PhD Studentship: Sharing Knowledge for Building Climate Resilience Among Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Climate change brings unprecedented risks for farmers in Africa

Most sub-Saharan African farmers are smallholders and climate change poses new threats to their livelihoods: more frequent droughts and floods, greater rainfall unpredictability, new plant and livestock pests and diseases, and so on. Now is a critical time for building climate resilience among them to prevent a devastating collapse of livelihoods and food security.

Knowledge sharing for building climate resilience

UEA researchers are building a knowledge sharing platform for building climate resilience for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on current, observable trends in weather shifts and new pests and diseases, information is offered to farmers about products and services that protect against these, and information is gathered from farmers to refine knowledge of these trends and improve the products and services.

Village agents are at the heart of the knowledge-sharing platform

Farmers share information with village agents who are equipped with a smartphone app through which weather insurance, weather forecasts, agricultural inputs such as resilient seed, and advice on climate-smart agronomic practices is offered.

Your PhD will help build the knowledge-sharing platform

For a selected research site on the foothills of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda, you would do research that helps build the platform. Your main tasks:

• Digest meteorological information for assisting farmers and improving weather insurance;
• Identify agricultural inputs suitable for changing growing conditions;
• Test farmers’ preferences for features of the knowledge-sharing platform;
• Help pilot, implement and evaluate promising design features.

World-class research experience and skills development

The research in Uganda will be crucial for rolling out the platform across sub-Saharan Africa. You will be part of a close-knit team consisting of specialists from academia and beyond. Beyond general research skills training, you will receive tailor-made training in your supervisors’ areas of expertise: applied meteorology, smallholders’ decision making under risk, choice experiments and impact evaluation. 

The successful candidate…

…is somebody who would relish the challenge of combining meteorology, development economics and impact evaluation in a transdisciplinary research project. A master’s degree in one of these disciplines (2:1 or above) is required, as well as strong demonstrated research potential.

This project is part of the Critical Decade for Climate Change PhD programme, please visit https://www.uea.ac.uk/climate/show-and-tell/leverhulme-doctoral-scholars-applicant-information for more information about the project and making an application.

Additional information

Funding

Successful candidates will be awarded 3 years, 8 months studentship covering tuition fees, a maintenance stipend (£18,622 per year in 2023/24) and funds to support the research project and associated training.

Applications are only open candidates who qualify for UK tuition fees. 

Part-time studentship awards are subject to approval. 

For more information about the ‘Critical Decade’ programme click here.

This project has been selected for the Critical Decade for Climate Change programme, funded by UEA and the Leverhulme Trust. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview, to be held early December 2023.

Primary Supervisor: Prof Arjan Verschoor

Start date: 1^st February 2024.

For more information on this project, please visit www.uea.ac.uk

Funding Details

Funded Project (Home fees eligible only)

Source of funding: SSF Faculty

Studentship length: 3 years 8 months

Amount of funding:

• Fees: Standard UKRI rates
• Stipend: Standard UKRI rates

RTSG – 4k in total

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