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Dr Graham Clarkson

Specialism

Promoting smallholder farmer adaptation and developing resilience to climate variability and change
I manage a large range of impact-focused research projects related to an agricultural extension and climate services approach: Participatory Integrated Services for Agriculture (PICSA) and E-PICSA. This work spans four continents and more than 30 countries.

Areas of interest

Extension and agricultural innovation systems, equitable climate services and adaptation, participatory methods, communication for development, decision-making in Smallholder farming systems.

Postgraduate supervision

I co-supervise a number of PhD students with interests in climate services, participatory methods, behaviour change.

Research centres and groups

Research projects

A selection of recent research projects are listed below:

Principal investigator

  • Preparing for scale: E-PICSA in Zambia and Malawi (funded by GIZ; 2024-25; £465,598)
  • PICSA in Haiti (funded by World Food Programme; 2023-24; £24,133)
  • PICSA in Kyrgyzstan (funded by World Food Programme; 2022-25; £40,815)
  • Agricultural Climate Resilience Enhancement Initiative (ICPAC; 2023-24; £17,365)
  • PICSA in Mozambique (World Food Programme; 2019-ongoing)
  • Digital Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (E-PICSA) (GIZ; 2022-24; £564,739)
  • PICSA as part of the Integrated Climate Risk Management for Food Security and Livelihoods in Zimbabwe (World Food Programme; (2022-26; £239,868)
  • Improving Food Security for Smallholder Farmers in Odisha using climate resilient services (World Food Programme; 2021-24; £28,897)
  • Agrometeorology for Farmers & Extension Workers -“implement trainings and radio programs on agrometeorology for farmers and extension workers” (GIZ; 2021-22; £27,577)

    Co-investigator

  • Consultancy on participatory integrated climate services for agriculture (PICSA) under the intra-acp climate services and related applications programme (CLIMSA) (CIMH; 2022-25; £94,625)
  • The potential for Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) in Dominica (UNDP; 2019-22; £43,168)

Background

Graham is a human geographer with more than ten years of post-doctoral experience. He completed his PhD, 'Land Use Intensification and Trees on Farms in Malawi', in 2010 at the University of Hull. He joined the University of Reading as a Post doctoral Research Associate in 2012, working on the ESRC funded ‘Innovation systems, agricultural growth and rural livelihoods in East Africa’. In 2017 Graham was appointed as Senior Research Fellow and PICSA manager. His primary research interests are based around rural livelihoods and rural change, small scale agriculture and innovation, participatory approaches and climate services.

Graham has a broad experience across different contexts, working in sub Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and Latin America on projects funded by the United Nations (World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme and FAO), CGIAR centres (IFAD, ICRISAT and CCAFS), GIZ, USAID, UKAID and Economic and Social Research Council. Graham integrates both qualitative and quantitative research methods with expertise in participatory approaches for research and practical application. Graham's current research involves scaling and sustaining the PICSA approach in a range of different contexts, understanding the processes and effect of the approach on trained farmers and intermediaries, developing and scaling a digitalised PICSA approach and developing new ways to improve the effectiveness of PICSA.

Academic qualifications

PhD Human Geography

Publications

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