RANGE (Resilient Approaches in Natural ranGeland Ecosystems) is a five-year programme (2024-2028) funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kenya. It aims to strengthen the resilience of communities in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) of Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu counties, through sustainable rangeland management, inclusive livelihoods, and evidence-based action. Besides community engagement, landscape interventions, promotion of good governance and private sector partnerships, there is a strong focus on research and evidence in RANGE. Data-driven decision-making should enhance early warning, early action, and innovation, while shared learning should foster adaptive and scalable solutions across ASALs. The project is carried out by Mercy Corps, FCDC and the Faculty ITC of the University of Twente in the Netherlands, together with multiple local partners for project implementation and research. To learn more about the RANGE project, a summary can be found here.
Capacity building is an integral part of RANGE’s learning agenda on evidence-based decision-making: we aim to ascertain sustainability of practices and data collection/analysis efforts beyond the project lifetime. Therefore, most research activities will be executed through Local Research Partners: these are Masters students (MSc) and Doctoral candidates (PhD) from the three counties (or having significant experience working in those counties) who are committed to making a positive difference to the livelihoods of the ASAL communities. Building on ITC’s strengths, the students will focus on the use of geo-information, Earth observation, and field data collection. We are seeking a cohort that represents the demographic diversity of the ASAL counties and will prioritize young professionals.
Full scholarships to pursue a full-time MSc in the field of geo-information and Earth observation through the Faculty ITC are available for a limited number of students within RANGE. This follows previous intakes in 2024 and 2025 of Kenyan PhD and MSc students, predominantly from Isiolo, Marsabit, and Samburu. If you are interested and want to learn more, please click on the link below.