Dr Graham Clarkson

Email:
g.clarkson@reading.ac.uk
Phone:
+44 (0) 118 378 5036
Job title:
Senior Research Fellow

Areas of interest

My main research interests include:

Rural livelihoods and rural change
Extension and agricultural innovation systems for smallholder agriculture
Communication for Development
Participatory methods for research and practical outcomes
Promoting smallholder adaptation and developing resilience to climate variability and change
Understanding decision making in smallholder households and implications for agricultural innovation

Research centres and groups

Livelihoods Research Group
Walker Institute

Research projects

Current and recent research:

Capacitating African Smallholders with Climate Advisories and Insurance Development (CASCAID). Funded by CCAFS (2015-2018)
Developing and piloting mobile apps for smallholder agriculture and improving climate data analysis, management and sharing. Funded by CCAFS (2015)
Scaling up climate services for farmers in Africa. Funded by USAID (2015)
Global Framework for Climate Services: Training Agricultural Research & Extension Staff to Produce and Disseminate Agro-Climatic Advisories, to enhance the resilience and food security of Farmers and Pastoralists in Tanzania. Funded by CCAFS (2014-2016)
Assessing the Impacts of Shamba Shape Up. Funded by Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (2014)
Review of Mobile Applications that Involve the Use of Weather, Climate & Crop Information for Smallholder Farmers. Funded by CCAFS (2014)
The effects of smallholder farmers' investment in agricultural innovations on livelihoods in Malawi - A pilot study. Funded by ICRISAT (2013-2014)
Farmers' sources of information on and attitudes towards crop genetic innovations in Uganda - funded by Biosciences for Farming in Africa (www.b4fa.org) (2013-2014)
Provision of climate information to farmers in Lesotho: Current needs, provision and recommendations for future development - Funded by IFAD (2013)
Innovation systems, agricultural growth and rural livelihoods in East Africa. Funded by ESRC/DFID (2012-2014)

Background

Graham is a human geographer with 3 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. Graham's primary research interests are based around rural livelihoods and rural change, small scale agriculture and innovation, communication for development and climate services. He has experience working in East, West and Southern Africa on projects funded by CGIAR centres (IFAD, ICRISAT and CCAFS), USAID, DFID and Economic and Social Research Council and integrates both qualitative and quantitative research methods with expertise in participatory approaches for research and practical application. Graham's current research involves collaboration with colleagues from academia, government and non-government organisations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Malawi.