Recognizing that climate change and other hazards are forcing farmers to adapt to a changing context, Santa Clara University Professors Christopher M. Bacon (Environmental Studies & Sciences), William A. Sundstrom (Economics and Data Analysis), Iris T. Stewart (Environmental Studies & Sciences), Ed Maurer (Civil Engineering), and, former SCU postdoc, and current University of Colorado Denver Assistant professor, Lisa C. Kelley (Geography & Environmental Science) recently published a peer reviewed open access article in World Development. This article is one of the culminating pieces emerging from five years of National Science Foundation funded research exploring the effects of climate variability and change on the food and water security of smallholder farmers in Nicaragua. To address the gaps in existing climate adaptation and resource security research, the research team developed “an integrated framework for assessing household food and water insecurity using both perceptual and climate measurements and careful spatial and temporal analysis of household responses to hazards.” This is one of the first studies to analyze household seasonal food and water simultaneously. Using this integrated framework, the team found that seasonal patterns such as crop price, agricultural calendars, and precipitation correlate with farmers’ vulnerability to food and water insecurity, leading to 5-6 months of resource scarcity for farmers (see Figure). Findings show that food and water insecurity are positively correlated across households and that this relationship is not “a consequence of time-invariant household characteristics (fixed effects).” Researchers also conducted farmer interviews, ethnographic research and collected contextual data concluding that farmer’s vulnerability to food and water insecurity is exacerbated by both household dynamics and exposure to interannual events, such as drought, coffee rust, and shifting commodity prices. Cognizant of their goal of providing tangible action items, the research team found that higher incomes, larger farm areas, and diversified farm production are correlated with improved food and water security for smallholder households in Nicaragua. To help address structural obstacles to meeting these basic needs and reducing vulnerability, the team suggests using this evidence to inform community-based and participatory strategies that use agroecology to build food and water sovereignty.
