UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies

The reality of climate change was yet again foremost in my mind. Normally its effects are relatively hidden away from the average American, but when traveling in a tropical region, you occasionally are hit in the face with some insidious reminder. This time I, along with thousands of Ugandan farmers, was desperately waiting for the rain to start. I was told that the rainy season began promptly at the start of March, but here we were, creeping into June and the dry season bore on. I had come to Uganda to begin my dissertation research for my Horticulture and Agronomy degree. Because of my work as a Graduate Student researcher on a HortCRSP-funded project in Uganda focusing on indigenous leafy greens (link here: http://hortcrsp.ucdavis.edu/main/12Nutrition.html ), my dissertation research would also be centered on this little-studied dynamic of African cropping systems. The questions were infinite: How often are these vegetables eaten? Do women mostly grow them or do men? How are they ...

I am going to miss these two very much. They have been my surrogate parents during my time here and have been the most kind, cool, and funniest people that I could have asked for. I feel so grateful to know people like Ken and Joy. These are two of my favorites pictures that very much capture Martha and the ice addict. Posted 5 days ago by emma shandy , UC Davis undergraduate, Human Development 

I am an optimist and I think it’s largely in part due to my dad, who is seriously the friendliest, most encouraging person I know. I try to hold true to positivity, even in the most difficult of situations, because I find that it produces the clearest and simplest ways of dealing with certain aspects of life. That being said, coming to Zambia was daunting for a myriad of reasons, one of the biggest concern of mine was how much could I really do in barely two months of time? Even though I have people from all corners telling me how much good I would be going, I still questioned really how much tangible good I could do. And honestly, I often still feel this way, as much time that I spend in Bauleni with the kids, or listening to stories of adults I look around me and I see SO much suffering. Zambia is just the size of Texas and it is one of Africa’s fastest developing countries, when I hear this fact I feel astounded.   Zambia does have some obviously developed parts, but when I...

UC Davis Blum Center grantee, L. Carolina Tavarez has embarked upon a project whose main objective is to analyze the relationship between primary students’ multilingual skills and the local economy of Anse-à-Pitres, Haiti, where the Dominican-Haitian market La puerta de la confraternidad serves as the main source of income for many Haitian families. Participants were primary students from the schools Communautaire du Bon Samaritain and Adventist Lysius Salomon, in Anse-à-Pitres. The project presents a holistic analysis by taking into account all the languages learners have in their repertoire: Creole, French, Spanish, English and pidgin. Each student completed a questionnaire measuring knowledge of English and Spanish followed by participation in a three-week intensive program, which aimed to enhance Spanish skills and teach basic English. Results reveal students perform better in Spanish than in English. One reason may be that French is taught in schools and has similar word roo...

Photo courtesy Byron Hoy Beginning this month, U.S. graduate students will travel to developing countries and work with smallholder farmers to solve problems with growing fruits and vegetables — thanks to 14 newly funded projects from the Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program at the University of California, Davis. The students are participating in the Trellis Fund, which matches graduate students in agricultural sciences with in-country nonprofit organizations that work with smallholder farmers. “With the Trellis Fund, our goal is to engage young people in an international experience — a chance to partner with a small organization working with real people with real needs and apply what they know about science,” said Beth Mitcham, director of Horticulture CRSP. “For a small investment, we’re creating lasting relationships and perhaps changing the career path of a young person.” In the first round of Trellis Fund projects completed earlier this year, 10 UC Davis ...

Photo courtesy Edward Silva We are in the age of information, and there is no better place to see this than here in Lusaka, Zambia. It is displayed on every single kiosk, storefront, and even so many of the very daring street vendors who literally walk between moving traffic to sell “talk-time.” This sign of the demand for information comes in three main colors: green, red, and yellow. These colors correspond to the three main communications and internet providers here in Lusaka Zambia, which are Zamtel, Airtel, and MTN. It doesn’t take you long to see how these companies, most of which are no more than 15 years old, have swept through Zambia. And why? People want information. They want to talk, text, listen to music, email their colleagues, learn how to fix their car, and gather information that before 1991, and their switch to democracy and capitalism, was not so readily available. And in a mere 21 years, these companies have literally stamped their advertisement, service, and na...

One of the biggest cultural differences that has stood out to me during my time here is the immense amount of gender inequality. By gender inequality I don’t just mean that men get paid more than women, it is an all encompassing term in every aspect of a Zambian's life. Here men are superior, it is considered shameful if a man is helping his wife cook or clean, men are allowed to not work and typically spend their money on alcohol while the women go find whatever work they can get. One of the most sickening things here is that abuse is very common and so common in fact, that it has almost become a norm. A discussion that we had with a former teacher at the school had him inform us that if a wife asks a husband if he can help her clean, that gives him a reason to beat her. Awful. A reform against this gender inequality appears to be in sight as there are very prominent billboards all over the place advertising the necessity to stop all forms of abuse, one can only hope that this me...