Theses

Beyond the production of food: how can Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture address nutrition challenges? Despite substantial strides in reducing poverty over the past five decades in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), these countries experience disproportionately high rates of undernutrition. Agriculture is a key sector that plays a significant role in addressing malnutrition by addressing food insecurity. Particularly promising are nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) interventions, which are agricultural interventions that incorporate a clear objective to improve nutrition and integrate nutrition actions to achieve the nutrition objective, thereby also addressing nutrition security. As a part of the multisectoral response, NSA interventions address multiple underlying causes of malnutrition. However, studies on the mechanisms by which such interventions impact nutrition and which factors influence outcomes are scarce. Therefore, this PhD research aimed to gain insights into the impact pathways of NSA interventions to improve nutritional status, as well as the factors influencing the implementation and sustainability of the interventions in LMICs. This research used a mixed-methods study design that included two systematic reviews and two case studies based on NSA projects implemented in Bangladesh and Lao PDR. In six articles (4 already published), we explain the effects of NSA interventions on nutrition, the pathways to their, and the factors influencing the implementation and sustainability of the interventions. Three chapters demonstrate that NSA interventions can address the multiple determinants of malnutrition, significantly improve diet, reduce micronutrient deficiency, and, to a lesser extent, reduce underweight. This PhD research confirms that NSA interventions can contribute to nutrition through pathways of agricultural production, agricultural income, and women’s empowerment. In addition, this study puts forward the idea of labelling nutrition-related knowledge and behaviour change communication (BCC) as a separate pathway and identifies the strengthening of local institutions as a novel pathway. The dissertation, in three chapters, explains the factors across five domains of implementation research: the outer setting, the inner setting, the characteristics of individuals, the intervention characteristics, and the implementation process. The studies highlight a complex interaction of the factors at multiple levels. Sustaining NSA interventions is challenging due to the complex adaptive features of the food system that make the system both adaptive and resilient. To conclude, transforming agriculture to become more nutritionally sensitive can be impactful in realizing food and nutrition security, but it requires several interrelated strategies across pathways, of which strengthening local institutions, is key.

Climate change is posing a serious challenge for developing countries like India. The agriculture sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. In turn, it is making food security and livelihoods of smallholders, more vulnerable to climate change. This study adopted the IPCC’s integrated indicator approach for assessing the vulnerability of the agriculture sector to climate change in Assam and Odisha by means of creating a vulnerability index and by comparing the spatial profile of vulnerability across the districts of the two states. Several socio-economic and biophysical indicators were identified and categorized into 3 components of vulnerability: sensitivity, exposure and, adaptive capacity. Running PCA on these indicators generated weights. Since, Principal Component 1 explains the maximum variance in the dataset, the correlation of indicators with Principal Component 1 has been used for computing the composite climate vulnerability indices. The districts are ranked on the basis of their performance on indices based on 3 components of vulnerability and composite vulnerability. District-wise spatial vulnerability profile has been created to identify and prioritize the most vulnerable districts. The results of the study indicate that the most vulnerable districts of Assam are – Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao; and that of Odisha are - Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Kalahandi, and Koraput. The predominant indicators contributing to vulnerability have been identified which suggest that vulnerability in Assam is more due to high exposure while in Odisha, it is largely attributed to low adaptive capacity and high sensitivity. There exists a large difference in the extent of vulnerability among the districts and there is a need to develop specific policy interventions to address climate change at the district level in order to reduce the vulnerability of smallholders and to increase the resilience of the agriculture sector to climate change.

The flood-based farming systems in the Ayeyarwady Delta in Myanmar are changing. Change describes the modification of the flood pattern which is constituted by depth and duration of flooding and is the determining factor for rice cultivation. Flood-induced crop loss poses the major challenge to the farmers in the delta. To understand the flood-based farming systems in the Ayeyarwady Delta, the random forest algorithm was applied to generate rice suitability location models and to create suitability maps. Thus, correlations were observed between the developed definitions for the three rice growing areas based on quantitative interviews with farmers and the physical factors obtained from the input datasets – mainly remote sensing data concerning surface water and vegetation. To underpin the information of the generated suitability maps, human-water dynamics in the Ayeyarwady Delta are exemplified in terms of the pluralistic water research (PWR) framework (EVERS ET AL. 2017). Socio-economic and hydro-climatic drivers control this system and besides determine the suitable location of the three rice growing areas. This concept facilitates an understanding of the relationships and feedbacks of the human-water dynamics and is able to analyse flood risk mitigation in the Ayeyarwady Delta.

Climate change will affect the hydrologic cycle and thus it will have significant implications on the regional scale water availability from a number of sources. An index based assessment of the present and future water availability was carried out in this research. The Agricultural Water Availability Index was developed for Rechna doab, Pakistan. The study area was divided in four irrigation circles and further in to a grid of 1000 x 1000 m. The present and future water availability from canal diversions, rainfall, groundwater with its quality consideration and stored soil moisture was assessed. The results revealed that water availability is higher in the eastern parts of the study area and following a general trend it reduces towards the west. The mean index value for the present scenario in the study area was determined as 0.30. It was further investigated that water availability is varying throughout the year. In UCC irrigation circle the Agricultural Water Availability Index varies from -0.17 to 0.28 the minimum value was observed in December and the maximum in August. The corresponding index values for LCC-East, LCC-West and Haveli circle were from -0.16 to 0.15, -0.15 to 0.15 and -0.18 to 0.07 respectively. The current cropping intensities in the four irrigation circles were 152, 113, 115 and 114 percent respectively. An increase rainfall distribution and canal diversions were observed in all future scenarios. Moreover the future rainfall was observed to have more fluctuation throughout the year. In comparison with the present situation it was noted that under future scenarios the spring season water availability would increase. The overall index value for UCC, LCC-East, LCC West and Haveli circle varies from -0.21 to 0.65, -0.23 to 0.44, -0.25 to 0.41 and -0.27 to 0.29 respectively. This shows that the present trend of water availability across the circles is also observed in the future scenarios. Moreover the minimum and maximum extremes were observed to be more severe with August being the wettest and November being the driest months. More fluctuation in water availability was observed in Haveli circle, which means that comparatively more arid area are more vulnerable to climate change. This was evident from the spring water availability in Haveli circle where the range if index was from -0.02 to 0.14 for A2T2 and B2T2 scenarios respectively. The extreme water shortages for future scenarios in the months of May and November pose a serious threat to the major crop in the study area. Based on the results it was found that there was a shortage of water at the critical time of sowing of wheat, cotton and sweet pea therefore suitable climate change adaptation options were forwarded to cope with these shortages. It was suggested to adapt water conservation technologies during the sowing period of these crops as it saves time and conserve stored soil moisture for the development of crops. The overall results of this study can be used for

The Densu River serves as the main source of water in the basin and also supplies Ghana‘s capital (Accra) with a large share (44%) of its drinking water which makes water pollution a critical challenge. An assessment of pollution and river recovery was conducted in the middle catchment of the Densu River, Ghana over both rainy and dry seasons to understand the contributory factors that drive pollution in the basin. For the purposes of water resources management, the primary focus was on the river processes taking place that allow mitigation of these impacts. Suggestions were then made regarding mitigating interventions to conserve the resources in the river basin. Physico-chemical and microbial parameters were analyzed. Sample collection and analysis of the physico-chemical and microbiological parameters were conducted using international and national standards and indicators. Key informant and household interviews as well as field reconnaissance were also carried out. The study showed that the water quality within the middle catchment of the Densu Basin varies according to sampling site and season. Among the physical parameters analyzed, colour and turbidity exceeded the WHO recommended levels for river water. The values obtained for the water quality exceeded the Ghanaian Target Water Quality Range for raw water intended for domestic, irrigation and industrial use. With the exception of conductivity, the values recorded for colour, turbidly and suspended solids tend to be higher in the wet season than in the dry season. Though the mean values of the chemical parameters were within the WHO standards for raw water, bacteriological quality of the Densu River was above the recommended standards of WHO, 2006; EU, 1998 and WRC, 2003 during both the dry and wet seasons. Results showed that the Densu River water can generally be classified as fairly good compared to its desirable or natural state. There are spatial and temporary variations which require targeted monitoring, while so far the river recovers well from localized pollution. Temporal recovery was observed along the entire river. However, since concentrations of most of the parameters studied were relatively low, clear signs of full self recovery were not visible and made it difficult to evaluate the recovery capacity of the river. Despite the fact that the study area is predominantly agricultural, the study did not discover the widespread use of agrochemicals. About 47.1% of respondents do not use fertilizer, while 55.2% do not use pesticides on their farms. Given the population growth in Accra‘s vicinity, awareness raising, provision of sanitation facilities as well as the creation of buffer zones along the river banks is highly recommended to preserve this important drinking water source for the city.

IWMI funded Ph D Thesis

Net irrigated area in the Krishna River Basin is varying quite frequently due to water scarcity. Data on accurate area and extent of irrigated area in this basin are not available. There are discrepancies in the statistics provided by agencies like the State Irrigation Department, State Agriculture Department, and Census of India. The State Irrigation Department projects a large irrigated area in the Krishna River Basin, attributed to its prestigious irrigation projects. However, the irrigation projects do not fulfill the demands in the basin so that the tail enders grow dry crops. Remote sensing replaces costly and tedious data collection on the ground, which is nondestructive. The aim of the present study is to prepare a comprehensive land use/land cover (LULC) map including irrigated areas using continuous time series of multiple resolutions by using AVHRR and MODIS. Methodologies were developed to map irrigated area categories using LANDSAT ETM+ along with coarse resolution data sets which are MODIS time series, SRTM elevation and other secondary data. There is a need to bridge the gap between the use of high resolution satellite data and coarse resolution satellite data and to modify the existing methodology to derive irrigated areas using high resolution satellite data. Space-time spiral curves; resolving the mixed classes; decision tree algorithms; spatial modeling; Google Earth data; irrigated area fractions; Landsat-based estimates of the irrigated fractions were used in this study. It is well established that LULC change has significant effects on many processes in basins including soil erosion, global warming and biodiversity, and that LULC is expected to cause greater impact on human habitability than climate change. Irrigated area fraction (IAF) in coarser resolution data cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, in this dissertation research my focus will be addressing these gaps in mapping irrigated areas using remote sensing. Dug-wells, shallow tube wells, and deep tube wells are used for groundwater irrigation while tanks may be used for both surface water irrigation and groundwater recharge. Highly significant agricultural land use changes have taken place as a result of inter annual variations in water availability. One of the objectives of this study was to investigate the changes in cropland areas as a result of water availability using MODIS 250 m time series and spectral matching techniques. The study was conducted in a very large river basin (Krishna) in India considering a water-surplus year (2000-01) and a water-deficit year (2002-03).

IWMI funded thesis. This Ph D thesis was a contribution work with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on Karkheh Basin Focal Project (BFP) in Iran. Karkheh River Basin (KRB) was selected as one of the benchmark basins for the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). BFP and this thesis are sponsored and supported by CPWF.

IWMI funded Ph D Thesis

My study aims to investigate the key socio-economic and policy factors influencing the sustainability of natural resource based livelihoods in rural coastal households. While I adopt a sustainable livelihoods approach as an overall conceptual framework, I focus specifically on two aspects of livelihood security - food security and personal wellbeing. I investigate the usefulness of using a combination of food security and personal wellbeing indices that I develop together with other standard qualitative tools, to highlight aspects of livelihoods sustainability that are not covered by conventional poverty approaches. I also apply these approaches to assess first, how certain coastal zone management policy processes such as Special Area Management (SAM) has affected rural coastal livelihoods, and later, to assess the impact of the Asian tsunami on coastal communities and their livelihoods. SAM is a co-management approach applied in specific coastal sites. I collected data from two SAM sites - Rekawa and Kalametiya, on the south coast of Sri Lanka. I collected data from a total of 210 households that covered 6 villages (3 villages in each site). A combination of participatory methods and conventional surveys methods were used. I first examined the major qualitative trends and influences, and thereafter investigated the differences between households within and between villages and between male and female respondents using univariate analyses. Finally, regression analyses were used to relate the food security and personal well-being indices to a number of explanatory variables such as location of village, wealth rank, livelihood activities and SAM participation. My findings suggest that in terms of coastal resource management initiatives, the use of indices and tools such as those developed under this study, could prove to be useful in respect to better targeting the poorer groups among coastal communities. This in turn would contribute towards the overall success and long-term sustainability of coastal zone management initiatives.

Thesis submitted to the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Water Resources Survey and Environmental Systems Analysis and Management.

A dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Brandeis University, Department of Anthropology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree, Doctor of Philosophy.

Ph.D. Thesis - Wageningen University and Research Center, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Ph.D. thesis presented at Wageningen University, 26 January 2000

Ph.D. Thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands

Ph.D. Thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands