Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Contract Appointment: 2 Years) (Job ID: 6620) at University of the Free State

Duties and responsibilities: 

• Examine social uptake, perceptions, and behavioural responses to improved rangeland management practices. 
• Design and implement impact evaluation frameworks comparing livelihoods and income outcomes before and after rangeland management interventions.
• Design and implement impact evaluation frameworks comparing livelihoods and income outcomes before and after livestock market/value chain strategies.
• Analyse household and community-level socioeconomic data, including income, productivity, and welfare indicators, for smallholder livestock farmers in WCCA and surrounding areas.
• Contribute to original research. This will include analysing both qualitative interview/focus group data and quantitative survey data; helping lead deliberative stakeholder workshops; conducting literature reviews; and applying economic theories related to development economics, resource/environmental economics, poverty, and sustainable development. 
• Undertake fieldwork in Phuthaditjhaba, Qwaqwa, and surrounding areas.
• Apply appropriate econometric, quasi-experimental, and/or mixed-methods approaches.
• Contribute to peer-reviewed high-impact journal articles, policy briefs, and stakeholder reports. 
• The Fellow will be provided with undergraduate lecturing opportunities and will contribute to grant writing for experience.
• Support postgraduate supervision (Honours/Masters/PhD) where relevant.
• Engage with community stakeholders, policymakers, and implementing partners.
• Participate in project-related seminars, workshops, and dissemination activities.

Inherent requirements:

• A PhD in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Economics, Development Studies, or a closely related field (completed within the last five years).
• Strong grounding in applied microeconomics, development economics, or environmental/resource economics.
• Demonstrated experience with quantitative data analysis (e.g. Stata, R, Python) and/or mixed-methods research.
• Evidence of peer-reviewed publications or manuscripts under review.
• Ability to conduct field-based research in rural or communal settings.

Recommendations:

• Experience working on rangeland management, livestock systems, natural resource governance, or climate adaptation.
• Familiarity with impact evaluation methods (e.g. Difference-in-Differences, Propensity Score Matching (PSM), Instrumental Variable (IV), and  Panel Data estimations).
• Experience engaging with community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives.
• Knowledge of Southern African rural contexts.

Value of the fellowship:

• A competitive postdoctoral fellowship package will be offered in line with institutional and funder guidelines

Closing date:

• 30 October 2026