Diseases transmitted from animals to humans (zoonotic diseases) cause 60% of emerging infectious events worldwide and disproportionately affect the health and livelihoods of people and animals that live in marginalized areas, such as northern Kenya. Environmental changes, such as climate change and land use change, are increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases. Environmental changes can expand the range and alter the seasonality of pathogens and make people, livestock and wildlife more susceptible to infection. This can be seen in northern Kenya, where outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases are becoming more frequent, such as recent outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) and ongoing outbreak of leishmaniasis.

This research will use participatory methods to examine how environmental change is altering patterns of zoonotic disease in northern Kenya. Research proposals for this topic may engage with questions such as: What can be learned from IPLCs about the relationship between environmental change and zoonotic disease? How can scientific research and participatory epidemiology be used better understand the relationship between environmental change and zoonotic disease? How can participatory wildlife health surveillance advance our understanding of the relationship between environmental change and zoonotic disease? Research proposals developed to fit under this topic may choose to focus on zoonotic disease broadly, or a single zoonotic disease.

This PhD research will inform IMPACT’s Sustainable Livelihoods and Ecosystem’s Programme, which works to uplift pastoralism as a viable economic activity, partly by providing training and support to Community Disease Reporters who have the receiving and scouting for livestock disease outbreaks and sharing this with the County Veterinary Office.

Lead supervisor/s: Dr Charis Enns and Prof Susanne Shultz

Over 60% of Kenya’s land is recognised as community land, yet only a small proportion of this is formally registered. The passing of the Community Land Act in 2016 marked a historic milestone, enabling IPLCs to secure legal rights over their communal lands and natural resources for the first time and history. Formal registration of community lands is now picking up speed and IMPACT and their partners have been at the forefront of the community land rights movement in northern Kenya, helping IPLCs to secure 1.7 million acres of community land. This reflects a much broader trend towards the strengthening of legal provisions for collective land ownership globally.

In northern Kenya, as in many other parts of the world, communal land is endowed with rich biodiversity and natural resources. This research will focus on understanding the climate and biodiversity co-benefits of securing community land in northern Kenya. Research proposals for this topic may engage with questions such as: Does communal land tenure security generate climate and biodiversity co-benefits or disbenefits? If so, what are the mechanisms that generate these co-benefits or disbenefits? Can the climate and biodiversity co-benefits or disbenefits of communal land be quantified? How are these climate and biodiversity co-benefits experienced by IPLCs, and can they be used to attract new forms of investment (e.g. carbon credits, ecotourism)? Do different land tenure types (e.g. communal, private, trust, conservancy) generate different climate and biodiversity co-benefits? This research will advance understanding of how community land rights might help respond to the climate and biodiversity crises as the community land movement continues to gain momentum in Kenya and globally.

This PhD research will inform IMPACT’s Communual Land Rights Programme.

Lead supervisor/s: Dr Charis Enns and Dr Johan Oldekop

East Africa’s carbon markets are rapidly growing, as private investors, governments and businesses rush to purchase carbon credits to offsets their own emissions. Many of East Africa most important carbon projects are on lands inhabited by Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). Although there is growing emphasis placed on ensuring carbon markets respect IPLCs’ lands, territories and resources, most carbon projects in East Africa continue to be initiated, mediated and managed by external actors rather than IPLCs themselves.

This research will identify and analyze opportunities and barriers to Indigenous-led carbon initiatives in East Africa. Research proposals for this topic may engage with questions such as: What opportunities and barriers exist for Indigenous-led carbon initiatives in East Africa’s rangelands? How do political arrangements (national or international) and/or political economic forces (domestic or global) shape who leads, participates in and benefits from East Africa’s carbon markets? Does East Africa’s existing carbon market support the protection of the environment and Indigenous territories and cultures? How can carbon initiatives be designed to benefit the environment while strengthening Indigenous governance, cultures and livelihoods? As an up-and-coming global leader in carbon credit issuances, there is a need to better understand how Kenya’s carbon markets interact with IPLCs’ rights.

This PhD research will inform IMPACT’s Inclusive Laws and Policies Programme, which has played an important role in advocating for legislation and policies to ensure inclusive carbon markets in northern Kenya.

Lead supervisor/s: Dr Charis Enns 

Major African cities are being transformed by investment in infrastructure and real estate projects. Governments and multilateral institutions seek to enhance the connectivity of cities with regional and global flows through investment in highways, railways, ports and so-called corridors. Meanwhile, real estate investors large and small pursue land-based accumulation through a diverse range of projects, from master planned new cities to individual tenement blocks. These dramatic transformations are occurring in the context of extreme social and spatial inequalities, with the many city dwellers lacking access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services (SDG11), and with efforts at relocation often accompanying these investments. This poses pressing questions about the relationship between infrastructure and real estate investment and urban inequalities in Africa: Who is benefiting from public and private investment in urban infrastructure and real estate? How do these investments impact problems such as housing affordability and tenure insecurity? How can planning and policy approaches shape development dynamics to ensure a more equitable distribution of the benefits of investment in the built environment?  

Lead supervisor/s: Dr Thomas Gillespie

Informal settlements and informal settlement dwellers, which make up the majority population in most African cities, are not structurally incorporated into the cities they are part of and suffer not only inadequate but also highly unequal access to basic services. As a result, informal settlement dwellers often rely on informal vendors and pay significantly more for basic services of lower quality, a phenomenon known as the ‘poverty penalty’. For the past two decades, public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been increasingly advocated by a coalition of international development banks and bi-lateral donors as a strategy to deliver affordable basic services and infrastructure at a scale. In practice, however, large-scale PPPs have rarely served the interest of low-income urban dwellers, emphasising the need for a critical examination of alternative approaches to PPPs to serve low-income urban residents.

With this research, we aim to analyse SDI’s experience with public-community-private partnerships to improve access to basic services, housing, and infrastructure. What are the political contexts in which coproduction has inclusive outcomes that influence access to basic services at scale? And what are the socio-material dynamics that enable the dysfunctionality of existing solutions to be addressed in the context of adverse climate change?

Lead supervisor/s: Dr Maria Rusca

In a context in which over half of urban Africa is living in informal settlements, there is a need to better understand the ways in which inclusive approaches to urban development can be enhanced. Residents of informal settlements in African cities are faced with the threat and reality of evictions and clearances, leaving them vulnerable to the sudden loss of livelihood and homes. The past two decades seemed to have offered a period of some respite, with some ruling elites avoiding the high political costs of mass evictions, while continuing to justify the removal of shacks (both for work and living accommodation) due to the needs of infrastructure and high-income real estate investment. Policies that favour informal settlement upgrading have been introduced even if programmes to advance those policies are not yet in place at scale. However, there is evidence to suggest that evictions are on the rise again, often justified by references to climate change, whereby flooding is used to ‘evacuate’/’demolish’ informal structures. 

With this research we wish to identify and analyse the social, economic and political factors that influence state policies, programmes and practices towards those living in informal neighbourhoods, with a particular focus on tenure security and informal settlement upgrading. What shifts elite commitment and state programming away from an exclusionary, class-segregated city towards urban centres that deliver secure tenure, basic services and participatory development options? What, specifically, is the significance of SDI’s gendered approach to social movement strategising and action in achieving this?

Lead supervisor/s: Prof Diana Mitlin

Young men and women constitute a significant proportion of urban populations and inclusive urban development will depend on social and economic outcomes for youth. Job creation, access to quality education and skills training and access to finance are all critical aspects to improved livelihoods opportunities for young people. Yet research recognises that despite urban youth’s high stakes in urban outcomes, they have limited political power to influence the social and political systems that affect their access to these things.  At the same time, politicians frequently mobilize young people, particularly men, at election time to advance their own interests.

New research is required on the redistribution of jobs and housing towards urban youth in Africa, the recognition of urban youth (in terms of how they are  perceived and instrumentalised by political elites) and on the representation of urban youth, exploring questions of voice, associational life, and other strategies for making themselves heard and integrated into urban governance and development processes. 

Lead supervisor/s: Dr Nicola Martin

• Applications close: 17 April 2025
• Interviews take place: w/c 16 June 2025
• Studentships awarded: By 25 June 2025
• Studentships begin: October 2025

You will need to meet the minimum entry criteria for the PhD programme as stated below. 

Academic requirements 

• Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and
• Master's degree in a relevant subject - with an overall average of 60% or above, a minimum mark of 60% in your dissertation (or overseas equivalent).

English language 

All applicants must provide evidence of English language proficiency: 

• IELTS test minimum score - 7.0 overall, 7.0 in writing, 6.0 in other sections.
• TOEFL (internet based) test minimum score - 100 overall, 25 in all sections.
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) UKVI/SELT or PTE Academic minimum score - 76 overall, 76 in writing, 70 in other sections.
• To demonstrate that you have taken an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a majority English speaking nation within the last 5 years. 

Candidates are encouraged to make initial informal contact with the supervisory team before submitting an application. This will ensure that your background and research interests are aligned to the project.

Apply online for PhD Development Policy Management.

Under Section 6 Research Details select ‘Yes’ to Are you applying for an advertised project. Insert the project title as stated at the top of the advert. It is recommended when entering the name of the lead supervisor to simply enter this and not use the supervisor search function. 

Please indicate in Section 9 Funding Sources your funding intention as follows:

• Type of Funding: Uni of Manchester Scheme.
• Awarding Body: GDI Impact PhD Studentship.
• Status of Funding: Intend to Apply

Please ensure all required supporting documents  are included at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered.

Your application must include the following: 

• A 1,500 word  PhD research proposal. Times New Roman, Font 12 (exclusive of references). Please state the word count on page 1 of the document. If over length, the submission will be returned to you.
• A copy of your Bachelor's academic transcript and certificate.
• A copy of your Master's academic transcript and certificate. If your Master's degree is pending, please provide an interim transcript.
• If you have completed more than one Bachelor's or Master's degree, please provide evidence for each. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, you must provide an official English translation. If your weighted average mark or GPA is not included on these documents, please also include an official document from your university verifying this information.
• An up-to-date academic CV summarising your academic record, employment history, publications and highlighting experience demonstrating your research potential.
• Supporting statement of a maximum of 700 words indicating why you would like to undertake this studentship and explaining how your focus, experience, and skills link to the research outlined above.
• The names of two academic referees, including one from your most recent institution. Your referees will be contacted directly via the Referee Portal following the submission of your application form. You may wish to notify your referees to submit their references promptly, as this is part of the review process.
• A certificate or evidence demonstrating your English language ability and proficiency. Applications can be considered without this evidence but any offer would be conditional on meeting minimum requirements.