ICIPE Postdoctoral Fellow (Aquaculture Nutrition -Tilapia and African Catfish) Jobs in Kenya

ICIPE Postdoctoral Fellow (Aquaculture Nutrition -Tilapia and African Catfish) Jobs in Kenya

Overall Purpose of the Job

The aquafeed industry continues to expand in response to the rapidly growing aquaculture sector. Currently available conventional fish feeds have a high environmental cost and are often inaccessible to many smallholder fish farmers because of their prohibitive prices and other constraints to access and use.

This is particularly true for women and youth in the sector, who often have less income, fewer
assets, and face greater barriers to accessing inputs. The scarcity, unsustainability, and high
environmental and economic costs of feeds are recognised as main constraints for the expansion of smallholder production throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

To overcome these constraints, there is a need to develop the production of feeds using local, sustainable ingredients, as well as local capacity to test and develop new feed solutions using the latest knowledge. However, many local feed millers and smallholder fish farmers have limited capacity to access, assess, and improve local ingredients,
formulate balanced diets, and produce and use quality feeds.

The Overall Purpose of the Job is to:

• Spearhead the research on scoping for locally available fish ingredients in the country, undertake nutrient characterization of the ingredients, and their use to suit the current production requirements under smallholder farming and commercial fish production systems.

• Conduct experiments on the nutrient requirements of local and improved strains of tilapia and African catfish available in Kenya.

• Manage on-farm and on-station experiments that compare the performance of different novel lowcost and nutritious feeds in fish production in different counties.

• Manage farmer-participatory aqua-based feeding trials that aim to tackle bottlenecks facing fish
farmers through participatory technology development and transfer.

• Establish the ecological significance of low-cost feeds and assess their potential as high value products to contribute significantly to essential nutrient requirements of local improved strains of tilapia and African catfish.

• Build partnerships with NGOs, private sector, and extension service providers to incorporate
project's knowledge and innovations to test and use novel feeds for aquaculture.

• Establish a cross-thematic research programme on effective harnessing of insect-based aqua-feed
technological services for improved fish farming, with focus on a broad range of feed recipe
formulations and their applications.

Specific Duties

The successful candidate is expected to:

• Coordinate in-depth scoping studies related to mapping, seasonality, production, and utilisation
of locally available ingredients in rural markets that can be harnessed for the formulation of
sufficiently nutritious but low-cost fish feeds.

• Re-evaluate a range of nutrient requirements in local and improved fish strains in Kenya to update
existing data/knowledge and enable correct diet formulations.

• Develop further processing techniques to improve the quality of the local ingredients and use
them to formulate balanced diets for tilapia and catfish.

• Conduct in-depth research on the impact of newly developed feeds on fish production under
different farming systems in target counties.

• Conduct novel research on the development of new products (using insect oils, defatted insect
meal and chitin/chitosan from pupal exuviae) on fish immunity using feed fortification technologies and explore the possibility of using antimicrobial peptides from insects on fish
disease control.

• Generate data and knowledge on market, gender, socio-psychological and cultural factors that may influence the adoption and scaling of novel fish feeds.

• Provide cutting-edge scientific research to develop, adapt, and optimise strategies to harness the nutritional profiling and bioactive properties in fish production and consumption.

• Contribute to various INSEFF project management, linkage with partners (universities and national research organisations), and preparation of semi-annual and annual technical reports.

• Be responsible for data collection, management and analysis related to novel fish feed production
and usage as well as support other research activities related to the project.

• Undertake supervision of research assistants, technicians, field assistants, interns, and MSc and PhD students.

• Publish research outputs in high-impact peer-reviewed journals in areas related to fish feed within the INSEFF program.

• Publish technical reports and better management practice guidelines dealing with fish and
nutrition.

• Coordinate training of aquaculture stakeholders, communication and outreach programs through tailor-made training and extension services.

• Plan, organize, execute, and report on project progress in dialogue with senior as well as junior
staff/employees and external partners.

• Raise funds through research grant writing for continuation of INSEFF or implementation of
similar projects.

• Maintain a good relationship with partners, especially WorldFish.

Requirements/Qualifications

• PhD in Aquaculture, Rural Development or related subjects with at least 3 years’ postgraduate
work experience using locally available ingredients for fish feed formulation and production.

• At least 5 years progressive responsibility in, and demonstrated understanding of, development
initiatives in fisheries and aquaculture related fields, three of which should be in senior
management or an equivalent position in the public or private sectors.

• Experience in the design, development, and implementation of at least three large donor funded proposals in aquaculture related projects with a proven track record of linking and working with multidisciplinary teams.

• At least 5 publications on fish feed formulation and processing, and preparation feeding regimes
for fish production in related areas in peer-reviewed journals.

• Should be at most 42 years at the time of application for this position.

• Skills in biostatistics, especially for robust analyses on experimental feeding regimes set up and database development, is essential.

• Additional skills in bioecological landscape assessments of fish feed production and Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) would be an advantage.

• Must have an excellent publication track record in ISI – indexed journals or book chapters of which at least six (6) are as first author over the past 5 years.

• Additional knowledge on nutrient requirements of local improved strains of tilapia and African
catfish and experience working in the Lake Victoria Basin region would be an added advantage.

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to mobilise resources for effective research in aquaculture.

• Ability to create and foster an innovative work environment, including team building to deliver
agreed goals.

• High degree of organisation, adaptability, and prioritisation.

• Experience in capacity building through supervision and mentorship of MSc and undergraduate students.

• Excellent communication skills and collaborative network of partners at national and international
levels

• Capacity to work in a multidisciplinary team.

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; ICIPE Postdoctoral Fellow (Aquaculture Nutrition -Tilapia and African Catfish) Jobs in Kenya

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