Agriculture Commons^™

Examining Gendered Aspects Of Land Tenure Security And Smallholder Food Security During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Uganda, Michelle B. Saunders

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Smallholder agriculture is an integral part of the global food system – indeed, over 80% of the world’s farms operate on less than two hectares of land. In Uganda, these smallholder farmers grow the majority (~85%) of food produced, and thus are critical to domestic food security. However, due to external threats such as economic hardship and climate change, smallholders are also vulnerable to food insecurity themselves. As we work towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger, it is crucial that we pay particular attention to this vital population. This thesis explores two key explanatory factors that …

The Potential Of Refugee Seed Systems To Promote Contemporary Adaptation In Traditional Crops: A Case Study Of African Maize In New England, Andi Kur

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

There are many mechanisms by which landraces evolve in a contemporary agricultural setting; however, the influence of forced human migration on landrace redistribution and evolution has received little attention in comparison to the stochastic effects of drift, mutation, and gene flow in the centers of origin. Although the seed systems of forcedly-displaced people remain poorly understood, evidence suggests that refugees often continue to grow traditional crops after resettlement. From a genetics perspective, the crops that are transported to highly disparate environments provide an interesting opportunity to study adaptation.

This research addresses how forced human migration has impacted contemporary landrace evolution …

On The Application Of Computational Modeling To Complex Food Systems Issues, Serge William Wiltshire

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Transdisciplinary food systems research aims to merge insights from multiple fields, often revealing confounding, complex interactions. Computational modeling offers a means to discover patterns and formulate novel solutions to such systems-level problems. The best models serve as hubs—or boundary objects—which ground and unify a collaborative, iterative, and transdisciplinary process of stakeholder engagement. This dissertation demonstrates the application of agent-based modeling, network analytics, and evolutionary computational optimization to the pressing food systems problem areas of livestock epidemiology and global food security. It is comprised of a methodological introduction, an executive summary, three journal-article formatted chapters, and an overarching discussion section.

Chapter …

Conceptualizing And Measuring Food Security Among Resettled Refugees Living In The United States, Hannah Stokes

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Food security research with resettled refugees in the United States and other Global North countries has found alarmingly high rates of food insecurity, up to 85% of surveyed households. This is well above the current US average of 12.7%. However, the most common survey tool used to measure food security status in the US, the US Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM), has not been sufficiently validated for resettled refugee populations, leading to the risk that the HFSSM may actually be underestimating the prevalence of food insecurity among resettled refugees in the US. Though research has attempted to establish validity …

Subsistence Under The Canopy: Agroecology, Livelihoods And Food Sovereignty Among Coffee Communities In Chiapas, Mexico, Margarita Fernandez

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

One of the most pressing challenges facing the world today is how to sustainably feed a growing population while conserving the ecosystem services we depend on. Coffee landscapes are an important site for research on agrifood systems because they reflect global-scale dynamics surrounding conservation and livelihood development. Within them, we find both what is broken in our global agrifood system, as well as the grassroots struggles that strive to change the system by building socio-ecologically resilient, sustainable livelihoods. Research shows that smallholder shade coffee farmers steward high biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. At the same time, studies in the …