How Resilient are Irrigation Investments in Sub-Saharan Africa to Compound Hydro-Climatic and Socio-Political Hazards?

About the Project

Irrigation is critical for food security and climate adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet we lack rigorous understanding of how effectively different investments buffer farmers against compound hydroclimatic hazards and how socio-political hazards such as conflict shape this relationship. This PhD project will develop a cutting-edge Earth Observation framework, combining geospatial foundation models, satellite embedding datasets, and AI techniques to monitor and assess irrigation system resilience across SSA. In partnership with the World Bank Hydroinformatics team, the project will generate transformative informatics tools and empirical evidence on what enables irrigation investments to deliver robust and resilient improvements in food security.

Research questions

The project addresses three core research questions:

1. Can state-of-the-art geospatial foundation models and satellite embedding datasets enable reliable and transferable monitoring of cropping system intensity and irrigation status across diverse small-scale farming landscapes in SSA?
2. How do different types of irrigation investment (e.g large-scale vs small-scale schemes) differ in terms of robustness to compound hydroclimatic hazards and recovery trajectories following hazard events?
3. How is the resilience of irrigation investments to compound hydroclimatic hazards influenced by socio-political hazards such as conflict (e.g. infrastructure disruption, labour displacement, and supply chain breakdown), and vice versa (e.g. by stabilising agricultural livelihoods and reducing baseline poverty)?

This project will be supported by The World Bank. The World Bank is one of the largest global investors in irrigation infrastructure and is actively seeking scalable, data-driven tools to assess and monitor irrigation investment performance in Sub-Saharan Africa. A persistent operational challenge is the lack of time-consistent, dynamic evidence on how investments perform under hydroclimatic variability and in fragile and conflict-affected settings — a gap this project directly addresses.

The i-Risk Doctoral Focal Award

i-Risk PhD research offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the generation of new knowledge in the forefront of informatics. i-Risk cohorts will advance understanding and deliver innovative tools and solutions for multi-hazard systemic risk resilience and sustainability practice. Doctoral Researchers will undertake a structured training programme and partner co-created interdisciplinary research projects.

Our Vision

The vision of i-Risk is to train the next generation of research practitioners and leaders who will be at the forefront of collaborative research and:

1. Integrate informatics with understanding of evolving risk throughout the environment
2. Collaborate with a broad range of partners from industry, government agencies, global organisations (e.g., the United Nations) and Non-Government Organisations to ensure research directly informs policy and practice, delivering widespread impact.

Eligibility

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, an excellent academic record (UK First-class or 2.1 honours or international equivalent depending on the funding source) in Engineering, Earth Sciences, Computing or another related physical science discipline (MSc, MSci or BSc).

The project would be ideally suited to a candidate with experience of either Earth Observation and geospatial analysis, and/or to a candidate with a background in computer or data science that is keen to apply their technical skills to applied global challenges of water sustainability and food security.

All candidates would be required to have strong programming proficiency, including awareness of and/or experience applying machine/deep learning techniques in their studies, prior research and/or work experience. Training would be provided through the supervisory team and i-Risk in specific applications of these methods to irrigation monitoring, and in specific techniques such as geospatial foundation models.

How to apply

You will need to submit an online application through our website here: https://uom.link/pgr-apply

Please quote the advert reference IRISK-26-UOM02 in your application. This PhD is being advertised as part of the Informatics for Multi-hazard Risk and Resilience (i-Risk) NERC Doctoral Focal Awards (DFA) in the Environmental Sciences.

Further details about i-Risk can be seen on their website https://github.com/i-risk-dfa.

Please note that your application will be assessed upon:

• Motivation and Career Aspirations
• Potential & Intellectual Excellence
• Suitability for specific project
• Fit to i-Risk

Please familiarise yourselves with i-Risk before applying. During the application process candidates will need to upload:

• A two-page personal statement split into two sections:
• one page dedicated to your research interests in informatics and disaster risk reduction, the i-Risk DFA and your rationale for your choice of project
• one page dedicated to answering the following questions:

1. Tell us about a time when you identified a new approach to a problem. What was your decision-making process? (~150 words)
2. Tell us about a time where you have performed data analytics. What was the task? What made it difficult? How did you handle it? (~150 words)
3. Tell us about a goal have you set for yourself that you have successfully achieved. How did you stay motivated? (~150 words)
4. Describe a situation where you demonstrated that you can constructively handle setbacks. How did you troubleshoot the problem? (~150 words)

• A curriculum vitae giving details of your academic record and stating your research interests
• Academic transcripts and degree certificates (translated if not in English)
• You will be asked to supply contact details for two referees on the application form (please make sure that the contact email you provide is an official university/ work email address as we may need to verify the reference)
• English Language certificate (if applicable)

You are encouraged to contact potential supervisors by email to discuss project specific aspects of the proposed project prior to submitting your application. If you have any general questions please contact irisk@mailbox.lboro.ac.uk. If you have any technical questions about making an application, please contact our admissions team by emailing FSE.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk.

Your application will not be processed without all of the required documents submitted at the time of application, and we cannot accept responsibility for late or missed deadlines. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Please note that interviews are anticipated to be held remotely via Microsoft Teams week commencing 29June 2026.

Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.

Funding Notes

This 3.5-year PhD studentship is funded by the NERC i-Risk DFA and is open to Home (UK) and overseas students. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£21,805 for 2026/27; subject to annual uplift), and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year. The start date is October 2026.

We recommend that you apply early as the advert may be removed before the deadline.