PhD Candidate Modelling Food Production and Flows in a Changing Climate

Do you want to work towards a more sustainable, resilient, and green environment? Do you have a passion for conducting innovative and impactful research? Are you excited to work in an international team with project activities around the world? If so, this position is a good match for you.

Fluctuations in food production inevitably occur as a response to environmental changes, weather conditions and other influences such as pest and disease outbreaks, conflict and/or other disruptions. These disruptions have direct impacts on farmers and food production but also affect other activities and actors in the food system, including transporters, markets, consumers and households in urban areas that depend on food production. Much of the current research on weather and climate impacts has focused on the food production side with little to no attention to temporal and spatial dynamics in food flows. Therefore, this research will provide information on volatility in food production and how surpluses and deficits can be covered by internal and external food flows subject to different types and magnitudes of constraints.

You will aim to improve our understanding of current food production and flows and their constraints at local, national, and international levels based on meaningful food (e.g. maize, wheat, rice, soybean) and/or cash crops (e.g. coffee, cocoa, tea). This research will result in scalable and innovative methodologies to solve problems related to food production and food mobility, climate change and markets at different spatial scales using innovative geospatial data analysis. You will use geospatial data, climate data, and value chain data to construct models that can simulate spatial and temporal patterns of food production and flows. The collection of food flow data and the creation of datasets is an important task. This may come from primary data collection, which includes farm visits, secondary sources, market scoping, and value-chain actor interviews in the majority world. This can also be generated through census data, data and text mining, or geospatial processing earth observation data.

You will develop a food sector modelling approach and implement this to allow for natural estimation of inter-district, inter-provincial, and inter-country food trade flows in data-sparse environments in consultation with various partners. You will collect, assimilate and process various datasets and integrate knowledge across different fields to support effective scientific research and develop actionable insights related to food production and flows.

For more information about the position, you can contact Dr Abel Chemura (email: [email protected]).  You are also invited to visit our homepage .

Please submit your application before 29 March 2024. Your application should include:

• A motivation letter (maximum 2 pages of A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications and motivation to apply for this position.
• Curriculum Vitae (including a list of grades of your BSc and MSc education)
• A short description (150 – 250 words) of your MSc research

Applications will be reviewed in April and on-line interviews for shortlisted candidates will take place in May.

About the department

The Natural Resources Department (NRS) of Faculty ITC works with a global network of partners on geo-information and Earth observation technologies for sustainable management of the natural environment. We make and use maps and models that help us understand and handle what grows and lives around us.

The department aims to enable society to effectively develop and use geo-information and Earth Observation (EO) knowledge and technologies for agricultural and environmental sustainability. These information sources and methods are used in novel ways to understand and characterise the processes that affect the availability, stability, quality and sustainability of natural resources. The outputs contribute to better monitoring and managing of natural resources which in turn enables their sustainable use, development and restoration under global change.

The Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) provides international postgraduate education, research and project services in the field of geo-information science and earth observation. Our mission is capacity development, where we apply, share and facilitate the effective use of geo-information and earth observation knowledge and tools for tackling global wicked problems. Our purpose is to enable our many partners around the world to track and trace the impact – and the shifting causes and frontiers – of today’s global challenges. Our vision is of a world in which researchers, educators, and students collaborate across disciplinary and geographic divides with governmental and non-governmental organisations, institutes, businesses, and local populations to surmount today’s complex global challenges and to contribute to sustainable, fair, and digital societies.