Unmixing our methods to link land functions and environmental change to food insecurity in a southern African savanna context

Stevens, Forrest R.; Stevens, Forrest R.; Stevens, Forrest R.

Friday, August 16, 2019

M108, Kentucky International Convention Center

Forrest R. Stevens¹, Andrea E. Gaughan², Narcisa Pricope³, Jonathan Salerno⁴, Joel Hartter⁵, Lin Cassidy⁶, Michael Drake⁷, Ariel Weaver¹, Nicholas Kolarik² and Kyle Woodward³, (1)Geography & Geosciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, (2)University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, (3)Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, (4)Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, (5)University of Colorado, (6)Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, Maun, Botswana, (7)Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder

Variability and change in land functions are a source of exposure for households that are heavily dependent on agriculture, grazing, and natural resource gathering. Land uses interact with land cover, producing an array of land functions that households are exposed and sensitive to. Our research quantifies spatial and temporal aspects of that intersection with household vulnerability as measured by food security. We model to "unmix" the effects of environmental change and socioeconomic conditions on issues relating directly to household vulnerability. We present a combination of environmental data merged with 721 household surveys from communities in Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia.

INS 18-1 - Unmixing our methods to link land functions and environmental change to food insecurity in a southern African savanna context