Postdoc in Scaling Soil Moisture Retention Practices in East Africa

Are you interested in the scaling of field-level practices for enhanced climate resilience of smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia and Kenya? Are you intrigued by understanding the drivers of scaling processes, and do you have interdisciplinary skills enabling you to conduct trade-off and scenario analyses? Then this may be the perfect postdoc position for you!

As Postdoctoral Researcher in Scaling Soil Moisture Retention (SMR) Practices you will play a key role in the SMARTSCALE project, especially in integrating research findings from across two distinct case studies of SMR scaling processes in respectively Eastern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia. The research question to be addressed is: What are the synergies and trade-offs among different SMR and yield-enhancing practices at farm and landscape levels under current and future climate scenarios? By integrating literature, remote sensing, and field data, you will work on clarifying the links between water and food security in rainfed systems in Ethiopia and Kenya. Cost-benefit and return-to-labor analyses will inform farmer decisions, while multi-criteria analysis will help wider (institutional) stakeholders assess trade-offs.

The SMARTSCALE project, funded by NWO under the NL-CGIAR Water-Food Nexus programme, aims to help farmers in semiarid Kenya and Ethiopia use soil moisture more effectively to grow food, mitigate climate risks, and improve their livelihoods. Many past efforts on scaling and adoption of SMR practices have not reached vulnerable groups or created impact at scale. SMARTSCALE brings together scientists, local partners, and governments to learn from past experiences and design better ways to spread moisture-saving practices. By focusing on local needs, government systems, and inclusive solutions for women and youth, the project aims to make lasting change. Partners include Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, Wageningen University, Bahir Dar University, JKUAT, and the Ministries of Agriculture in both countries. The postdoc will work in close collaboration with the project partners and with PhD and MSc students in Kenya and Ethiopia. 

Your duties and responsibilities

• Contextualize scaling in top-down vs bottom-up environments by conducting a comparative analysis of the contextual barriers and opportunities in supply-push vs decentralized, market-mediated governance and institutional settings;
• Compare planned vs observed applicability domains of SMR practices across agroecological zones using mixed methods (e.g. statistical databases, remote sensing, field observations, interviews);
• Conduct landscape level ex-ante scenario impact assessments to quantify short-term climate risks, long-term resilience, and economic performance. Drivers for the analyses will be the intervention plans of multi-stakeholder platforms (Ethiopia) and expected behaviors of agripreneurs and farmers (Kenya) using agent-based models;
• Assess the potential for co-developed SMRPs in changing social-ecological systems by comparing the measured effects of scaling interventions and evaluating opportunities for SMRP bundles;
• Co-supervision of PhD and MSc students working on related activities within the SMARTSCALE project.             

Your team

You’ll be offered an initial 18-month contract from Wageningen University & Research. After this period, it is a possibility to continue as a postdoc in this same project for another 30 months, on an employment contract offered by Alliance Bioversity – CIAT based in Nairobi or Addis Abeba. In this postdoc role you will work intensively with all project partner organisations, and PhD and MSc students, on location and virtually. Within Wageningen University, the chair groups Soil Physics and Land Management (SLM) and Development Economics (DEC) are contributing to the SMARTSCALE project. 

You will work here 

The position is embedded within the chair Soil Physics and Land Management (SLM). The SLM group advances understanding of soil physical processes and their role in supporting soil functions and addresses sustainable soil and land management to support global societal challenges of climate, water and food security. The SLM group is a dynamic group with ca. 20 academic staff, 10 postdocs and support staff and 60 PhD students. You will work under the supervision of Dr. Luuk Fleskens. You will work from Wageningen, with project meetings and fieldwork taking place in Ethiopia and Kenya.

You are creative, proactive, flexible, and focused on teamwork. You have strong integrative research skills and excellent communication skills. You have good awareness of the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and the biophysical and socio-economic context in which they operate in Eastern Africa. You have a willingness to work in multi-cultural settings and respect for the communities you will be interacting with.

You also possess:

• A PhD in natural resource management, soil and water conservation, watershed management, soil science, agronomy, social sciences with an environmental focus, or similar interdisciplinary fields
• Demonstrable experience with trade-off analyses or scenario studies of soil and water conservation (soil moisture retention) practices, integrated watershed management or similar approaches, preferably in an east African context
• Modelling skills with a focus on impact assessment at field to landscape level, preferably including spatial and agent-based modelling approaches
• Proven ability to implement conceptual approaches in applied research and practice
• Scientific publications that align with the postdoc topic 

For this position English language level C1 is a minimum requirement. Knowledge of local languages in the study regions (Amharic, Swahili) is a pre.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 3.546,- and € 5.538,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10).

You’ll be offered an initial 12-month contract from Wageningen University & Research. Subject to satisfactory performance, your contractmay be extended with another 6 months. 

After this, it is a possibility to continue as a postdoc in this same project for another 30 months, on an employment contract offered by Alliance Bioversity – CIAT. Of course, we are happy to have a conversation with you if you have any questions about this.

Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. 

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family. 

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

For more information about the position, please contact dr Luuk Fleskens, Associate Professor, via luuk.fleskens@wur.nl.
Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Jessa Rozema, Corporate Recruiter, via jessa.rozema-stol@wur.nl.

Ready to apply?
Click on the application button next to the vacancy on our website. Only applications submitted through our website will be considered.

You can apply up to and including 4 May 2026.  Internal candidates are preferred to apply before 11 April 2026.

Procedure
As part of our selection process, an assessment may be incorporated within the procedure

Welcome, safe, and valued
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) highly values diversity and inclusion because we believe that different insights lead to innovative solutions. We create a work environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, and appreciated, regardless of background, identity, or experience. Together, we are building a culture where everyone's unique contribution adds to the success of our organization.

​The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

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We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.

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