Doctoral Dissertation Research: Compounding Stressors on Security and Land Management

This project examines the combined effects of stressors on the livelihoods of populations. In settings where instability disrupts infrastructure and transportation, there are potentially detrimental impacts on the food security of rural residents, and these effects can be compounded by extreme weather, such as droughts and intense rainfall. Using an array of methods, including agricultural mapping, survey research, analysis of satellite imagery, and spatial data, the researchers evaluate the effects of weather extremes and other stressors on the food security of rural residents. Also, the researchers document evidence of abandoned agricultural plots and concomitant attempts by farmers to adapt to novel challenges. The project informs understandings of the precursors to migration, which has implications for border security. The project also contributes to the education and training of a graduate student. In addition to contributing to the priority areas of security and public safety, the project's use-inspired approach and pathways for disseminating its findings align with the priority area of translational research. This study combines novel sources of data to elucidate the effects of weather extremes and stressors on the food security and subsistence strategies of rural residents. Data on food security stem from a longitudinal multi-sited survey of geolocated households, which is combined spatially and temporally with measures of temperature, precipitation, and conflicts. Similarly, these predictor variables are combined with remote sensing data that show geolocated processes of agricultural abandonment over time. In addition to the quantitative analyses, the researchers use methods to examine the adaptive strategies that residents employ in response to the livelihood risks. The study expands insights about the multifactorial determinants of food insecurity and land management decisions. In turn, this project enhances theoretical understandings about the proximate determinants of human mobility. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.