In addition to carrying out field research annually, Professor Cliggett has run a field school for Anthropology graduate students in the Zambian research site.
Through a grant to Brandeis University, the National Science Foundation supported two field schools for Ph.D. students in cultural anthropology from universities in the United States. One school is in the Bolivian Amazon, among the Tsimane' Amerindians, and is directed by
Ricardo Godoy (Brandeis). The other school has been in Zambia, among Citonga speaking peoples of Southern Province, and has been directed by
Lisa Cliggett (Kentucky). Training in both field schools focuses on methods to collect ecological, demographic, economic, cognitive, anthropometric, and health data.
In both sites, students are responsible for all aspects of daily camp life – drawing water, sweeping camp/house, cooking, collecting firewood and water, etc. – as well as research. Students who wish to participate must LOVE outback camping. We will provide details of what to bring to the field and how to prepare for each of the sites once we have selected students.
For more information about both programs, and for application information, click here: http://www.qualquant.net/training/sftm.htm
2006 Zambia (May 10-June 30, 2006, seven weeks):
Students will be exposed to methods related to a current interdisciplinary research program focused on two themes related to population mobility: nutrition and food security and the context of migration, and migration and environmental change: tenure insecurity in a Zambian frontier. Researchers on the project are
Lisa Cliggett (Anthropology, U. Kentucky), and
Deborah L. Crooks (Anthropology, U. Kentucky). During the 2006 season the program will include short visits from other Zambian researchers working on related issues. The field site is about six hours by private vehicle (with limited space for luggage) from electricity, running water, telephones, a health clinic, and paved roads. The research team and field school participants camp in a Zambian “homestead” (cluster of houses).
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.
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Faculty:
The Zambia site has several faculty
members to broaden the range of methods taught and to protect the
integrity of the training program should mishaps strike a faculty. Below
we provide a brief description of the faculty involved in the program
and a sample of their more recent and relevant publications.
