Water Supply in Developing Countries: Student Experiences in the Dominican Republic

In 2010, the United Nations established access to safe drinking water as a basic human right; however, many areas around the globe still lack access. The interdisciplinary service-learning course “Water Supply in Developing Countries” was established at Purdue in 2012 to address the complex issue of water insecurity around the world. Over the past five years, the course has produced teams involving students from nursing, engineering, agricultural economics, biology, and food science working together to develop sustainable, community-scale drinking water treatment systems. In partnership with Aqua Clara International, the student team in 2017 established a drinking water treatment system at the Ana Julia Diaz Luna primary school in the rural community of Las Cañas, Dominican Republic. In addition to the focus on a physical water system, they also collaborated with local educators to design a water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) education program. Students guided development of sustainable economic strategies to utilize the system for generation of revenue to reinvest in maintenance and improvements. The observations and lessons learned from the completed stages of this project have been applied to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of subsequent interventions

Short-Term Returns to Agricultural Households\u27 Migration Decisions: Evidence from a Tracking Panel Data Study in Malawi

This study explores the welfare implications of two agriculture household decisions in rural Malawi; for the entire households to migrate or for the households to send out one or more individuals to form or join another household. Like other livelihood strategies taken by rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa, these decision are frequently made as responses to ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. I find that on average households that migrated between 2009/10 and 2012/13 experienced a 9 - 16 percentage point reduction per adult equivalent consumption. These agriculture households appear to be pushed into migration, as households were more likely to migrate from areas that were characterized with higher levels of precipitation variability and saw a reduction in revenue from own-farm crop production. Alternatively, on average agriculture households that decided to split between 2009/10 and 2012/13 (send out one or more individuals) experienced a 28 - 34 percentage point growth in consumption per adult equivalent. This growth is primarily driven by the altering of the household’s structure through a reduction in household size. The analysis shows that the decision to split, may not be viable livelihood strategy for all households, as it partly depends on whether the initial household has children of the age of marriage

Developing a Holistic Assessment for Land Grant University Economic Impact Studies: A Case Study

A southern Land-Grant University (LGU) conducted an economic impact study of its Cooperative Extension and Agricultural Research Centers. The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities promotes the use of economic impact studies, however their design is business innovation-centric, deemphasizing the human capital development component that Extension provides. Literature on economic impact theoretical frameworks or proven methodological approaches to assess both the technical and human innovation side of an organization of this size, scale, and scope is limited. This led to the design of an exploratory qualitative study to determine what impacts should and could be measured, and how to attribute an economic value to particular research and extension programming. An analysis of input from industry stakeholders, administrators, and practitioners helped determine that the dominant economic impact assessment tools: large scale input-output models and small scale return on investment and productivity studies, have limitations in accurately operationalizing economic impact calculations for such a large state-wide organization. Initial results of this study demonstrate that both public and private innovations and technical assistance have impacts on the economy. This study exposed measures, methods and recommendations for future economic impact study design

DOES EXTENSION WORK? IMPACTS OF A PROGRAM TO ASSIST LIMITED-RESOURCE FARMERS IN VIRGINIA

Qualitative evidence suggests that 1890 institutions play a significant role in delivering extension information to limited-resource, particularly minority, farmers. However, there is little empirical evidence of economic impacts of public investments in 1890 extension programs. This paper quantifies the economic impacts of the 2501 extension program for limited resource farmers in Virginia

DOES EXTENSION WORK? IMPACTS OF A PROGRAM TO ASSIST LIMITED-RESOURCE FARMERS IN VIRGINIA

Qualitative evidence suggests that 1890 institutions play a significant role in delivering extension information to limited-resource, particularly minority, farmers. However, there is little empirical evidence of economic impacts of public investments in 1890 extension programs. This paper quantifies the economic impacts of the 2501 extension program for limited resource farmers in Virginia.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,