RAPID: Food security and community health during a period of transition

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Drs Craig Hadley (Emory University) and Edward Stevenson (University College London) will undertake research to advance understanding of the effects of local ecology on human well-being. Their research focuses on communities which are undergoing resettlement and a transition from agro-pastoralism to more intensive agriculture as part of a regional development scheme. This scheme will alter local ecology by enabling irrigation through newly built canals, but will constrain access to grazing land and alter seasonal population movements. Using surveys, interviews, and ethnographic methods, the study will lay the groundwork for later follow-up to answer three questions: (1) How do changes in local ecology affect food security, water security, and mental health? (2) Is later well-being better predicted by prior social status (e.g. gender and education) or economic status (household wealth)? (3) Do investments in education and medical services compensate for the stresses of relocation and greater population density, in terms of improving community health?This study will bring together researchers from public health and anthropology. It contributes to establishing a longitudinal research project that will assess food security and community health during momentous ecological and social changes. The effects of such changes on mental health are particularly important to document. The project stands to contribute to policy regarding resettlement, especially with regard to populations reliant on livestock herding. Pastoralist communities occupy approximately 50% of the land area of East Africa, but constitute only 10% of the population; state economic development initiatives are increasingly targeting such land for alternative uses, with important implications for local livelihoods. Longitudinal research on food security and community health should help to inform best practice in resettlement programs.