Aarhus University Welcomes Winnie Ntinyari

Winnie Ntinyari, a Research fellow at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and PhD graduate student at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya, recently began a 6-month secondment at Aarhus University, Denmark, as part of the H2020 MSCA-RISE INSA project.

During her secondment, Winnie will be working on modelling nitrogen flows for smallholder farms in Kenya. Her research activities will include: defining various scenarios for nitrogen use that reflect possible farming practices, acquisition of activity data, model parameterization and the integration between livestock and cropping systems. This work will help understand nitrogen fluxes for smallholder farms in Kenya, about which there is currently quite limited knowledge. The model will facilitate the adoption of mitigation options for improving nitrogen use and help guide policy making. In addition to modelling, Winnie will also gain experience using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to acquire spatial data for nitrogen fluxes on large scales, where actual measurements are not possible. During the secondment, Winnie will be working primarily with Dr. Nicholas Hutchings, in the Department of Agroecology.

The work completed at Aarhus will contribute to Winnie’s PhD thesis: Assessment of Nitrogen Flows and Greenhouse Gases in Cropping Systems for Improved Nitrogen Management in Lake Victoria Basin, East Africa. Her PhD supervisors are Dr. Cargele Masso and Dr. Mekonnen Giweta from IITA and Prof. Joseph Gweyi and Prof. Benson Mochoge from Kenyatta University.