Funded PhD Scholarship: Resilience of pastoral societies to social-ecological change in central[...]

Resilience of Pastoral Societies to Social-Ecological Change in Central Kenya

Duration: Full-Time – between three and three and a half years fixed term

Pastoralism is a livelihood strategy premised on livestock mobility in marginal environments around the world, but is now facing many challenges. Climate change has resulted in more erratic and unpredictable rainfall patterns with increased frequency and duration of drought events. Compounding this, widespread socio-political change has involved loss of traditional grazing lands or conflict in accessing them, resulting in diminished livestock mobility.

In Kenya, as in many other parts of Africa, attempts to build pastoralist resilience to these social-ecological threats are increasingly focused on the adoption of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) including high-density grazing and corralling as means of intensifying local production, and management of conflict between neighbouring pastoralist groups to enable more effective access to shared grazing resources. However, many questions remain about these strategies, including their efficacy in building resilience to extreme stressors such as drought, their equitability in benefiting different social groups within pastoralist society, and how much cognisance they give to indigenous knowledge.

Addressing these unknowns will be critical in:

1. Contributing to wider scholarly debate about the efficacy of NbS in pastoralist practice;
2. Providing practitioners (NGOs and local governmental actors) with an informed basis for achieving greater equity and inclusion of indigenous knowledge in NbS and conflict management practice;
3. Informing local pastoralist institutions on enabling resilient, collective responses to stressors.

The objectives of this studentship are:

• To understand current pastoralist adaptation strategies that build resilience to social-ecological change at different societal levels, including the role played by indigenous knowledge.
• To evaluate the role of local interventions brokered by NGOs and governmental actors in enabling pastoralist resilience, with a particular focus on more equitable NbS and mechanisms for local conflict transformation.
• To synthesise key outcomes as a basis for informing policy, practice, and debate around improving resilience for pastoralist societies.

This studentship builds from a recently completed Royal Society-GCRF (RS-GCRF) project (https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-directories/current-projects/2020/gacees/) focused on the potential for and ecological value of adopting more intensified grazing practices by pastoralists in Laikipia county, central Kenya. Access to local field sites will be negotiated through a local NGO, Laikipia Wildlife Forum (LWF), and supervisor (Dr. Wilfred Odadi).

Funding

Tuition fees and bursary

The successful candidate will receive comprehensive research training including technical, personal, and professional skills. All researchers at Coventry University (from PhD to Professor) are part of the Doctoral Researcher College, which provides support with high-quality training and career development activities.

Entry Requirements

• A minimum of a 2:1 first degree in a relevant discipline/subject area with a minimum 60% mark in the project element or equivalent with a minimum 60% overall module average.

PLUS

• The potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the PhD within 3.5 years.
• A minimum of English language proficiency (IELTS academic overall minimum score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component).

Additional Requirements

The applicant will ideally have a strong background in social science and an understanding of how this can be applied to the management of natural resources. An understanding of pastoralism and rangeland systems is also advantageous.
Willingness to work independently in remote rural areas for short periods of field data collection.

A full driving license is essential.

An ability to speak Maa or Swahili (or at least to learn) is advantageous but in no way essential.

How to Apply

All applications require full supporting documentation, a covering letter, plus a 2,000-word supporting statement showing how the applicant’s expertise and interests are relevant to the project.