Contact Dr Albert Muleke
- Tel: +447310062373
- Email: Albert.Muleke@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
- Google Scholar
- ResearchGate
Areas of expertise
- Agrifood Systems
- Computing, Simulation & Modelling
Background
Dr. Muleke specializes in agricultural sustainability, climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation. His current research focuses on integrated modelling of regenerative farming systems, specifically evaluating the impacts of transitioning to regenerative systems within the Yorkshire region and the broader United Kingdom (UK). His recent work also involves analysing components of regenerative agriculture along a rainfall gradient across agro-ecological regions and production systems in Australia.
Prior to joining Cranfield, Dr. Muleke worked as professional researcher at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, the University of Tasmania, on the ‘DELIGHTED’ project, which aimed to deconstruct two key components of regenerative agriculture (plant species diversity and cell grazing) to determine the extent to which each component influences soil carbon, pasture production, greenhouse gas emissions and profit (https://www.growag.com/).
Dr. Muleke has also held non-academic roles in agricultural consultancy in Kenya, New Zealand, and Australia (2009-2023). As a senior agricultural consultant in Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries, he worked closely with key stakeholders to enhance climate-smart agriculture and food security under the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (ID: P153349) funded by the World Bank (https://projects.worldbank.org/). He took part in facilitating numerous research and extension events in Southern Australia, in which he collaborated extensively with practitioners affiliated with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Irrigated Cropping Council (ICC) and Field Applied Research (FAR) Australia.
His PhD, from the University of Tasmania, evaluated interventions for improving whole-farm productivity and profitability of irrigated grain cropping systems under future climates. He developed holistic adaptations for increasing productivity and co-developed a digital decision framework: WaterCan Profit (WCP), to help users unpack complex whole-farm economic decisions.
Research opportunities
Sustainable agricultural development
Climate change adaptation
Greenhouse gas mitigation
Carbon sequestration science
Agricultural economics
Irrigation technology
Current activities
Dr. Muleke is a Research Fellow in Modelling Agricultural Systems. His recent and ongoing research includes the UKRI-funded project, FixOurFood, which aims to transform the Yorkshire food system into a regenerative one. For more information, visit: https://fixourfood.org/
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Wei H, Xu W, Kang B, Eisner R, Muleke A, .... (2024). Irrigation with Artificial Intelligence: Problems, Premises, Promises. Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, 4(2)
- Muleke A, Harrison MT, Eisner R, Yanotti M, de Voil P, .... (2023). Clarifying confusions over carbon conclusions: antecedent soil carbon drives gains realised following intervention. Global Environmental Change Advances, 1
- Muleke A, Harrison MT, Eisner R, de Voil P, Yanotti M, .... (2023). Sustainable intensification with irrigation raises farm profit despite climate emergency. PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET, 5(3)
- Muleke A, Harrison MT, Yanotti M & Battaglia M. (2022). Yield gains of irrigated crops in Australia have stalled: the dire need for adaptation to increasingly volatile weather and market conditions. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 4
- Muleke A, Harrison MT, Eisner R, de Voil P, Yanotti M, .... (2022). Whole farm planning raises profit despite burgeoning climate crisis. Scientific Reports, 12(1)
- Muleke A, Harrison MT, de Voil P, Hunt I, Liu K, .... (2022). Earlier crop flowering caused by global warming alleviated by irrigation. Environmental Research Letters, 17(4)
- Harrison MT, Cullen BR, Mayberry DE, Cowie AL, Bilotto F, .... (2021). Carbon myopia: The urgent need for integrated social, economic and environmental action in the livestock sector. Global Change Biology, 27(22)