Does Household Capital Mediate the Uptake of Agricultural Land, Crop, and Livestock Adaptations? Evidence From the Indo-Gangetic Plains (India)

Farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains produce much of the wheat and rice grown in India. However, food production and millions of farm-based livelihoods in this region will continue to be adversely affected by hydro-climatic change and variation, reduced land productivity, and declining groundwater levels. Thus, agricultural adaptations are essential for protecting and improving upon intersecting goals of food security, poverty alleviation, and wellbeing. Household “capital” (e.g., natural, human, financial, physical, and social) is commonly cited as an indicator of livelihood adaptability and innovation. We develop a series of mediated structural equation models to empirically evaluate the validity of capital as a suitable indicator for adaptation and adaptive capacity. These models assess the extent to which household capital mediates the relationship between over 1,000 socio-economically differentiated and randomly selected farm households, and their crop, livestock, and land management adaptations in the states of Haryana and Bihar. Central to our models is a single household capital variable, constructed by aggregating nearly 80 different measurements of households\u27 (i) physical/infrastructural capital, (ii) owned or accessed assets, (iii) livelihood diversity, (iv) ability to reach market or commercialize, (v) access to weather information, and (vi) social capital. We find household capital is a significant predictor in adopting crop, land management, and livestock-related adaptation strategies across both states. Second, and in certain cases, lower castes and less educated households engaged in fewer agricultural adaptations—an outcome mediated by their lower composition of capital. Further, and across almost all contexts, household capital mediated the effect of owning a greater proportion of land, and the higher uptake of agricultural adaptation activities. While improvements in any capital category can improve adoption, we recommend programs that improve (i) access to public and private agricultural infrastructure for lower castes; (ii) education and shared knowledge spaces for less-educated households; and (iii) the availability of low-interest loans and the more efficient legal transfer of land for agriculturalists owning a smaller proportion of their land. Through this novel and large-scale analysis of household data, we provide short-term and immediate recommendations for more equitable agricultural adaptation in this breadbasket region of northern India

Maternal Effects in Transmission of Self-Medicative Behavior from Mother to Offspring in Sheep

Mammals begin learning food preferences in utero and maternally mediated influences early in life help offspring develop their feeding habits. Mammals also learn by individual experience to ingest medicinal compounds such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), which attenuates the negative post-ingestive effects of tannins, a group of potentially toxic plant secondary compounds. The objective of this study was to investigate the transmission of acquired self-medicative behavior from mother to offspring using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a medicine to relieve malaise caused by tannins. I hypothesized that: 1) mothers trained to associate the beneficial effects of PEG while consuming tannins will pass this information to their offspring, and 2) lambs will be more efficient at utilizing PEG as a medicine against tannins in the presence of mother than lambs which learn without the influence of the mother. This hypothesis was evaluated in four phases: in the first phase, a group of ewes (Experienced) was conditioned to associate the beneficial effects of PEG after consuming a tannin-containing diet. Ewes were offered a meal of high-tannin food and PEG and subsequently, the high-tannin food and grape pomace (GP) with little nutritional and no medicinal effects. In the second phase, the experienced and a naïve group of ewes (Inexperienced) were given a choice between the high-tannin food, PEG, and GP. In the third phase, experienced and inexperienced ewes with their naïve lambs, and the group of naïve lambs without their mothers, were exposed to the tannin-containing diet, PEG, and GP. Finally, in the fourth phase, lambs were separated from their mothers, and lambs from all groups were offered a choice between the tannin-containing diet, PEG, and GP. Lambs from experienced and inexperienced mothers showed a higher preference for PEG than lambs exposed without their mothers who tended to show a higher preference for GP. Thus, the presence of mother (experienced/inexperienced) was important for naïve lambs to learn about the medicinal benefits of PEG. This source of trans-generational knowledge could aid in maintaining the information in the herd, increasing the efficiency and reducing the risk of learning about foods and environments exclusively by individual experience

System Dynamics Modelling of Maize Production under Future Climate Scenarios in Kaduna, Nigeria

Nigeria is the second largest producer of maize on the African continent with more than 5 million hectares of land under maize production and an annual area and yield growth rate of 4.1 % and 2.7% respectively (Beyene et al., 2016). However, maize yields in sub-Saharan African countries, including Nigeria, remain low compared with global averages. Yields may be further impacted by shifts in temperature and rainfall under climate change in the coming several decades, given that most maize in Nigeria is rainfed. We used a system dynamics model combined with stakeholder input to simulate maize production in Kaduna state, Nigeria, under a range of scenarios including 1) adoption of hybrid early maturing maize varieties; 2) optimal fertilizer use; and 3) shifts in climate regimes. System dynamics modeling is a technique which allows researchers to investigate the future state of a complex system with both social and ecological components. Our goal with this model was not to replicate the accuracy of yield prediction generated by data-intensive agronomic models, but to build a tool for supporting policy decisions in the region while incorporating socio-ecological dynamics and stakeholder insights. Overall, the model suggests that agricultural policies with respect to maize production should focus on developing and disseminating knowledge and accessibility of early maturing /drought tolerant maize varieties alongside efforts to promote more efficient integrated fertilizer management strategies (such as mixed organic and conventional fertilizers) which increase the agronomic use efficiency of EM hybrid maize varieties. However, even under these optimal efforts to improve maize production in the face of climate change, maize productivity is expected to first rise, and then decline by mid-century under expected precipitation and temperature shifts, demonstrating an inverted U-shaped curve. In the context of a growing population, and therefore a growing demand for food, in Kaduna and in Nigeria more broadly, the results of this study imply the need for a diversification of the agricultural sector towards staple crops that will be less climate-sensitive than maize. This is consistent with other recent agronomic modeling work in sub-Saharan Africa which has found that climate change could severely impact staple food crop production, even under scenarios of technological advancement and fertilizer use (Ittersum et al. 2016; Sulser et al. 2014)

Mental models of food security in rural Mali

This exploratory work aims to develop a nuanced understanding of food security and adaptive behaviours to current challenges to food security at the household level. It focuses on inter- and intra-family behavioural dynamics in rural, southern Mali. The Sahel countries are acutely vulnerable to food insecurity concerns and Mali is emblematic of this problem. The models used in this study suggest that food security in rural Mali is at risk due to the influence of external challenges on traditional behaviours, and lack of corresponding behavioural adaptation.Great Britain. Dept for International Developmen