Collaborative Research: AOC: Reconceptualizing the Genesis of Change in Rural African Societies: Exploratory Research on the Co-Production of Land Use and Livelihood Change

该奖项是一个项目的三个合作奖之一，该项目支持来自三所美国大学（西弗吉尼亚大学、南卡罗来纳大学和俄勒冈州立大学）的社会科学家与马拉维大学的合作者合作，研究土地利用变化如何促进非洲发展中国家马拉维的生计系统，反之亦然。自然资源是穷人生计系统的重要组成部分。在全球范围内，人类对这类资源的使用正在迅速增加，但对其如何影响贫困程度却知之甚少。该研究的中心目标是检验土地利用和生计变化是共同产生的假设，也就是说，与两者相关的审议决定是同时做出的，而不是在“驱动因素反馈”中做出的。就像人们常说的那样。研究人员将采用多种方法，包括实地调查、家庭经济建模和地理信息系统。研究成果将包括家庭访谈数据集、土地利用和土地覆盖变化地图以及与项目相关的经验证据。S个主要假设。美国科学家将通过正式的大学联系和长期的个人工作关系与外国合作者接触。PI和共同PI将贡献他们的时间在马拉维大学教授课程。这项研究将为至多四名美国大学生前往马拉维从事科学实地考察提供直接的教育经验。间接地，许多其他学生将从四位教授在课堂上展示的视频和项目相关信息中受益。该项目将为决策者提供有关贫困和自然资源问题的信息，重点关注其中一个方面的变化如何影响另一个方面的变化。项目成果可以为许多发展中国家的决策者提供参考，帮助他们制定战略，缓解贫困、艾滋病和气候变化对当地人口的影响等问题。

This award is one of three collaborative awards for a project that supports social scientists from three U.S. universities (West Virginia University, the University of South Carolina, and Oregon State University) to partner with collaborators at the University of Malawi to study exactly how land use changes contribute to livelihood systems, and vice-versa, in Malawi, a developing African country. Natural resources are an essential component of the livelihood systems of poor people. Across the globe, human use of such resources is increasing rapidly with very little understanding of how this affects poverty levels. The central objective of the research is to test the hypothesis that land use and livelihood changes are co-produced, that is, deliberative decisions relating to both are made simultaneously, rather than in a ?driver-feedback? manner as has often been suggested. The researchers will implement a diverse range of methods including field-based surveys, household economic modeling, and geographic information systems. The research outcomes will include a dataset of household interviews, maps of land use and land cover change, and empirical evidence relating to the project?s main hypotheses. The U.S. scientists will engage their foreign collaborators through both official university linkages and personal, long-standing, working relationships. The PI and Co-PIs will donate their time to teach courses at the University of Malawi. This research will provide direct educational experience for up to four U.S. university students to travel to Malawi to engage in scientific fieldwork. Indirectly, many other students will benefit from videos and project-related information presented in classes by the four professors. This project will inform policy makers on poverty and natural resources issues, focusing on how change in one affects change in the other. The project outcomes can then be used by policy makers in many developing countries as they develop strategies to alleviate such issues as poverty, AIDS, and the impact of climate changes on local populations.