Achievement

IGERT faculty Paul Leslie continues to lead a multi-institutional collaborative research project using mixed-methods to understand the patterns and processes of livelihood diversification. The team has combined household survey data with rainfall records, ethnographic data, and remote sensing imagery to evaluate the drivers of agriculture adoption by Maasai herders in Tanzania. Preliminary findings suggest that agriculture adoption is influenced by a variety of factors including natural resource access, household and regional demographics, political-economic context, and cultural norms. This information is relevant to guiding livelihood and land use policy in the face of climate change, food production shortages, and resource management challenges. During the reporting year, IGERT trainees Tim Baird and Brian Miller presented their research at multiple venues including national and international conferences, and other academic settings.