4 PhD Scholarships for Kenyan applicants: Pastoral meat value chains

Call for application [» download PDF]

Organisation/Project: These studies will be jointly implemented between University of Nairobi, the National Museums of Kenya and the German Institute for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics (DITSL) at the University of Kassel in Germany. GlobE Project: RELOAD: Reduction of Post Harvest Losses and Value Addition in East African Food Value Chains
Application deadline: Selection of candidates will start on 1^st of May 2013 and continue until positions are filled.

RELOAD: Reduction of Post Harvest Losses and Value Addition in East African Food Value Chains builds a research network between partners in Germany, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. It is a 5 year collaborative project led by the Institute for Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kassel in Germany. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF),
and starts in June 2013.

In Kenya, one focus of RELOAD is on pastoral meat value chains. The high losses along the meat value chain include material losses i.e. weight loss prior to slaughter, wastage of animal products and byproducts, losses in quality as meat products are highly perishable and economic losses due to low net profit margins for the producers. Four PhD thesis projects will analyse different possibilities to reduce losses and increase efficiency along the pastoral meat value chains. These studies will be jointly implemented between University of Nairobi, the National Museums of Kenya and the German Institute for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics (DITSL) at the University of Kassel in Germany.

PhD candidates will be registered at either the University of Nairobi or at the University of Kassel.

The following PhD topics are on offer. In all cases applicants need to have very good knowledge on pastoral production.

1. Assessing the potential of stratified livestock production and marketing systems to reduce losses along the pastoral meat value chain.
   Interest and good knowledge on: Rangeland management, livestock nutrition and husbandry and livestock marketing.
   Contact: Dr. Oliver Wasonga, University of Nairobi, email oliverwasonga@uonbi.ac.ke, o.wasonga@ditsl.org. Scholarship starts in January 2014.
2. Assessing the potential of pastoral marketing associations to reduce economic losses.
   Interest and good knowledge on: community based approaches, farmer groups and collective action, institutional economy, network analysis, linking farmers to markets.
   Contact Assoc. Prof. Dr. Brigitte Kaufmann, DITSL, email b.kaufmann@ditsl.org or Dr. Oliver Wasonga, email oliverwasonga@uonbi.ac.ke, o.wasonga@ditsl.org. Starts in January 2014.
3. Upgrading traditional meat preservation techniques.
   Interest and good knowledge on: Value addition in meat processing, food science, community based approaches, indigenous knowledge in pastoral production system, micro-enterprise development.
   Contact: Dr. Hassan Roba, National Museums of Kenya, email: guyoroba@yahoo.com, h.roba@ditsl.org. Scholarship starts in August 2013.
4. Collaborative learning approaches for stakeholders in the pastoral meat value chain.
   Interest and good knowledge on: Designing interactive learning: adult learning & experiential learning; facilitating and managing learning processes.
   Contact: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Brigitte Kaufmann, b.kaufmann@ditsl.org. Starts in September 2013.

For each topic we offer a PhD scholarship and the research funds to pursue empirical field research. Furthermore candidates will be able to access research infrastructure at the University of Nairobi, the National Museums of Kenya and the DITSL in Witzenhausen in Germany.

Qualifications of the applicants:

• Excellent master or equivalent degree in agricultural sciences, natural resource management, range management, animal production, veterinary sciences, agricultural economics, geography, development studies or related fields.
• Very good English communication and writing skills
• Team work orientation and networking skills.

You are a particularly suitable candidate if you:

• have your family background in pastoral systems.
• have practiced and liked participatory research and cooperation with practitioners.
• Have experience in the area of the PhD study for which you apply.

Female and male applicants are equally encouraged to apply for these positions.

Application
Please specify the topic to which you apply and provide a statement of motivation for you to choose this topic. Submit your documents to the respective contact person. Application documents comprise: A letter of motivation (indicating the topic you apply for), Curriculum Vitae, Publication list, Summary of the master thesis, Copies of relevant certificates, Contact details of 2-3 referees. Please submit these documents by email in one single PDF file. Selection of candidates will start on 1^st of May 2013 and continue until positions are filled.