The Zambia field site borders the southern edge of Kafue National Park in Southern Province. The nearest towns with electricity, running water, telephones etc are Kalomo and Choma, on the main road between Lusaka (Zambian Capital) and Livingston (a main town in Southern Province, and a popular tourist destination just above Victoria Falls). During the seven week field school we will have one break (approximately 5 days) during which students will be given free time on their own (at their own expense). They will be provided transport to the town of Livingston and can arrange for tourist activities, or simply R&R from there.
In the new thrust of the longitudinal research project among Gwembe Tonga people of Southern Province, Zambia, we examine the relationship between livelihood strategies and nutritional outcome through ethnographic, anthropometric, health and dietary data in a Zambian community with high rates of malnutrition, and a history of population mobility. Good nutritional status is made possible via nutrition security, which can only be achieved through food coupled with a healthy environment in terms of sanitation, water, health services, and educational opportunities. Livelihood security underpins both food and nutrition security, and accounts for one’s ability to successfully adapt to local, national and global conditions.
Migration provides an interesting example of the ways in which nutritional status is shaped by the negotiation of changing realities. Migration can also be seen as an adaptive strategy, one that requires both short- and long-term negotiation of new and unfamiliar surroundings. In this research we argue that the success of these adaptive negotiations will shape livelihood, and thus, nutrition security.
Grounded in the framework of nutritional anthropology, we seek to understand the relationship between the environment (in ecological, social, political and economic contexts) and nutritional outcome, integrating quantitative and qualitative data to provide a far more holistic and meaningful understanding of the context of nutrition security than could be had by either quantitative or qualitative research alone. Using an exploratory research design, the work is guided by theories of human adaptability and political economy, an approach that facilitates understanding of the ways in which social relations structure human environments, as well as the resources available or accessible to negotiate those environments In this research, we will ask how diverse households actively negotiate changing circumstances to secure livelihoods in context of migration; and we will ask what are the outcomes in terms of nutritional status of the variety of strategies utilized? The research brings together the cultural, social and biological contexts of malnutrition to enhance inquiry into the adaptive process and increase relevance of findings, both theoretically and with respect to policy.
The 2006 field school will also include components of the “wrapping up” of the past three years of field research on migration and environmental change. During field seasons in 2004 and 2005, researchers carried out research on land tenure and land cover change, including a survey of approximately 600 households. During the 2006 field school, researchers and students will participate in “feedback” sessions where findings will be presented and discussed with the communities, and participatory planning meetings will be conducted to outline possible interventions and future research themes.
The migration and environmental change research explored the land tenure arrangements that facilitate land access for migrants to a rural frontier region bordering a large national park. The most important interaction between migrants, and between migrants and communities, is over access to resources, in particular land for food security. Land tenure shapes how migrants intersect with destination resources and communities, and the resulting environmental consequences. With one of the highest deforestation rates in the world and significant migration underway, Zambia provides a unique case where a chain of related migration events in Southern province is tied to environmental degradation. The research examined how land tenure systems in host communities have led migrants to clear areas of forest much larger than needed for immediate farming needs, and the consequences for food and nutrition security.
The researchers, an anthropologist and geographer team, integrated ethnographic and survey data with satellite imagery (time series) analysis to measure deforestation rates, and to compare deforestation rates between migrant and non-migrant areas. The 2006 field season will utilize these integrated data sets to present findings to the community and explore future paths for collaborative research.
The findings from this aspect of the longitudinal research provides knowledge on the growing contribution migration in the developing world makes to environmental change, and contributes to the theoretical development of migration – environmental change feedbacks, and to the ongoing development of methodologies that mix remote sensing with on the ground social science research.