Life Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Index Based Livestock Insurance (Ibli) On Child Nutrition In Marsabit County, Kenya, Jackson Kadyampakeni

Master's Theses

The study uses six rounds of Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) panel surveys (2009 – 2015) for Northern Kenya’s Marsabit county to investigate the impact of IBLI on child nutrition and household food security. We employ Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variable (IV) regressions to account for potential endogeneity in IBLI uptake. The results indicate that while IBLI uptake significantly improves the intake of key nutrients such as Vitamin A, protein, iron, and fruits and vegetables, it does not translate into significant improvements in child nutrition status, as measured by Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) z-scores. Significant negative effects of age …

The Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Food Security Of Mississippians, Hannah Noel Irwin

Theses and Dissertations

Mississippi leads the United States in food insecurity, with 15.3% of Mississippians experiencing food insecurity in a given year. To determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food insecurity of Mississippians, a survey containing the USDA Household Food Security Questionnaire was distributed to adult Mississippi residents. By employing the USDA Household Food Security Scale and the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Methodology, this study finds that the food insecurity rate, food insecurity gap, and squared food insecurity gap have worsened in Mississippi since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this study finds that households which were food insecure prior to March …

Economic And Ecosystem Impacts Of Gm Maize In South Africa, Kristiina Ala-Kokko

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

White maize in South Africa is the only staple crop produced on a widespread commercial basis for direct human consumption using genetically modified (GM) cultivars. Using a combined economic and environmental approach, we estimate the total welfare benefits attributable to GM white maize in South Africa for 2001-2018 are $694.7 million. Food security benefits attributable to GM white maize in South Africa also manifest through an average of 4.6 million additional white maize rations annually. To achieve these additional annual rations using conventional hybrid maize, the additional land required would range from 1,088 hectares in 2001 to 217,788 hectares in …

Rice Value Chain Development And Policy Sequencing In Southern Africa, Sandratra M. Razafinjoelina

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of the 2008 food crisis, net food importing countries questioned the reliance on the volatile world market to meet their food demand. Consequently, the necessity to be selfsufficient returned to the forefront of national priorities. In Africa, the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) initiative was initiated and aimed to double rice production in the continent by 2018, with the eventual goal of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production. To attain this goal, each of the 23 CARD member countries drafted a comprehensive value chain upgrading strategy called the National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS). This study intends to …

The Role Of African Leafy Vegetables In Food Security, Marcia M. Croft

Open Access Dissertations

African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are a diverse set of crops grown across sub-Saharan Africa. They have been a staple of traditional diets and contain many critical micronutrients but their importance has been largely ignored by researchers and policymakers at the expense of imported crops. Availability, accessibility, and utilization of ALVs are limited by factors across the supply chain. This research investigated seed systems, drought tolerance, hydroponic production, market barriers, consumer preference, and the impact of gender as related to ALVs. We found that ALVs play an important role in food security and that critical differences exist between formal and informal …

Essays On Malawian Agriculture: Micro-Level Welfare Impacts Of Agricultural Productivity; Profitability Of Fertilizer Use; And Targeting Of Fertilizer Subsidy Programs, Francis Addeah Darko

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation comprises of three essays that address different aspects of agriculture in Malawi using a two-wave panel data collected by the National Statistical Office of Malawi with support from the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) program. Each essay stands alone as an independent study because of differences in research questions and the methodologies used in addressing the questions.

The first essay analyzes the micro-level welfare impacts of agricultural productivity. Welfare is measured by various dimensions of poverty and food insecurity; and agricultural productivity is measured by maize yield and value of crop …

Trade And Agriculture Policy Options To Improve The Wheat Subsector In Afghanistan, Ghulam Hazrat Halimi

Open Access Dissertations

In Afghanistan wheat availability is important for national food security as it is the key staple food, accounting for over half of calorie intake. The country has imported on average 32% of its wheat consumption over the period 2000-2015, primarily from Pakistan and Kazakhstan. Since domestic production is volatile, consumer well-being depends on access to international markets.

Pakistan, a key supplier of wheat and flour to Afghanistan, has not been a reliable source for Afghanistan to meet its wheat deficit. Pakistan subsidizes and stabilizes its wheat production, and this benefited Afghan consumers before 2008. Pakistan restricted wheat and flour exports …

A Regional Approach To Analysis Of Food Security Framework And Policies Of The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas), Hannah Elizabeth Shear

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food security is always a concern for consumers, but especially for those in West Africa, where the population of food insecure people has continued to grow over the past decade despite attempts by initiatives such as the World Food Program and the establishment of Millennium Development Goals. The people of West Africa are subject to repetitive natural disasters and are often in political upheaval. Many economic policies have been established to mitigate the impact that production disasters have on the consumers; one of these policies is the utilization of regional food reserves.

In 2010, the Economic Community of West African …

Three Essays On Food Demand, Land Use Intensity, And Food Crop Portfolio Choice Under Weather Risk, Aditya Raj Khanal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Food security and adaptation to climate change has been an important research and development agenda in most of the development organizations and in the national policy of developing countries. The most vulnerable population from climate change and food security problems are rural and agricultural households in the developing and low income countries. Weather and climatic factors and food security has a direct link with poverty because a large majority of poor live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The primary focus of this dissertation is to analyze consumption and production aspects of the rural agricultural households. …

Food Apocalypse Now: An Epistemological Understanding Of The Coming Food Crisis, Alexander Sk Parker 15

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Three Essays On Migration Decision, Migration Destination Choice, And Food Security: Evidence From Chitwan, Nepal, Madhav Regmi

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis research is based on data obtained from the Nepal Ethno Survey of Family, Migration and Development conducted in 396 farming households in the Eastern part of the Chitwan, Nepal. In a three essay thesis format, I explore the factors affecting migration decision and migration destination choices. I then establish a link between remittance and food security status of the surveyed households. In the first essay, I use a probit model to identify household decisions to send or not to send migrants, and identify factors affecting the decision process. I include individual, household and social network characteristics in the …

Impact Of Hybrid Rice On Food Security: A Spatial Equilibrium Analysis Of Global Adoption And Diffusion Of Hybrid Rice Varieties, Till Ludwig

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice is the staple crop for most consumers in Asia. More than half of the global population depends on rice. However, scarce resources for agricultural production and unfavorable conditions will make it hard to meet future demand in rice and threaten future food security. Hybrid rice technology is a method to increase the productivity of resources needed for rice production. Current developments show not only yield improvements in comparison to existing conventional and hybrid varieties, but also fuel hopes for new abiotic and biotic stress tolerance. The objective of this study is to determine what impact hybrid rice varieties can …