C.W. & Modene Neely Charitable Foundation

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1 C.W. & Modene Neely Charitable Foundation School of Sustainability Neely Foundation Food and Agriculture Sustainability Research Grant Program 2013 AWARDS SUMMARY

2 The Neely Foundation Food and Agriculture Sustainability Research Grant Program is managed by: Hayfa Aboukier Manager of Sustainability Initiatives and Programs Global Institute of Sustainability Jennifer Carter Manager of Sustainability Initiatives and Programs Global Institute of Sustainability 2

3 The Neely Foundation Food and Agriculture Sustainability Research Grants consist of awards to fund advanced undergraduate and graduate students in activities designed to support and advance food and agricultural system sustainability. This program is made possible by a grant to the Global Institute of Sustainability by the C.W. & Modene Neely Foundation of Gilbert, Arizona. Funded projects can be local, regional, or international in scope, and may cover all aspects of food and agricultural systems including issues associated with: international development and food security agricultural trade and technology policies climate change impacts and rural adaptation water rights and governance consumer preferences and behavior nutrition and the built environment community gardening food as a focus for social change. 3

4 The Neely Grant has given me the opportunity to do critical preliminary fieldwork for my dissertation research in Mexico City. The grant made it possible to explore firsthand the diversity of agriculture and institutions, experience Mexican food culture in urban and rural contexts, make key contacts in government agencies, universities, and farmer organizations, and prepare for life in Mexico City in my extended field research. Julia (Chrissie) Bausch Third year Ph.D. student, School of Sustainability 4

5 Negotiating Peri-Urban Agriculture in the Sustainability Transition Arena: Mexico, City, Mexico Julia (Chrissie) Bausch, third year Ph.D. student Research locale: Magdalena Contreras, Mexico City, Mexico Audience: policy makers, development practitioners, sustainability practitioners, community organizers, and farmers Description of Project: Food insecurity in megacities is a challenge of the 21st century. Small-scale farms are increasingly seen as a source of food security and environmental services for megacities like Mexico City, Mexico. However, farmers may be at a disadvantage in urban politics because agriculture is not typically included in urban political processes and institutions (i.e., urban governance). Though agriculture was traditionally governed at the federal level, the neoliberal reforms of the 1990s weakened this structure. Governance processes are increasingly recognized as essential to successful sustainable development, but better analytical models that address the interaction of rural-urban interests are needed. In her dissertation research, Chrissie is using the case of Magdalena Contreras a borough of Mexico City, Mexico to explore how governance of agriculture in and near cities has evolved as a result of urbanization, government decentralization, and the rise of sustainable development since the 1980s. In addition to examining key actors and relationships, political strategies, and policies for peri-urban agriculture across organizational levels (local to federal), Chrissie is determining the winners and losers in these processes and the implications for sustainable urban development. About the researcher: Chrissie Bausch is a third-year doctoral student in the School of Sustainability (SOS) at Arizona State University. She has had the privilege of living, studying, and traveling throughout Latin America. After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she worked for the non-profit organization Exploring Solutions Past, which focuses on social-environmental systems research and grassroots development in the Central American Tropical Forest. These experiences fostered Bausch s interests in sustainable development, food systems, agriculture-urban interactions, and governance. She came to SOS in 2009 to pursue a master s degree. A Neely Charitable Foundation Food and Agriculture Sustainability Research Grant supported her master s research, which focused on addressing the challenges of sustainability assessment in less developed countries, using the case of commercial maize production in Sinaloa, Mexico. 5

6 The Neely Foundation has enabled me to conduct research on managing common-pool resources. Thanks to the grant, I was able to travel to a rural part of Nepal to study a local fishery cooperative and interview many of its members. This research provides valuable insight into what it takes for institutions to successfully sustain their natural resources and socioeconomic systems. Tayler Jenkins Undergraduate junior, School of Sustainability 6

7 Community-Based Biodiversity and Resource Management as a Tool for Sustaining Natural and Socioeconomic Systems: A Case Study Tayler Jenkins, undergraduate junior, School of Sustainability, Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University Research locale: Begnas, Nepal Audience: residents of the Rupa Lake watershed, local NGOs (specifically, Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development), government officials, academics specializing in management of common-pool resources Description of Project: For her undergraduate honors thesis, Tayler traveled to Nepal to study the community-run Rupa Lake Rehabilitation and Fishery Cooperative in the town of Begnas. The goal of her research was to determine whether community-based management is an effective tool for sustaining natural resources, and under which conditions this type of management has the greatest potential for success. In order to collect data, she surveyed 42 of the cooperative s members about the functionality of the fishery and the environmental quality of the lake today versus 20 years ago (before the cooperative was founded). She also gathered historical information from the cooperative s office and held a focus group discussion attended by some of its leading members. Based on the data collected, Tayler determined that an institution promoting sustainable resource management must perform the following three functions: provide a visible benefit to society, operate democratically with transparency, and promote a biodiverse ecosystem. The latter can be especially challenging for people in resource-poor areas, as many struggle just to provide for their families and are unable to dedicate time or attention to monitoring ecosystems. However, the Rupa Lake Rehabilitation and Fishery Cooperative is a shining example of a successful community-based institution that provides societal and economic benefits to families in the community while simultaneously sustaining the natural environment. The results of this study should provide insight into how communities can create successful institutions for managing common-pool resources. About the researcher: Tayler Jenkins is an undergraduate student in Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University. She is studying sustainability (BS) while pursuing a minor in urban planning and a certificate in geographic information systems. She is interested in the relationships between humans and their environment, adaptive solutions in the face of climate change, empowerment of marginalized people, and representation of multiple stakeholders in environment-related decision-making to ensure social equity. She is grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn about these issues firsthand in Nepal. Now that her research there has concluded, she is working on data analysis and aims to defend her thesis in Spring 2015 with the guidance of her thesis director, Dr. Netra Chhetri. 7

8 Support from the Neely Foundation provided me with access to the most remote areas in my case study site, where rural farmers have been most heavily impacted by water scarcity and reduced assess to rice markets. This access can only be had through multiple vehicular river crossings each way, which is costly and time intensive. This access provided me with insights and data about how the most vulnerable among participants in my study have fared in this context. This data has also been provided to local irrigation water managers, and through our continued partnership we have started to address questions of equity of water access between these remote farmers and larger, more easily accessible farms in the region. B enjamin P. Warner PhD candidate, School of Sustainability 8

9 Determinants of Smallholder Farmers Coping Mechanisms in Response to Multiple Interacting Global Changes in a Northwest Costa Rican Rural Development Program Benjamin P. Warner, PhD candidate, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University Research locale: Arenal-Tempisque Irrigation District, Guanacaste, Costa Rica Audience: Irrigation water managers in the Arenal-Tempisque Irrigation District, and smallholder farmers who rely on allocations from these water managers Description of Project: We cannot assume that the political barriers to successful agrarian rural development strategies will not also impede global change adaptation programs. With support from the Neely Foundation, Ben used a problem-driven approach to political economy assessment to investigate the causes and proliferation of vulnerability to global changes among farmers in Northwestern Costa Rica. Both drought and international trade liberalization treaties have heavily impacted farmers in this rural, semi-arid region. Ben explained current circumstances by analyzing the historical legacies that shaped the current political economy. He found that Costa Rica s 1983 economic restructuring limited smallholder farmers livelihood options to only rice production. Recent threats of trade liberalization stemming from Costa Rica s ratification of DR-CAFTA have limited their ability to gain access to domestic rice markets. This, combined with increasing drought in Northwestern Costa Rica, has resulted in a slow redistribution of vulnerability to global changes and the power to adapt to them. Smallholder farmers livelihoods have been greatly diminished, and large rice and sugarcane farms are now more profitable in the face of global changes. Ben also sought to understand the socio-economic determinants of farmers ability to cope with these interactions between limited market access and increasing drought. He collected data that consisted of workshop proceedings, focus group and interview transcripts, and survey responses from 94 smallholder farming households within the Arenal-Tempisque Irrigation Project in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. He analyzed this data using statistical regression models to determine which socio-economic variables determine farmers coping mechanisms. His analysis revealed that farm size, farming tenure, the presence of family members working outside of the agricultural sector, livestock ownership, perceptions of climate change, and household reliance on agriculture are determinants of farmers decisions to adjust their livelihoods. About the researcher: Ben s research explores the human dimensions of global changes. He works within water collection and distribution systems in arid and semi-arid regions. He is most interested in the interaction between water resource allocation policies and rural development, and specifically in the role of water and water policy in the lives of the rural poor. As a trained civil engineer, he applies mixed-methods approaches to study these complex questions about sustainable rural development. Ben lives with his wife Margaret, and his two dogs Chulitna and Jackson. 9

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11 About ASU s School of Sustainability Established in 2007, the School of Sustainability brings together multiple disciplines and leaders to create and share knowledge, train a new generation of scholars and practitioners, and develop practical solutions to the most pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges of sustainability especially as they relate to urban areas. For more information visit the School of Sustainability website: schoolofsustainability.asu.edu About ASU s Global Institute of Sustainability The Global Institute of Sustainability is the hub of ASU s sustainability initiatives. The Institute advances research, education, and business practices for an urbanizing world. Its School of Sustainability, the first of its kind in the U.S., offers transdisciplinary degree programs to create practical solutions for environmental, economic, and social challenges. For more information visit the Global Institute of Sustainability website: sustainability.asu.edu 11

12 A unit of the Global Institute of Sustainability PO Box , Tempe, AZ Phone: (480) Fax: (480) schoolofsustainability.asu.edu