Research at FSE

Productive food systems and their environmental consequences are at the core of the program. With roughly 1 billion hungry people in the world, three-quarters of which live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, improving agricultural productivity will be central to any effort at alleviating hunger. At the same time, agriculture is one of the largest contributors to global environmental degradation, including land use change and associated ecosystem loss, air and water pollution, and contribution to global climate change. Research at FSE seeks to generate solutions that address these problems simultaneously, shedding light on how to feed the world without destroying the environment in the process.

FSE Programs & Research Areas

Agricultural Innovation: Technology, Development, and Well-being
Diversification into high-value crops is key to breaking the persistent poverty cycle and improving local nutrition. High value crops increase returns to land, provide a natural mechanism for spreading risk, and link smallholder farmers to a broader array of markets. Rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa live ...

» Solar Market Gardens as a Tool for Rural Development

Aquaculture: Risks, Trends, and Sustainable Options
Researchers at FSE are currently assessing options for farming finfish sustainably in coastal ecosystems and the open ocean, and potential feed alternatives to fish meal and fish oil for the aquaculture sector, especially for dominant producers such as China.

» Aquaculture in China and its Role in Global Markets and Resources

» Social and environmental transformation in Chile's aquaculture industry, 1950-2000

Biofuels Expansion: Implications for Global Food Markets, Land Use Change, and Climate
The effects of biofuels development on the environment, food security, and the world food economy.

» Oil palm development in Indonesia: Demand, trade, and land use

Climate and Agriculture: Models, Impacts, and Adaptation Strategies
This platform examines the potential effects of climate change on regional and global food security. Research topics include: past and future effects of climate variability and climate change on agricultural productivity; how to best use climate data to inform agricultural investment priorities; the impact of f ...

» Agricultural applications of multi-year remote sensing

» Evaluating Climate Adaptation Options in African Agriculture

» Food Price Spikes in a Warming World

» Quantification and reduction of uncertainties in projections of climate impacts on drought and agriculture for North America

» Rethinking the Balance Between Future Obesity and Malnutrition with Climate Change

» Use of Climate Information in International Negotiation for Adaptation Resources

Crop and Livestock Systems: Pressures, Projections, and Consequences
Explosive growth in the global demand for meat is changing the nature of food production and putting increasing pressure on natural resources throughout the world. These changes have important implications for environmental resources, implications which are often hidden by the complex nature of global trade.

» Globalization, Trade, and the Environment: The case of Brazil

» The Yaqui Valley Revisited: A case study on agricultural sustainability in Mexico

» Understanding Fertilizer Effectiveness and Adoption in Zambia

Deadly Connections: Climate Change, Disease, Poverty and Conflict
This focal area seeks to unravel the "deadly connections" among hunger, disease, environmental degradation, and civil conflict in poor countries.

» Rural Health & Development at the Food-Water Nexus

Food and Nutrition Security in an Era of Economic Volatility
Research, teaching, and outreach activities focused on hunger alleviation, human well-being in poor countries, and "security" as defined by provision of adequate food supplies, access to income from agricultural activities, and the absence of civil conflict and debilitating environmental degradation.

Global Education Network on Food Policy, Food Security, and the Environment
FSE is in the midst of hosting a two-year, 12-lecture symposium series on Global Food Policy and Food Security. Policy experts in the fields of food and agricultural development are addressing hunger and rural poverty, agricultural productivity, and resource and climate constraints on agriculture.

» Global Food Policy and Food Security Symposium Series

Rural Education Action Program (REAP)
The Rural Education Action Program (REAP) conducts real world, experiment-based research to provide policy makers with clear scientific results that can help shape successful policies to improve the effectiveness of K-12+ rural education programs for young students in China.

» Best Buy Toolkit for Health

» Boarding for 10 Million

» Contracting for Dreams in Ningshan County, Shaanxi

» Documenting China's Digital Divide

» Egg Programs and Nutritional Deficiencies in Gansu: Worth the Effort?

» Giving Rural Children in China a Head Start: Providing Families Pre-school Vouchers to Improve the Educational Readiness of Pre-school Age Children in Rural China

» Heart to Heart, Hand to Hand: Training Pre-school Teachers to Improve the Educational Readiness of Pre-school Age Children in Rural China

» IET/CORE "Cal Grant" Scholarship Program: Does Providing an Early Commitment of Financial Aid Make a Difference?

» Intestinal Roundworm Eradication: What works?

» Is One Egg Enough?

» Meeting the Unmet Needs of China's Neediest: Junior High Financial Aid in Shilou County

» Migration, Money and Mothers: The Effect of Migration on Children's Educational Performance in Rural China

» Nourishing the Future: Targeting Infants and Their Caregivers to Reduce Anemia

» Nourishing the Future: Targeting Infants and Their Caregivers to Reduce Undernutrition in Rural China

» Overcoming China's Anemia Puzzle in Poor Rural Elementary Schools: School Lunches, Nutrition Supplementation, Education or Deworming?

» Paying for Performance II: The cost effectiveness of strategies to combat anemia in China

» Paying for Performance in the Battle Against Anemia in China

» Scholarships with Strings Attached: Promoting Community Service

» Seeing is Learning: Evaluating the Impact of Vision Care on Eyeglass Utilization and School Performance in Shaanxi and Gansu's Rural Communities

» Teachers, Parents and Students Teaming up to Learn about Overcoming Anemia

» Teachers, Parents and Students Teaming up to Learn about Overcoming Anemia - Ningxia

» Worm Count 2010: Deworming and Educational Performance

» 健康的起点：针对孕妇来提高孩子的健康水平

Research Projects

» Land Tenure and Property Rights in Sub-Saharan African Countries: Understanding the Legal Implications of Large-Scale Land Investments

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