Dr. Chivenge’s research work has mostly focused on management of natural resources for improved crop productivity. She has extensive experience in participatory research in smallholder agriculture in East and Southern Africa, and South East Asia studying the optimal and sustainable utilization of natural resources for enhanced food production. Her research has broadly focused on seeking optimal management options that improve biogeochemical nutrient cycling, soil and water management, carbon sequestration, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in different cropping systems. She is an interdisciplinary scientist and uses a suite of analytical techniques to investigate soil carbon and nutrient dynamics in relation to sustainable utilization of natural resources, ecosystem processing, land-use and land management changes and global climate change.

As one of the Work Package 1 leads, she will spearhead the design and implementation of nutrient omission plot trials (NOPT), and use the results for developing algorithms for updating Rice Crop Manager (RCM). She will also lead the design and implementation of trials to evaluate RCM recommendations in farmers’ fields. Data from NOPT and RCM evaluation trials will be synthesized, and analyzed and used to update RCM. She will also contribute to the capacity building of national partners, focusing on site-specific nutrient management.