Fellowships for Africa’s future researchers, The Future Agricultures Consortium

June 16, 2010

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Job Description: The Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) aims to encourage critical debate and policy dialogue on the future of agriculture in Africa. Founded in 2005, the Consortium is a partnership between leading research-based organisations in Africa and the UK, with work focusing on Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi, as well as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Through stakeholder-led policy dialogues on future scenarios for agriculture, informed by in-depth field research, FAC aims to elaborate the practical and policy challenges of establishing and sustaining pro-poor agricultural growth in Africa. To date, the Consortium’s research has concentrated on four core themes: agricultural commercialisations; growth and social protection; policy processes; and science technology and innovation. In 2010, Future Agricultures launched research in four new areas: climate change and agriculture; land and tenure, pastoralism; and youth and agriculture.

FAC recently received funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to support a three-year capacity building programme that will be available to early career professionals working in Africa and the UK. Both fulltime and part-time appointments are available. All fellowships will require attachment to a senior FAC member and affiliation with a FAC partner institution. The awards are designed to support original field-based and policy-oriented research on African agricultural policy that builds on previous work and contributes directly to a specific FAC theme.

Awards

Three types of awards are available:

1. Africa-based one-year fulltime post-Masters or post-doc appointment. Four positions are available for African researchers x £10,000 each.

2. Africa-based part-time post-Masters or post-doc appointment over one year. Three positions are available for African reseachers x £5,000 each.

3. UK-based six-month fulltime post-doc appointment. Two positions available x £12,500 each.

General Eligibility

Criteria Candidates should have no more than three years active post-Masters or post-doctoral experience at the time that their FAC Fellowship starts. Those who submitted their Masters dissertation or doctoral thesis more than three years before the date they wish to start their fellowship will not be eligible, except where the applicant has interrupted their career for family, health or other personal reasons.

Applications are invited from young researchers who have recently completed their degree in an appropriate development-related field, including agricultural or applied economics, anthropology, development studies, environmental science and policy (including climate change), gender studies, geography, political science, public administration, rural sociology, science and technology studies, etc.

The focus is on junior candidates early in their careers with a strong interest in conducting research on agricultural policy issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Please note that awards 1 and 2 are open to African researchers only. Award 3 is open to applicants seeking to do post-doc work on African agricultural policy from a UK base.

Eligible women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Submission Applications may either be made online HERE or submitted by e-mail to FAC-Fellowships@future-agricultures.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Applications should include a personal history, proposed area of research, institutional affiliation and the FAC theme and organisation/member with whom the candidate proposes to work. Details of FAC research themes and members are available on this website.

The deadline for first round of applications is 30 June 2010.

Awards will be communicated to successful candidates in early August 2010.

Responsibilities and Resources for FAC Members

FAC members are expected to play a major role in making a success of this programme. They will be asked to publicise the FAC Fellowship programme to potential candidates and encourage applications from those whose research interests are aligned with their own work.

The mentor is expected to provide support and leadership to the FAC Fellow and agree a programme of work that meets their respective needs and interests. Some funds will also be provided to FAC members to cover the costs of supervising and supporting their FAC Fellows.

Further Scholarship Information

Scholarship Tags: Africa, Agiculture, Fellowship, UK