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CORAF Doctoral Thesis Scholarships 2025

By zee
On June 20, 2025
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CORAF Doctoral Thesis Scholarships 2025

CORAF is an important organization working to improve food and nutrition security in West Africa. CORAF’s recent initiatives are a promising sign of its determination to address the challenges facing West Africa.

The Food System Resilience Program (FSRP) is a flagship regional investment program aimed at strengthening the resilience of the food system in West Africa, through a strategic regional approach.

The program will finance investments in three mutually reinforcing thematic areas:

Digital advisory services for the prevention and management of agricultural and food crises.
Sustainability and adaptive capacity of the productive base of the food system (sustainable land and watershed management, agro-ecological approaches).
Market integration and trade (development of the regional staple food value chain).

Each area is led by a mandated regional institution (CILSS, CORAF, ECOWAS) to ensure coordination and build sustainable capacities.

The Program Development Objective (PDO) is to: “Strengthen the management of risks inherent in regional food systems while improving the sustainability of the production base in targeted areas and developing regional agricultural markets.”

Specifically, the program will contribute to increasing the resilience of food systems in the following countries:

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo (Phase 1);
Ghana, Chad, Sierra Leone (Phase 2) and
Senegal (Phase 3), through investments in regional risk management, food trade and the sustainability of the production base.

Summary

Type: PhD scholarship/Training
Sponsored by: CORAF
Eligible Countries: CORAF member countries (West and Central Africa)
Benefits: Registration and laboratory fees, A monthly allowance, Field expenses, Travel expenses…etc.
Deadline: July 15, 2025

Eligibility Requirements for the CORAF Doctoral Thesis Scholarships 2025

Students must be enrolled in one of the Universities in CORAF member countries. As part of this program, CORAF recommends co-supervision of successful students. Thus, the student will be supervised by a Professor from the University where the student is enrolled, a researcher from one of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) research centres involved, and/or researcher from the CORAF executive secretariat.

To be eligible for this program, candidates must meet the following conditions:

Be a national of one of the CORAF member countries; CORAF works in 23 countries in West and Central Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome et Principe, and Togo.
Be at most 40 years old
Have a research Master’s degree related to the chosen field and theme.
Provide written and signed agreement from an academic Supervisor(s).
Have demonstrated capacity in applied research, willingness to learn and think across disciplines and professions.
Have a demonstrated interest in agricultural research for development.
Be able to speak and write either French or English fluently; a good working knowledge of the other language would be an asset.
Have good skills to work in a multicultural environment.
Have excellent communication skills.

Benefits

The scholarship allowance will include:

Registration and laboratory fees
A monthly subsistence allowance
Field expenses including travel, surveys or labor related to research activities, acquisition of small research equipment and consumables.
International travel expenses (participation in conferences, scientific stays)
Supervision fees.

Application Procedures and Documents to be Submitted for the CORAF Doctoral Thesis Scholarships 2025

To apply for this program, the application file must include:

A motivation letter from the applicant demonstrating his/her suitability and specifying his/her availability.
Certificates and transcripts of master’s and bachelor’s degrees
A curriculum vitae (Maximum 5 pages)
Two letters of recommendation from supervisors (1 University and 1 Centre of Specialization or 1 National Agricultural Research Institute member of CORAF) bearing their addresses.
A budgeted thesis research proposal on one of the proposed research topics covering FSRP priority areas (appended proposals).
A pre-registration form from the doctoral school or university of registration, the name and full address of the supervisors.

Please submit your application by email to: [email protected] no later than July 15, 2025.

Deadline: July 15, 2025