ILRI PhD Graduate Fellowships in Kenya

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a PhD Graduate Fellowship: Adaptation Tracking to develop, test, refine and fully operationalize frameworks and protocols for tracking adaptation and adaptive capacity in diverse East African livestock systems.

Precise systems have not yet been determined but may range from (semi-)intensive dairy to extensive rangeland systems. Ideal candidates should already be conversant with climate change adaptation literature, have experience in developing research methodologies. Knowledge of pastoral livelihoods and ecology is a big plus.

ILRI works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock.

It is the only one of 15 CGIAR research centres dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa.

Political incentives and international obligations – namely the 2016 Paris Agreement – have created a situation where national governments must report progress on adaptation and improvements in adaptive capacity to the IPCC on a regular basis.

However, adaptation and adaptive capacity are notoriously difficult to measure because they are conceptual constructs rather than discrete observable phenomena.

Many conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches have been proposed for analyzing adaptation and adaptive capacity, but none have been widely replicated nor are results from diverse studies readily analyzable.

This creates a political demand for a robust adaptation system, but little scientific support for any existing instruments.

ILRI Program: Sustainable Livestock Systems


Responsibilities of the fellow