DAAD promotes international academic exchange as well as educational co-operation with developing countries through a variety of funding and scholarship programs.
ILRI Research Project: Livestock Agri-food Systems CGIAR Research Program
The Livestock and Environment Flagship program of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock Agrifood Systems:
- Aims to secure the essential role of livestock in ensuring nutritional security and contributing to poverty reduction for a growing population, in the context of ongoing global change, by reducing the environmental footprint of livestock production.
- Also aims to ensure that livestock continue to enhance ecosystem services necessary to sustain productivity and improve the resilience to global environmental change.
- Fills a unique role by contributing evidence to the global debate on livestock and the environment that is particular to the developing world and more specifically to poor and vulnerable smallholders undergoing either fragile or more rapid market-oriented growth.
- Uses field research, to provide context-specific solutions that minimize trade-offs between increasing productivity, enhancing ecosystem services, reducing environmental footprints, and adapting to expected environmental change.
- By working with a wide range of partners and stakeholders with an aim to enhance evidence-based decision-making at household, community and policy levels, the local research will also inform the global debates and models so that they better apply to developing country contexts.
Graduate Fellowship Project Title: Large landscape spatial socio-ecological planning for extensive livestock systems.
The Position
Rangeland management in developing countries is impeded by conversion of key land resources to other uses, insecure tenure, weak governance and poorly managed social change, and inappropriate spatial allocation of services. Spatial planning is potentially an effective tool for addressing these challenges but, if done at all, is usually carried out at scale smaller than that over which livestock mobility and rangeland management take place. Spatial planning that takes into account both ecological-land use and social needs and changes will provide a more solid foundation for integrated socio-ecological systems such as pastoralism. A PhD fellow will analyze the cross-scale interactions amongst land use and tenure, governance and social change, rangeland condition, land conversion, markets and other services, and livestock mobility and productivity. It is envisioned that the student will carry out this analysis for two sites in dryland regions where the Livestock CRP is working.
At sub-national levels, this research will contribute to the Livestock CRP’s intention of supporting partners in the piloting of land management initiatives. Spatial analysis and modeling at a large landscape scale incorporating both social and ecological land use features can also help to communicate to policymakers the impact of tenure and other policies on livestock production and social and environmental sustainability in rangelands. At national levels therefore, this research will help to achieve the CRP’s intended outcome of national government agencies designing and implementing policies that will improve the environmental management of livestock systems and ultimately contribute to objectives of the Livestock CRP for improved productivity, livelihood resilience and ecosystem health in rangelands.
Responsibilities
- Carry out a spatial analysis which integrates livestock production practices, land use and tenure, and ecological, social, demographic and other factors for large landscape sites in two countries to assess how changes in tenure, land conversion, governance, development of markets and other services, and other social change affect livestock mobility, productivity, and ecosystem services.
- Develop land use scenarios for these landscapes
- Develop a GIS-based decision support tool which can be used in other extensive livestock systems in developing countries.
Essential Skills and Qualifications will include:
- Pursuing or prepared to start a PhD by September 2016 in geography, rural planning, environmental management or related discipline
- Extensive prior experience with GIS software and spatial analysis
- Experience with simulation and/or GIS-based modelling would be an asset
Location: ILRI Ethiopia/ Kenya
Duration: 3 years
Duration: 3 years
Terms of appointment: ILRI will offer a competitive stipend to cover living expenses in the project location(s). The successful candidate will be supervised jointly by an ILRI scientist and the university/academic supervisor.
How to apply
Interested applicants should submit the following documents;
- A cover letter explaining your interest in the position, what you can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about your professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development. The position title and reference number: PHDLSE/DAAD/02/2016 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter.
- Curriculum Vitae without photograph; please use the europass CV template athttp://europass.cedefop.europa.eu.
- Certified copies of all university degree certificates.
- Certified copies of all university transcripts.
- At least temporary University admission letter including fee structure of respective course (original or certified copy only), or an official letter assuring admission. If this is not available by the closing date for application; please include with the application a commitment letter that you will have obtained this by 1st September 2016 as this is a mandatory requirement before commencing the fellowship program.
- PhD research proposal and a detailed work plan (10 to 15 pages); plagiarism will be checked! The proposal has to be in line with the above outlined ILRI’s research project.
- Abstract of the proposal on one page (please include name and title of proposal)
- Where applicable a recommendation letter by head of department indicating that you are a present or prospective member of staff and how you will be integrated into the staff development agenda of the university (original only)
- Confirmation of study leave from your university (if applicable)
- Confirmation of teaching release (university staff members only)
The scholarships are only awarded to citizens of Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA)
All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com by 18 March 2016.
We thank all applicants for their interest in working for ILRI. Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training). ILRI also does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.
To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org
To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/
Suitably qualified women and citizens of developing countries, with experience of working internationally, are particularly encouraged to apply.
