Browsing by Author "Waldman, Kurt"
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Item Agricultural decision making and climate uncertainty in developing countries(Environmental Research Letters, 2020-11) Attari, Shahzeen; Baylis, Kathy; Blekking, Jordan; Evans, Tom; Giroux, Stacey; Omar, Shahera; Todd, Peter; Waldman, KurtIn situations of uncertainty, people often make decisions with heuristic shortcuts or decision rules, rather than using computational or logical methods such as optimizing their behavior based on specific goals. The high level of uncertainty and complexity involved in adapting to climate change suggests that heuristics would be commonly used in this context rather than more structured decision methods. Through a systematic review of 137 articles, from 2007–2017 we explore the behavioral and cognitive assumptions used to examine agricultural decision-making related to climate change among farmers in developing countries. We find a strong orientation toward modeling behavior and decision making as a rational utility-maximizing process, despite decades of research demonstrating the prevalence of simpler heuristic choice when facing uncertainty and real-world constraints. Behavioral and cognitive approaches can increase our ability to predict or explain decisions being made in this realm, particularly in terms of how we understand decision making around information processing and risk assessment. In the following review, we highlight articles that have contributed to developing a more realistic decision-making framework for studying this problem on the ground. While there is a burgeoning literature using psychological insights to examine decision making under climate uncertainty, few studies consider the prevalence of simple heuristics, the presence of cognitive biases, and the salience of climate relative to other risk factors.Item Cognitive Biases about Climate Variability in Smallholder Farming Systems in Zambia(Weather, Climate, and Society, 2019-04) Attari, Shahzeen; Caylor, Kelly; Estes, Lyndon; Evans, Tom; Sheffield, Justin; Vergopolan, Noemi; Waldman, KurtGiven the varying manifestations of climate change over time and the influence of climate perceptions on adaptation, it is important to understand whether farmer perceptions match patterns of environmental change from observational data. We use a combination of social and environmental data to understand farmer perceptions related to rainy season onset. Household surveys were conducted with 1171 farmers across Zambia at the end of the 2015/16 growing season eliciting their perceptions of historic changes in rainy season onset and their heuristics about when rain onset occurs. We compare farmers’ perceptions with satellite-gauge-derived rainfall data from the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station dataset and hyper-resolution soil moisture estimates from the HydroBlocks land surface model. We find evidence of a cognitive bias, where farmers perceive the rains to be arriving later, although the physical data do not wholly support this. We also find that farmers’ heuristics about rainy season onset influence maize planting dates, a key determinant of maize yield and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings suggest that policy makers should focus more on current climate variability than future climate change.Item Food Routines Among Older Adults Survey Data(2021) Knudsen, Dan; Babb, Angela; Burris, Mecca; Czebotar, Kamila; Giroux, Stacey; Stafford, Phil; Valliant, Julia; Waldman, KurtProject description: Through five phases of research, consisting of focus group discussions, a survey, interviews, dietary analysis, and co-design workshops, the project investigates the barriers to accessing and consuming sufficient, culturally appropriate food among older adults, and the complex provisioning strategies elders use to mitigate household food insecurity. Using four counties in the Indiana Uplands as a case study, the authors determine: 1. What food insecurity looks like among seniors in rural Indiana; 2. How provisioning strategies of seniors change throughout a typical year, and how they changed over their lifetimes; 3.How various provisioning strategies shape food access and consumption by older Americans; 4. What program- and policy-specific leverage points exist to improve food security among older Americans; and 5. The extent to which communities, based on their existing assets, can devise sustainable programs to improve food security among older Americans. An additional research question was added in response to the Covid-19 pandemic which occurred during the study period: How did Covid-19 impact seniors' food provisioning strategies and to what extent did the pandemic impact the physical and mental well-being of seniors in the Indiana Uplands? The principal finding is that food insecurity, poor health and loneliness are inextricably linked. Critically, any solution to food insecurity must not only address issues of food access, but also must address the loneliness many older adults in rural locations face. The current pandemic has only added to feelings of loneliness and made accommodation of special diets more difficult.Item Formal/Informal Employment and Urban Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa(Applied Geography, 2020-01) Blekking, Jordan; Waldman, Kurt; Tuholske, Cascade; Evans, TomSub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to add nearly 800 million urban residents by 2050. Due to this rapid urban population increase there is an urgent need to understand the drivers of urban food security across the region. Understanding food security in an urban environment is difficult due to the complexity of the relationships between urban consumers and food suppliers. Unlike rural communities, urban residents produce little of their own food, and are largely reliant on food suppliers to meet their dietary needs. Identifying urban food insecure households is further complicated by the lack of food security metrics specifically designed for the urban context. We use household-level data from 718 low-income households in Lusaka, Zambia, to assess urban food security through two measures, the Food Consumption Score (FCS) and the Coping Strategies Index (CSI). Our assessment investigates the association between food security and different employment types across the city, with particular attention paid to spatial variance of outcomes and statistical differences between households with majority formal or informal employment. Our study reveals three substantial findings. First, we find statistically significant differences in FCS and CSI of households predominantly engaged with formal employment over households engaged in informal employment. Secondly, we find significant associations between purchasing food from informal and formal food suppliers and the use of coping strategies and consumption of higher calorie foods. Lastly, we identify substantial challenges in using FCS and CSI to evaluate urban food security. Both metrics are predicated on underlying assumptions that may not accurately represent household food consumption and coping strategies in urban areas of SSA.Item Hybrid-maize seed certification and smallholder adoption in Zambia(Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2020-07) Blekking, Jordan; Waldman, Kurt; Evans, TomDuring the 1990s many Southern African governments liberalized their seed markets. This move initiated an influx of hybrid-maize seeds onto markets through greater involvement of private seed developers. Since then the number of varieties of hybrid seeds has grown considerably. Using an institutional analysis framework, we illustrate the complex system of actors and feedbacks that govern the seed certification process in Zambia. We also examine how small holder hybrid-seed use has changed over the last decade. We find the Zambian seed certification system allows for frequent certification of new varieties each year without much scrutiny of seed use and performance by smallholders. Smallholders face a complex challenge in selecting seeds due to inconsistencies between the potential yields cited during the seed certification process and the reported yields of smallholders. This inconsistency jeopardizes the goal of food security sought after by both smallholders and policymakers.Item Informal vendors and food systems planning in an emerging African city(Food Policy, 2021-08) Blekking, Jordan; Fobi, Daniel; Giroux, Stacey; Resnick, Danielle; Waldman, KurtRapid urban growth is straining infrastructures, economies, and food security of cities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Amid competing issues of sanitation, housing, and unemployment, planning for urban food security receives less attention. Despite the proliferation of supermarkets in SSA, informal food vendors remain crucial sources of food for the majority of households. However, as cities grow and planners try to adapt, these informal vendors are generally left out of planning considerations, marginalized by policies that do not support this business model, or subjected to political vicissitudes. This paper analyzes how vendors in emerging cities are economically, socially, and spatially integrated within the urban food system, highlighting the assets these vendors represent and the ways they might support growth in cities. We map vendors’ networks of food suppliers, and describe sources of operating capital and labor assets to show the range of services vendors utilize and the types of institutions, businesses, and individuals that vendors use to support their work. We spatially analyze the relationship between vendors and suppliers, and between vendors and households, to demonstrate how enmeshed these vendors are in the broader food system and the links they create between consumers and suppliers. We demonstrate that due to spatial differences and vendors’ and consumers’ needs in emerging cities, a one-size-fits-all approach for integration of informal vendors in the food system is less likely to be successful in terms of either economic development or household food security.Item Navigating Food Insecurity as a Rural Older Adult: The Importance of Congregate Meal Sites, Social Networks and Transportation Services(Taylor & Francis, Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 2021-10-30) Valliant, Julia C.D.; Burris, Mecca E.; Czebotar, Kamila; Stafford, Philip B.; Giroux, Stacey A.; Babb, Angela; Waldman, Kurt; Knudsen, Daniel C.To explore how older adults in rural communities navigate food insecurity, ten focus groups were held in Indiana, USA with 65 discussants. Recordings underwent inductive qualitative data analysis. Driving and transport remain a barrier to rural food access. Living alone is another contributor to food insecurity, while older adults’ social networks are protective. Congregate meal sites are critical to maintaining nutrition and are underfunded; one-third of this region’s meal sites closed in 2019. These must be maintained and expanded. Transportation to food outlets is needed. Mechanisms that reinforce older adults’ social networks can build upon an existing asset.