As a part of our Award Winning Poster series, we are pleased to share Kate Bishop-Williams’ poster from 2014. Winning the poster prize at the 2014 ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting, Kate shared her research on the seasonal prevalence of acute gastrointestinal illness in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut. This work was conducted in partnership with the Rigolet Inuit Community Government.
Congratulations Kate!
It's our pleasure to share our new publication, which provides a synthesis of the forthcoming first order draft of the Canadian Government’s National Assessment on Climate Change ‘Rural and Remote’ chapter, highlighting key health concerns from the literature associated with climate change in rural and remote regions, as well as existing and future adaptation strategies.
Congratulations to Dr. Carol Zaveleta for her recent publication in PLoS One. Her participatory, community-based study was conducted in collaboration with Shawi communities. Together, they worked to characterize the food system of the Shawi in the Peruvian Amazon, climatic and non-climatic drivers of their food security vulnerability to climate change, and identify potential maladaptation trajectories. They found that transformational food security adaptation should include consideration of Indigenous perceptions and priorities, and should be part of Peruvian food and socioeconomic development policies. Click here for free article (open access).
Zavaleta, C., Berrang-Ford, L., Ford, J., Llanos-Cuentas, A., Carcamo, C., Ross, N., Lancha, G., Sherman, M., Harper, S.L., IHACC Research Team. (2018) Multiple non-climatic drivers of food insecurity reinforce climate change maladaptation trajectories among Peruvian Indigenous Shawi in the Amazon. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0205714. Click here for free article (open access).
Background: Climate change is affecting food systems globally, with implications for food security, nutrition, and the health of human populations. There are limited data characterizing the current and future consequences of climate change on local food security for populations already experiencing poor nutritional indicators. Indigenous Amazonian populations have a high reported prevalence of nutritional deficiencies. This paper characterizes the food system of the Shawi of the Peruvian Amazon, climatic and non-climatic drivers of their food security vulnerability to climate change, and identifies potential maladaptation trajectories.
Methods and findings: Semi-structured interviews with key informants (n = 24), three photovoice workshops (n = 17 individuals), transect walks (n = 2), a food calendar exercise, and two community dissemination meetings (n = 30 individuals), were conducted within two Shawi communities in Balsapuerto District in the Peruvian Loreto region between June and September of 2014. The Shawi food system was based on three main food sub-systems (forest, farming and externally-sourced). Shawi reported collective, gendered, and emotional notions related to their food system activities. Climatic and non-climatic drivers of food security vulnerability among Shawi participants acted at proximal and distal levels, and mutually reinforced key maladaptation trajectories, including: 1) a growing population and natural resource degradation coupled with limited opportunities to increase incomes, and 2) a desire for education and deforestation reinforced by governmental social and food interventions.
Conclusion: A series of maladaptive trajectories have the potential to increase social and nutritional inequities for the Shawi. Transformational food security adaptation should include consideration of Indigenous perceptions and priorities, and should be part of Peruvian food and socioeconomic development policies.
Looking for a great PhD research project with an interdisciplinary research team? Apply today! Position is co-supervised by James Ford (Leeds University) and Sherilee Harper (University of Alberta). The position is primarily based in the UK.
Apply by 31 October 2018.
For more details:
Congratulations to Aleksandra, member of James Ford's Climate Change Adaptation Research Group, for her new publication in Climate Policy. In her article, Aleksandra documents and examines adaptation projects targeting food systems financed through funding bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Based on her results, Aleksandra recommends that projects should assess the entire food system to ensure future food security.
Conevska, A., Ford, J., Lesnikowski, A. and Harper, S.L., 2018. Adaptation financing for projects focused on food systems through the UNFCCC. Climate Policy, https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2018.1466682
Investments in adaptation are required to reduce vulnerability and strengthen the resilience of food systems to the impacts of climate change. For low-income nations, international financing plays a central role in supporting adaptation. In this article, we document and examine adaptation projects targeting food systems financed through funding bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We find that between 2004 and 2015, 3% (n = 96) of adaptation projects supported through the UNFCCC explicitly focused on the production, processing, distribution, preparation and/or consumption of food, with US$546 m mobilized through funding bodies directly and US$1.44bn through co-financing. Agriculture is the most common sector supported, with extreme weather events the primary climate change-related impact motivating nations to apply for adaptation financing. The majority of actions are documented to adapt the food production component of food systems, with limited focus within projects on the full range of food system vulnerability and the implications on food security.
Enhanced international adaptation financing targeting food systems is needed, and in particular financing to address limited adaptation readiness
Supported food system projects should include holistic assessments of the entire food system in order to prioritize sector and food system component issue areas for short- and long-term efficiency
To better analyse food system linkages and aid in the prioritization of adaptation activities, adaptation-directed funds should consider placing a higher emphasis on a cross-sectoral approach within projects
Linkages between official development assistance and adaptation-directed funds could help optimize financing for food systems and mainstream food system adaptation efforts
https://twitter.com/Climate_Policy/status/996301700569985024
In celebration of its 10th year of publication, the journal Emotion, Space and Society has selected 15 articles that "showcase some of the most diverse and critical content that the journal has published since it launched in 2008." These selected articles will be freely available from March to May 2018. The following article was selected as one of the top 15 articles published by the journal and is now freely available online:
Cunsolo Willox, A., Harper, S.L., Edge, V., Landman, K., Houle, K., Ford, J., the My Word Team, and Rigolet Inuit Community Government. 2013. ‘The Land Enriches the Soul:’ On climatic and environmental change, affect, and emotional health and well-being in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada. Emotion, Space, and Society, 6(1): 14–24. Click here to access the article for free.
Congratulations to Undergraduate Thesis Student Crystal Gong, who is one of the honorees being recognized by the Guelph Y 2018 Guelph Women of Distinction. Crystal is working on our research team on two research projects: (1) synthesizing the state of knowledge on food security in the context of climate change, and (2) examining how season is associated with food security.
Read more about Crystal's award:
Climate change presents substantial risks to the health of Indigenous peoples. Research is needed to inform health policy and practice for managing risks, with community based adaptation (CBA) emerging as one approach to conducting research to support such efforts. Few, if any, studies however, have critically examined the application of CBA in a health or Indigenous peoples context. We examine the strengths, challenges, and opportunities of health-related CBA research in Indigenous community settings, drawing on the experiences of the multi-nation interdisciplinary Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC) project. Data collection was guided by a framework developed to evaluate CBA projects. Semi-structured interviews (n = 114) and focus groups (n = 23, 177 participants) were conducted with faculty-based researchers, institutional partners, community members, students, and trainees involved in the IHACC project in Canada, Uganda, and Peru. Results illustrate the importance of CBA in co-generating knowledge on climate-health vulnerability and adaptation options, capacity building, and informing decision choices. There are also significant challenges of conducting CBA which can have unintended negative consequences, with results emphasizing the importance of managing the tension between health research and tangible and immediate benefits; developing a working architecture for collective impact, including team building, identification of common goals, and meaningful engagement of knowledge users; and the need to continuously monitor and evaluate progress. CBA holds significant promise in a health adaptation context, but only in the ‘right’ circumstances, where considerable time is spent developing the work with partners.
Ford, J.D., Sherman, M., Berrang-Ford, L., Llanos, A., Carcamo, C., Harper, S.L., Lwasa, S., Namanya, D.B., Marcello, T., Maillet, M., Edge, V. 2018. Preparing for the health impacts of climate change in Indigenous communities: The role of community-based adaptation. Global Environmental Change. 49: 129–139. Click here for open-access article.
Congratulations to Sarah MacVicar on her recent publication that examines how seasonality and weather affect perinatal Indigenous health in southwestern Uganda! Click here to access the abstract.
Citation: MacVicar, S., Berrang-Ford, L., Harper, S.L., Steele, V., Lwasa, S., Bambaiha, D.N., Twesigomwe, S., Asaasira, G., Ross, N. and IHACC Research Team, 2017. How seasonality and weather affect perinatal health: Comparing the experiences of Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers in Kanungu District, Uganda. Social Science & Medicine. 187: 39–48.
Abstract: Maternal and newborn health disparities and the health impacts of climate change present grand challenges for global health equity, and there remain knowledge gaps in our understanding of how these challenges intersect. This study examines the pathways through which mothers are affected by seasonal and meteorological factors in sub-Saharan Africa in general, and Kanungu District (Uganda), in particular. We conducted a community-based study consisting of focus group discussions with mothers and interviews with health care workers in Kanungu District. Using a priori and a posterioricoding, we found a diversity of perspectives on the impacts of seasonal and weather exposures, with reporting of more food available in the rainy season. The rainy season was also identified as the period in which women performed physical labour for longer time periods, while work conditions in the dry season were reported to be more difficult due to heat. The causal pathways through which weather and seasonality may be affecting size at birth as reported by Kanungu mothers were consistent with those most frequently reported in the literature elsewhere, including maternal energy balance (nutritional intake and physical exertion output) and seasonal illness. While both Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers described similar pathways, however, the severity of these experiences differed. Non-Indigenous mothers frequently relied on livestock assets or opportunities for less taxing physical work than Indigenous women, who had fewer options when facing food shortages or transport costs. Findings point to specific entry points for intervention including increased nutritional support in dry season periods of food scarcity, increased diversification of wage labour opportunities, and increased access to contraception. Interventions should be particularly targeted towards Indigenous mothers as they face greater food insecurity, may have fewer sources of income, and face greater overall deprivation than non-Indigenous mothers.
Congratulations to Catherine Huet for her new publication in BMC Public Health! Her article examines food security in household with children in Iqaluit. Click here for free access to the open-access article!
Huet, C., Ford, J., Berrang-Ford, L., Edge, V.L., Shirley, J., IHACC Research Team, King, N., Harper, S.L. (2017). Food insecurity and food consumption by season in households with children in an Arctic city: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 17:578
Background: High rates of food insecurity are documented among Inuit households in Canada; however, data on food insecurity prevalence and seasonality for Inuit households with children are lacking, especially in city centres. This project: (1) compared food consumption patterns for households with and without children, (2) compared the prevalence of food insecurity for households with and without children, (3) compared food consumption patterns and food insecurity prevalence between seasons, and (4) identified factors associated with food insecurity in households with children in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
Methods: Randomly selected households were surveyed in Iqaluit in September 2012 and May 2013. Household food security status was determined using an adapted United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module. Univariable logistic regressions were used to examine unconditional associations between food security status and demographics, socioeconomics, frequency of food consumption, and method of food preparation in households with children by season.
Results: Households with children (n = 431) and without children (n = 468) participated in the survey. Food insecurity was identified in 32.9% (95% CI: 28.5–37.4%) of households with children; this was significantly higher than in households without children (23.2%, 95% CI: 19.4–27.1%). The prevalence of household food insecurity did not significantly differ by season. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the person responsible for food preparation, including low formal education attainment (ORSept = 4.3, 95% CI: 2.3–8.0; ORMay = 3.2, 95% CI: 1.8–5.8), unemployment (ORSept = 1.1, 95% CI: 1.1–1.3; ORMay = 1.3, 95% CI: 1.1–1.5), and Inuit identity (ORSept = 8.9, 95% CI: 3.4–23.5; ORMay = 21.8, 95% CI: 6.6–72.4), were associated with increased odds of food insecurity in households with children. Fruit and vegetable consumption (ORSept = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2–0.8; ORMay = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.2–0.9), as well as eating cooked (ORSept = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–1.0; ORMay = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.9) and raw (ORSept = 1.7, 95% CI: 0.9–3.0; ORMay = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.0–3.1) fish were associated with decreased odds of food insecurity among households with children, while eating frozen meat and/or fish (ORSept = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.4–5.0; ORMay = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1–3.7) was associated with increased odds of food insecurity.
Conclusions: Food insecurity is high among households with children in Iqaluit. Despite the partial subsistence livelihoods of many Inuit in the city, we found no seasonal differences in food security and food consumption for households with children. Interventions aiming to decrease food insecurity in these households should consider food consumption habits, and the reported demographic and socioeconomic determinants of food insecurity.
Congratulations to Sarah MacVicar for her new publication! Sarah's paper examines associations between in utero meteorological exposures and foetal growth among Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers in rural Uganda. If you ever wondered how weather conditions impact foetal growth, check out this paper! Click here to view the open-access paper.
MacVicar, S., Berrang-Ford, L., Harper, S.L., Huang, Y., Namanya, B.D. and Yang, S., 2017. Whether weather matters: Evidence of association between in utero meteorological exposures and foetal growth among Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers in rural Uganda. PloS one, 12(6), p.e0179010.
Pregnancy and birth outcomes have been found to be sensitive to meteorological variation, yet few studies explore this relationship in sub-Saharan Africa where infant mortality rates are the highest in the world. We address this research gap by examining the association between meteorological factors and birth weight in a rural population in southwestern Uganda. Our study included hospital birth records (n = 3197) from 2012 to 2015, for which we extracted meteorological exposure data for the three trimesters preceding each birth. We used linear regression, controlling for key covariates, to estimate the timing, strength, and direction of meteorological effects on birth weight. Our results indicated that precipitation during the third trimester had a positive association with birth weight, with more frequent days of precipitation associated with higher birth weight: we observed a 3.1g (95% CI: 1.0–5.3g) increase in birth weight per additional day of exposure to rainfall over 5mm. Increases in average daily temperature during the third trimester were also associated with birth weight, with an increase of 41.8g (95% CI: 0.6–82.9g) per additional degree Celsius. When the sample was stratified by season of birth, only infants born between June and November experienced a significant associated between meteorological exposures and birth weight. The association of meteorological variation with foetal growth seemed to differ by ethnicity; effect sizes of meteorological were greater among an Indigenous subset of the population, in particular for variation in temperature. Effects in all populations in this study are higher than estimates of the African continental average, highlighting the heterogeneity in the vulnerability of infant health to meteorological variation in different contexts. Our results indicate that while there is an association between meteorological variation and birth weight, the magnitude of these associations may vary across ethnic groups with differential socioeconomic resources, with implications for interventions to reduce these gradients and offset the health impacts predicted under climate change.
