Does Rainwater Harvesting Contribute to Fight Climate Change and Women Empowerment in Bangladesh?

Agriculture, domestic, and industry rely on water resources systems for fulfilling water demand while water resources systems face both climate-induced extreme events and management and governance problems. These constraints lead to a mismatch between demand and supply of water for those sectors. This study applies central tendency and variability to analyze data and mixed methods approach to interpret the result. Throughout 1999-2019, the growth rate of population, gross domestic product, and urban population is 1.354%, 6.084%, and 3.70% correspondingly, contributing to increased water demand. However, average groundwater depletion increased from 2.455km3 (1989-1990) to 4.9016km3 while average flood-affected areas enhanced by 8,644km2 in 2014-2018 compared to 1988-1993. Furthermore, salt-affected areas incremented by 2,22,810ha in 2009 contrasted to 1973, whereas the mean wind speed of cyclones increased by 30.02km in 2015-2020 compared to 1988-1995. The mean sea-level rise increased by 16.8cm and 169.2cm in 1995-2000 compared to 1979-1983 in Cox’s Bazar and Char Changa station, respectively. The current approach to address the mismatch may not be effective as a long-term solution due to climate change and geographical context so that this study urges policy makers to shift their focus on water sources for addressing the gap between water demand and supply in Bangladesh. This study will create attention of policymakers, water managers, water experts, and academics for further study in adaptation with climate extreme events which impact on water resources, damage social economic and enviornmnetal assets, and displaced people. It also urges finding and accommodating a sustainable approach to reducing the water demand-supply gap. This study is relevant for various government organizations dealing with water resources management, policymakers, and professionals in water resources management and governance. Sustainable water resources management is one of the significant factors in achieving sustainable development goals and alleviating poverty. Since sustainable development is a multidimensional concept, it is influenced by different factors like water access, poverty, socioeconomic development. Rainwater collection and use are ways to ensure sustainable water resources management and increase water access where formal water suppliers fail to address the water crisis. This research explores what key factors influence the economic benefit of rainwater harvesting using Ordinary Least Square regression on primary data collected from 1040 households at a subdistrict of southwestern Bangladesh. Six factors have been measured the price of water, age of rainwater harvesting, the total cost of rainwater harvesting, storage capacity, number of children, and income. It is the first kind of empirical research that connects rainwater harvesting, economic advantage, and econometric analysis. The empirical result shows that income (1.253***), storage capacity (49.425***), price of water (80669.9***), age of rainwater harvesting (8740.16***), and total cost (1.649***) have positive correlation with economic benefit while the number of children (-3501.90***) has a negative. It concluded that economic benefit from rainwater harvesting could be improved by including in water management policy or different policies for rainwater harvesting, particularly for the rain-intensive country. Moreover, it can be a tool to alleviate poverty and achieve sustainable development goals through increasing water access. However, context specificity and multidimensionality is the limitation of this study. Water security has been long connected with facilitating women empowerment that is more crucial in developing countries. The rising water demand may hamper water security, leading to a constraint empowerment process. Women empowerment is rising in Bangladesh, but the connection between water security through rainwater harvesting and women empowerment is the first study in this circumstance. It may provide an alley to determine the connection between water security ensured by rainwater harvesting and empowerment. This quantitative study explored the survey data of 1051 households to measure the possibility of economic, social, and political empowerment through water security. The result shows that economic, social, and political empowerment has a positive and statistically significant relation with water security, but context specificity indicates that interpretation of the findings is not uncomplicated. Moreover, male household head, income, number of family members, and operating rainwater harvesting negatively influence water security level while the cost to build up rainwater harvesting infrastructure, storage capacity, and land ownership positively influences water security. Based on the results, policies and programs that stimulate women's empowerment need more understanding and strategies concerning water security and empowerment for gender equality and achieve sustainable development goals five and six

Impact of climate-induced extreme events and demand–supply gap on water resources in Bangladesh

Agriculture, domestic, and industry rely on water resources systems for fulfilling water demand, while water resources systems face both climate-induced extreme events and management and governance problems. These constraints lead to a mismatch between demand and supply of water for those sectors. This study applies central tendency and variability to analyze data and mixed methods approach to interpret the result. From 1999 to 2019, the growth rates of population, gross domestic product, and urban population are -1.354, 6.084, and 3.70%, respectively, contributing to increased water demand. However, the average groundwater depletion increased from 2.455 km(3) (1989-1990) to 4.9016 km(3), while the average flood-affected areas enhanced by 8,644 km(2) in 2014-2018 compared to 1987-1991. Furthermore, salt-affected areas incremented by 222,810 ha in 2009 contrasted to 1973, whereas the mean wind speed of cyclones increased by 30.02 km in 2015-2020 compared to 1988-1995. The mean sea-level rise increased by 16.8 and 169.2 cm in 1995-2000 compared to 1979-1983 in Cox's Bazar and the Char Changa station, respectively. The Mann-Kendall test was applied to detect the trend. This study urges policymakers, water experts, and academics to promote rainwater harvesting that is sustainable to govern rainwater and mitigate water and economic poverty

Influencing Phenomena of Local Government Budgeting Decisions in Bangladesh

The research on the influencing phenomena at the budgetary process of Local Government Union Councils in Bangladesh is based on a combination of political psychology, applied economics and public management issues (i.e. decentralization, local government finance, and local governance, as well as the budgeting theory and local government budgetary process). The purpose of the research is to explore the critical influencing phenomena and their relative influences on Union Councils’ budgeting decisions. The study reveals that the influence of concerned phenomena or issues does not always collide with the budgetary autonomy of Union Councils, but the effects of the influencing issues on their budgeting decisions are evident with varying degrees and dimensions. The study has employed qualitative method with six case studies on criteria based purposively selected Union Councils at Sunamganj District in Bangladesh

Study of Secondary Neutrons From Uniform Scanning Proton Beams by Means of Experiment and Simulation

Proton radiotherapy is becoming popular as an effective modality to treat cancer. However the advantages of the proton radiotherapy could be offset due to the effect of secondary neutrons. Secondary neutrons are an undesired byproduct in proton radiotherapy. It is important to quantify the dose equivalent due to secondary neutrons since they could lead to secondary cancer later in the patient's life. In this study, our aim was to investigate the off-axis dose equivalent due to secondary neutrons from a uniform scanning proton radiotherapy system at the ProCure Proton Therapy Center, Oklahoma City, OK. Both experiments and simulations were carried out for the purpose of this study. CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors were used to measure dose equivalent inside a phantom and in air at various depths and angles with respect to the primary beam axis for four different experimental configurations. Three different proton beam energies, 78 MeV, 162 MeV and 226 MeV, all using a 4 cm modulation width, a 5 cm diameter brass aperture, and a small snout located 38 cm from isocenter were used for the experiments. The Monte Carlo radiation transport code FLUKA was used to simulate the experiments for a simplified snout configuration. The measured ratio of secondary neutron dose equivalent to therapeutic primary proton dose (Hn/Dp) ranged from 0.3 mSv/Gy to 50 mSv/Gy. Both experiment and simulation showed a similar decreasing trend in dose equivalent with distance from beam isocenter and the magnitude varied by a factor of about 4 in most of the locations. An overall higher Hn/Dp in air than inside the phantom was observed and this suggests that the production of secondary neutrons in the beam delivery device is significantly higher than inside the body. Comparison of Hn/Dp with other studies suggests that the neutron exposure to patients from uniform scanning systems is similar to that of passive scattering systems.Physic

Off-Axis Neutron Study From a Uniform Scanning Proton Beam Using Monte Carlo Code Fluka

The production of secondary neutrons is an undesirable byproduct of proton therapy. It is important to quantify the contribution from secondary neutrons to patient dose received outside the treatment volume. The purpose of this study is to investigate the off-axis dose equivalent from secondary neutrons using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code FLUKA. The study is done using a simplified version of the beam delivery system used at ProCure Proton Therapy Center, Oklahoma City, OK. In this study, a particular set of treatment parameters were set to study the dose equivalent outside the treatment volume inside a phantom and in air at various depths and angles with respect to the primary beam axis. Three different proton beams with maximum energies of 78 MeV, 162 MeV and 226 MeV and 4 cm modulation width, a 5 cm diameter brass aperture, and a small snout located 38 cm from isocenter were used for the study. The FLUKA calculated secondary neutron dose equivalent to absorbed proton dose, Hn/Dp, decreased with distance from beam isocenter. The Hn/Dp ranged from 0.11 ? 0.01 mSv/Gy for a 78 MeV proton beam to 111.01 ? 1.99 mSv/Gy for a 226 MeV proton beam. Overall, Hn/Dp was observed to be higher in air than in the phantom, indicating the predominance of external neutrons produced in the nozzle rather than inside the body.Physic

Three essays on changing food consumption patterns in Indonesia

Food consumption differs significantly across households over time. Economists tend to explain the differences in food consumption in terms of traditional economic variables such as prices and income. While these factors have been observed to explain the differences in consumption in a greater extent, other factors such as migration and education are assumed to substantially alter patterns of food consumption. In this thesis, I study the differences in food consumption, mainly focusing on non-traditional economic factors that have been perceived to be important drivers of changing food consumption patterns. Previous research suggests that households’ resources (i.e. total expenditure), demographics, migration, and education, are the key determining factors influencing household welfare. Because households have different levels expenditure and expenditure is related to household’s welfare, factors that may affect expenditure such as household size, natural disasters, levels of education, out-migration and so on may also affect welfare. In this dissertation, I explore the impact that the above factors have on the patterns of food consumption, and hence welfare, of households in Indonesia using rich and comprehensive longitudinal Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) data. An Engel curve depicts the mean budget share of a particular food group at each level of household expenditure while prices of goods are held constant. Employing the correct specification of an Engel curve in food demand analysis plays a key role in estimating precise food consumption parameters. The first essay analyses the food consumption patterns by applying Lewbel and Pendakur’s (2009) Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) to the IFLS dataset. The EASI demand system is a powerful framework for analysing consumer food choices and policy evaluation, as it can be applied to any higher order polynomials of per capita food expenditure as a main explanatory variable when estimating the Engel curve. To my knowledge, my first essay titled “Changing food consumption patterns: An application of the Exact Affine Stone Index demand system in Indonesia” is the first to apply the EASI method to investigate consumer food demand functions in the context of a developing economy, namely Indonesia. I find that the estimated food Engel curves have a variety of shapes with sufficient curvatures, and that the rank of the food demand functions (i.e. Engel curves) can be approximated by up to 3rd order polynomial functions of real household expenditure. Furthermore, poorer and richer households have statistically significantly different food consumption choices. The most striking and somewhat surprising finding is that the wealthier households do not appear to diversify their food consumption further when their income rises, whereas poorer households tend to diversify their food consumption significantly when their wealth increases. The second essay addresses the impact of internal migration on food consumption patterns. This issue is pertinent to Indonesia as it has a large number of internal and interprovincial migrations throughout its history. I use distance to the migrant’s destination and propensity score-matching to generate plausibly exogenous variations in migration to identify the effect of migration on food consumption. Overall, I find that on average, the migrant-sending household’s per capita food consumption is larger (13.4%) than that of non-migrant sending households living in the same neighbourhood (10.7%). To claim that this finding is not driven by other unobserved variables, this study has employed both fixed effects (FE) and instrumental variable (IV) regressions and these estimates consistently support OLS findings. Moreover, migrant households appear to make a substantial shift from the consumption of rice, corn, and wheat towards the consumption of vegetables and fruits, dairy products, and ‘meat and animal’ foods. The results have a suggestive evidence about the value of internal migration for improving welfare in terms of changing food consumption patterns of migrant-sending households. Since the 1970s, Indonesia has had an impressive record of educational extension, including six years of compulsory schooling (effective from 1984) and nine years of compulsory schooling (effective from 1994). Enrolment rates in primary schools are close to universal and about 75% for secondary education. There is an ongoing effort to expand secondary school attainment at the universal level. Whereas an overwhelming portion of the literature has focused on the labour market (monetary) returns to education in both the developed and developing economies, to date, only a few studies have investigated the impact of education on food consumption. The third essay attempts to fill in this gap by exploring the relationship between the household head’s educational attainments and household consumption patterns in Indonesia. To obtain consistent and causal estimates, I employ a quasi-parametric selection model and instrumental variable approach to address the endogeneity of education (i.e. schooling). I use distance from the household to the institutions in which the household has attained education in Indonesia as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in schooling. The first-stage result shows that distance to the school is a strong predictor to education. The ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates suggest that households with graduates from the higher secondary schools tend to consume 31.5% more healthy foods and 22.8% less unhealthy foods than households with graduates from lower secondary schools. These findings have been confirmed by IV estimation and imply that the OLS estimates are not driven by other unobserved characteristics in the households. The results also demonstrate that households have heterogeneous food consumption returns due to different educational attainments. Taken together, these three essays is an attempt to provide an empirical investigation into how household welfare, measured in terms of food consumption, could be influenced by important socio-economic variables such as household’s resources, migration, and education. The findings from the three essays of the dissertation suggest that non-traditional economic variables (as opposed to tractional economic variable such as prices and income) market access, natural disasters, migration and education such as also influence food consumption significantly across households. The findings may have policy implications that the government may perhaps undertake in relation to migration and education so as to enhance welfare within a household.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Economics, 201

Secondary neutrons issue in proton radiotherapy—a brief report

Secondary neutrons are unwanted byproduct in proton radiotherapy. Exposure due to secondary neutrons in proton radiotherapy could cause a significant risk for developing a secondary cancer later in the patient lifetime. The level of exposure due to secondary neutrons primarily depends on the type of beam delivery system used to deliver the primary proton dose. Although the patient body can produce significant neutrons but since these neutron are created inside the human body, their exposure is unavoidable. This report briefly discusses the type of beam delivery systems currently in use in proton radiotherapy, a relative comparison of neutron exposure in each case, and the importance of neutron study in proton radiotherapy.------------------------------------Cite this article as: Islam MR. Secondary neutrons issue in proton radiotherapy-a brief report. Int J Cancer Ther Oncol 2014; 2(1):02017.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14319/ijcto.0201.