Postdoc: Monetary Valuation of Rangeland Restoration in East Africa

Are you keen to contribute to climate resilient rangelands in East Africa? Do you have experience with choice-modelling? Would you like to do field research in Kenya? Then apply at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Postdoctoral research position on adoption of water bunds in Kenya

Your function

Kenya faces high drought and land degradation risks. Nature-based solutions such as water bunds restore soil moisture retention capacity, enhance rangeland conditions, and improve livelihoods. Though promising, these solutions need scaling across landscapes and communities to deliver widespread benefits, which in turn requires understanding of adoption behaviour by communities and individuals.

In this postdoc you will identify values, barriers and opportunities to adoption of water bunds. You will conduct fieldwork in Kenya and develop a deliberative monetary valuation study, including both a discrete choice experiment and deliberative discussions. You will analyse choice data to estimate willingness to pay for bunds, understand how different social groups value bunds, and determine what expertise, knowledge and scaling tools may trigger adoption behaviour.

The postdoc is part of the SwaRM project (Scaling Water bunds for climate Resilience Management in Kenyan rainfed agri-food systems). This NWO (NL-CGIAR) funded research project aims to understand water bund adoption behaviour by communities and individuals and identify efficient and equitable scaling pathways of nature-based water retention practices. In the project, you will work closely with researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Tegemeo Institute (Nairobi). You will also work with Justdiggit, a Dutch-African INGO that promotes water bunds in partnership with Kenyan NGOs.

Your duties

• You apply deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) methods: develop protocol, organise data collection, collect and analyse data
• You contribute to project management and collaboration
• You support outreach through publications and stakeholder events
• You contribute to teaching at IVM

Your profile

• You have a PhD degree in environmental economics or a closely related discipline (submitted before August 2026)
• You have experience with discrete choice modelling
• You are motivated to conduct field research in Kenya
• You have experience in setting up and executing data collection independently

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not fully meet all the requirements.

What do we offer?

An exciting postdoc position in a socially engaged organisation with a supportive project team and an active early-career scientist community. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• A position for at least 0.8 FTE. Your employment contract will initially start with a 1 year contract with the possibility to extend with another 2 years.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• Solid pension scheme (ABP)
• Contribution to commuting expenses
• Optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

About us

Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM)

IVM is a leading environmental research institute that is internationally recognised for its high-quality research output in a range of environmental disciplines, as well as for its interdisciplinary work. The mission of the institute is to contribute to sustainable development and care for the environment through scientific research and teaching. A unique strength of its research is understanding sustainability problems in their social and economic context.

The Department of Environmental Economics leads the institute’s efforts to improve insights into the interaction between the environment and the economy. The department is one of the main groups of environmental economists in Europe, consisting of around 35 scientific staff and PhD researchers. Important fields of application include climate change, energy, circular economy, water, ecosystem services, and environmental and natural resource management. The philosophy of the department is to closely integrate research projects with its teaching programme and to initiate and conduct research jointly with stakeholders and collaborating institutes.

Faculty of Science

Working at the Faculty of Science means collaborating with students, lecturers and researchers who are focused on their field, yet have a broad view of the world. We are proud of a positive and inclusive workplace culture within the faculty, where we work together with great energy and a pragmatic attitude to tackle social challenges. At the Faculty of Science, scientists and students work on fundamental and complex societal issues for a sustainable, healthy and just future.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely. By joining forces across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research.