MSc Fellowships: Livestock characteristics in rangeland farming systems in Kenya at International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

The Position

The position will investigate livestock characteristics in agricultural production systems with a major focus on ruminants (small and large) and rangeland systems and aims at collecting a suite of data required for establishing accurate Tier 2 GHG emissions baselines across different agroecological zones for the duration of one year. A standardized protocol that was already successfully applied in Kenya and Tanzania will be followed, following its adaptation to the regional context.

Background and Problem Statement

Dietary changes and growing populations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are leading to major increases in the demand for livestock products. In East Africa, livestock is a major source of rural income and food security. Livestock production provides between 40 and 55% of household incomes and 26% of dietary protein intake. Across East Africa, livestock production is predominantly managed by smallholder farmers. In mixed crop-livestock systems, half of the agricultural workforce is employed in livestock production; in extensive dryland livestock systems this figure exceeds 90%. Thus, growth in demand for livestock products is an important opportunity to improve incomes for smallholder livestock producers.

At the same time, livestock is a major contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is estimated that livestock-related GHG emissions represent over 70% of total agriculture emissions in developing countries. In more detail, GHG emission intensities (i.e. GHG emissions per unit of product) are assumed to be much higher than found in production systems in developed countries. The increasing growth in demand for livestock products is an urgent concern as this in turn could result in an increase in GHG emissions. Implementing mechanisms to remunerate smallholders to increase productivity and simultaneous-ly contributing to reduced GHG emission intensities requires accurate baseline data on GHG emissions from livestock in the first place and national policy support and engagement of the private sector in a second step. Currently, the development of Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) is increasingly prioritized by East African governments and donors, and the livestock sector is a promising target given their high emissions contributions and vital role in household incomes and food security. However, the lack of reliable estimates on GHG emissions associated with different practices and productivity levels for different systems is a barrier to the implementation of LEDS.

Scope of the MSc assignment

The MSc Students Will Contribute To This By Undertaking The Following Research Activities

The MSc students will directly contribute to Activity A1 “Setting up GHG emissions baselines and performance indicators for adaptation interventions” of the project entitled “Programme for Climate-Smart Livestock Systems (PCSL)”. Activity A1 aims particularly at generating accurate Tier 2 GHG emissions baselines for livestock systems which are necessary as a first step towards establishing and evaluating mitigation options from livestock production while also enhancing the productivity and sustainability of livestock systems.

• Characterize the rangeland system in either a degraded or non-degraded rangeland area (household size, number and type of animals, size of available pastures, management, degradation indicators etc.).
• Gather livestock production-related data (i.e. liveweight gain, milk production), activity data such as distance travelled and feedstuff-related data (i.e., plant cover, chemical composition of feeds and forages) to enable better estimation of year-long energy expenditure as well as feed availability and quality.
• Perform behavioral observations including feeding behavior, diet composition and activity pattern of target ruminant livestock.
• Identification of challenges and possible strategies for sustainable improvement of animal performance and rangeland conditions.

Qualifications And Skills

The ideal candidate for either of the position will have:

• Obtained an honors Bachelor’s degree in animal production or animal (ruminant) nutrition.
• Is enrolled in an accredited MSc program in a Kenyan university and is near completion of coursework.
• Experience in East Africa and/or with agricultural production systems in developing countries.
• Willingness to work in the field, flexibility and a high degree of independence if required.
• Familiarity with statistical software such as SPSS or R. In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Excel for data entry and common practices of data quality control and data quality assurance.
• Ability to supervise and train research assistants and provide necessary advice.
• Excellent written and spoken English. Ability to converse in Kiswahili or a local language is a major asset.
• Ability to effectively communicate in a multicultural context, present findings to diverse audiences, and support facilitation of multi-stakeholder workshops.
• Good ability to integrate into an international interdisciplinary team of researcher and practitioners and ability to collaborate with social scientists in a multidisciplinary project.

LRI Program: Sustainable Livestock Systems

Project Location: Kenya

Duration: 1- year

Terms of appointment: ILRI will offer a competitive stipend to cover living expenses in the project location, medical insurance and cover research expenses. The fellowships will NOT cover tuition or any other university fees. The successful candidates will be supervised jointly by an ILRI scientist and the university/academic supervisor. The ideal candidates will be able to develop a full proposal under guidance of the university supervisor and the ILRI Mazingira Centre supervisor. It is anticipated that fieldwork will foreseeably begin from June/July 2019 onwards.