Intersectoral Fellowships on Irrigated Agriculture and Human Health in Malawi

描述(由申请人提供)：马拉维灌溉、农业生产和卫生能力建设跨部门奖学金计划旨在为12名博士后研究员(4名来自美国，8名来自马拉维)提供多学科研究培训，强调农业、水资源开发和利用在农业(灌溉)和疟疾方面的强大互动。该计划将侧重于 通过绿化带倡议(GBI)实现土地和水的转变进程，这是一项涉及马拉维灌溉和农业发展的大规模项目。其目标是通过减少对降雨的依赖来提高农业生产率，并使更多的公顷土地投入生产，改善农村经济。我们的目标是减轻GBI对健康的不利影响。我们认为GBI是非洲其他大规模项目的代表。该项目利用马拉维的环境作为研究和培训实验室。大规模、以水为基础的农业发展包括同时和并行地发展所需的专门知识和基础设施，以避免和尽量减少伴随而来的传染病风险，这种情况很少见。研究和培训活动将集中于对GBI将导致的变化的生态和社会层面的实证和模型分析：地表水扩大造成的疾病风险，其对蚊媒种群以及随后的疟疾传播和流行的影响，以及如何通过干预措施遏制疟疾传播，同时保持农业生产目标和预期的经济利益，以减少这些风险。密歇根州立大学(MSU)、密歇根大学(U-M)和马拉维大学之间以及密歇根州立大学和利隆圭农业与自然资源大学(LUANAR)之间的长期合作将提供培训背景。国际疟疾研究卓越中心(ICEMR)是密歇根州立大学马拉维大学由NIAID资助的一个联合体，它将作为这项研究的中心，目前正在进行的疟疾传播和粮食安全研究也是如此。合作将涉及一个多学科的教师小组，他们在(1)土地改造和土地利用变化过程中的疟疾生态学和流行病学；(2)灌溉系统、土地改造和农业生产；(3)治理、政策和实施；以及(4)生态系统服务和完整性方面拥有特别的专业知识。这一合作将使有经验的科学家和精心挑选的博士后研究员参与协调研究、实施、学术和咨询。最终结果将是一支训练有素的专业人员队伍，准备支持农业发展，同时预防疟疾相关的发病率和死亡率。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Intersectoral Fellowships to Build Capacity on Irrigation, Agricultural Production, and Health in Malawi program aims to provide multi-disciplinary research training for twelve post-doctoral fellows (four from the United States and eight from Malawi), emphasizing the strong interaction of agriculture, water resource development and utilization for agriculture (irrigation), and malaria The program will focus on the process of land and water transformation via the Green Belt Initiative (GBI), a massive undertaking involving irrigation and agriculture development in Malawi. The goal is to increase agricultural productivity by reducing dependency on rainfall and bring more hectarage into production, improving the rural economy. Our goal is to mitigate the adverse health impacts of the GBI. We view the GBI as representative of other large-scale programs occurring across Africa. This project utilizes the Malawi setting as a research and training laboratory. Rarely is i the case that large scale, water-based agricultural development includes simultaneous and parallel development of the expertise and infrastructure required to obviate and minimize the concomitant infectious disease risks. Research and training activities will center on empirical and modeling analyses of the ecological and social dimensions of the transformation which will result from the GBI: the disease risks created by expansion of surface water, its effects on mosquito vector populations and subsequent malaria transmission and prevalence, and how these risks can be diminished through interventions that stanch malaria transmission yet maintain the agricultural production goals and desired economic benefits. The long-standing collaborations between Michigan State University (MSU), University of Michigan (U-M), and University of Malawi and between MSU and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) will provide the training context. The International Center for Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR), a MSU - U-M - University of Malawi consortium funded by NIAID, will serve as a locus for the research, as will ongoing studies of malaria transmission and food security. The collaboration will engage a multi-disciplinary group of faculty with particular expertise in (1) ecology and epidemiology of malaria within the land transformation and land use change process; (2) irrigation systems, land transformation, and agricultural production; (3) governance, policy, and implementation; and (4) ecosystem services and integrity. This collaboration will engage experienced scientists and carefully chosen postdoctoral fellows in coordinated research, implementation, scholarship, and consultation. The end results will be a cadre of trained professionals prepared to support agricultural development while, at the same time, preventing malaria-associated morbidity and mortality.