Collection Of Socioeconomic Data Research Articles

Intention to participate in smartphone-based data collection: the case of smallholder farmers in Uganda

ABSTRACT Smartphone technology is increasingly being used to conduct surveys, including in low-income countries where the timely collection of socio-economic data is of great importance. This study investigated the intention of Ugandan smallholder farmers to participate in smartphone-based data collection (SPDC). The data was collected through a cross-sectional survey of 306 smallholder farmers. The results show that the willingness of farmers to participate in SPDC is high. The intention to participate in SPDC is directly influenced by attitude, subjective norms and perceived enjoyment. Indirect influences are perceived usefulness, perceived trustworthiness and perceived cost through their effects on attitude. Similarly, perceived ease of use indirectly influences intention through its effects on perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. Statistically significant differences were found in terms of age, gender, mobile phone ownership and education. These results show the great potential of SPDC for data collection in Uganda for researchers, policy makers, agribusinesses and stakeholders.

Distribution and prevalence of refractive error in Iranian adult population results of the PERSIAN eye cohort study PECS

The Persian Eye Cohort Study, a population-based cross-sectional study from 2015 to 2020, examined refractive error prevalence among 48,618 Iranian adults aged 31 to 70. The study encompassed six centers in Iran, employing random cluster sampling for demographic, medical, and socioeconomic data collection through interviews. Ophthalmic exams included visual acuity, automated and manual objective refraction, subjective refraction, slit lamp, and fundus examinations. Using the spherical equivalent definition, the sample population was categorized into groups. Results indicated a mean age of 49.52 ± 9.31 and a mean refractive error of 0.26 diopters (D) ± 1.6 SD (95% CI − 0.27 to -0.24), ranging from -26.1 to + 18.5 SD. Prevalence of myopia (< −0.5D) and hyperopia (> + 0.5D) was 22.6% (95% CI 22.2–23%) and 12.5% (95% CI 12.1–12.8%), respectively. Regarding different age groups, the prevalence of hyperopia and astigmatism exhibited a steady and significant rise with increasing age (p-value < 0.001 for both). The prevalence of Myopia, however, showed a distinctive pattern, initially increasing in adults under 45, declining in those aged 55–64, and rising again among individuals aged 60 and older. Female gender, older age, urban residency, higher education, higher income, and Fars ethnicity were significantly related to a higher prevalence of myopia (p-value < 0.001 for all). Female gender (p-value < 0.001), aging (p-value < 0.001), urban residency (p-value = 0.029), and lower-income (p-value = 0.005) were significantly related to higher prevalence of hyperopia. Astigmatism (> 1D) was prevalent in 25.5% of participants (95% CI 25.1–25.9%) and correlated with male gender, aging, urban residency, illiteracy, and higher income (p-value < 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.001, 0.014, respectively). The study’s comparison with regional and international surveys highlighted the increase in myopia among those over 65 due to higher nuclear cataract rates in older adults. Myopia positively related to education, income, and urban residency, while hyperopia did not exhibit such associations.

Social Determinants of Health and Outcomes After Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device Implantation

ABSTRACTBackgroundLimited research exists on the influence of social determinants of health (SDOH) on outcomes in pediatric patients with advanced heart failure receiving mechanical circulatory support.MethodsLinkage of the Pediatric Interagency Registry for Mechanical Circulatory Support (Pedimacs) and Society of Thoracic Surgeon's Congenital Heart Surgery Database (STS‐CHSD) identified pediatric patients who underwent ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation from 2012 to 2022 with available residential zip codes. Utilizing the available zip codes, each patient was assigned a Childhood Opportunity Index (COI) score. Level of childhood opportunity, race, and insurance type were used as proxies for SDOH. Major outcomes included death, transplant, alive with device, and recovery. Secondary outcomes were adverse events. Statistical analyses were performed using the Kaplan–Meier survival, competing risk analyses, and multivariable Cox proportional hazards model.ResultsThree hundred seventeen patients were included in the study. Childhood opportunity level and insurance status did not significantly impact morbidity or mortality after VAD implantation. White race was associated with reduced 1‐year survival (71% in White vs. 87% in non‐White patients, p = 0.05) and increased risk of pump thrombosis (p = 0.02).ConclusionChildhood opportunity level and insurance status were not linked to morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients after VAD implantation. Notably, White race was associated with higher mortality rates. The study underscores the importance of considering SDOH in evaluating advanced therapies for pediatric heart failure and emphasizes the need for accurate socioeconomic data collection in future studies and national registries.

Linking perceptions of climate change impacts with adaptation: Insights from landowners in Southern Chile

Adaptation is recognized as the outcome of a complex mix of individual and institutional factors that shape how society responds to climate change. Adaptation results from a joint decision-making process, where actors simultaneously evaluate the risks associated with climate change into whether or not they should adapt. We develop a model of this joint decision-making process that incorporates risk tolerance to identify what factors influence landowners’ perception and adaptation to climate change in southern Chile. The results are based on 86 in-person interviews, involving the collection of socioeconomic data, risk aversion tests, and semi-structured interviews. We found that while most landowners perceived climate change impacts as a threat, only 60 % had taken any action. Two underlying factors applied to both perception and adaptation: risk tolerance and off-farm incomes. Higher risk tolerance and greater reliance on off-farm incomes reduced people's perception and adaptation to climate change. The presence of climate change-induced impacts positively influenced the implementation of adaptation, while schooling and gender were relevant only in shaping climate change perceptions. Following these results, we suggest developing programs to communicate the real magnitude of climate risks so that landowners better understand the opportunity costs of climate change adaptation, and in that way, avoid/anticipate the need to see impacts on the land in order to act. Along these lines, further investigation of the role off-farm incomes play in adaptation is warranted, where it is simultaneously both a factor in the adaptation process but can also be an adaptation action as well.

Abstract TP110: Strengthening Neurology and Cardiology Care Collaboration: Getting to the Heart of Stroke Initiative

Introduction: The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates 1 in 3 acute ischemic strokes (AIS) are cryptogenic and approximately 1 in 4 survivors will have another event. Identifying the AIS etiology will help define appropriate therapy and lower the likelihood of having another stroke. Over 67% of Black Americans have at least 1 risk factor for AIS and a higher morbidity &amp; mortality compared to any other racial group. To address these gaps, the AHA launched Getting To The Heart Of Stroke in 2022, in conjunction with HCA Healthcare and HCA Healthcare Foundation, to improve the identification of stroke etiology by strengthening neurology &amp; cardiology care collaboration. An overarching goal of this initiative is to improve healthcare disparities by assuring correct data collection of socioeconomic data, assessing barriers to care and addressing social determinants of health. Methods: Using a learning collaborative model, 10 HCA Comprehensive Stroke Centers, along with their clinical and administrative leadership were engaged. Monthly virtual performance improvement consultations are held to discuss actions taken, identify trends between sites, and develop PDSAs (Plan-Do-Study-Act). Their clinical multidisciplinary teams defined custom and existing metrics using Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke to measure the impact of best practice implementation. Results: Gaps include inconsistent identification of stroke etiology, lack of race documentation and lack of standardized social needs assessments. Barriers include a lack of standard triggers for cardiology and neurology consults on cryptogenic stroke and widely variable documentation by hospital. Sites are creating communication points between departments utilizing a multidisciplinary committee of stroke and cardiology team members. Conclusion: Early data suggest the need to establish standardized processes for the identification of cryptogenic stroke. A framework is necessary to build the foundational relationship between neurology &amp; cardiology to positively impact cryptogenic stroke patient care. Over the next 2 years, the initiative will continue to explore an enhanced framework to identify cryptogenic stroke, optimize secondary prevention strategies, and ensure equitable care.

Informing development of a socioeconomic data collection toolkit for marine energy: a literature review

Marine energy projects have the potential to create significant benefits by stimulating economic growth, improving local infrastructure and services, and providing energy security and resilience. Collecting social and economic data is necessary to anticipate potential benefits or adverse impacts, and to develop and appropriately site marine energy projects that suitably address community needs, incorporate and align with community values, and satisfy consenting requirements. Despite the importance of this information, consistent methodology for social and economic data collection to inform marine energy development is lacking. We review the literature from marine energy, other renewable energy industries, and relevant coastal sectors to identify common metrics, methods, and applicable tools for collecting data on social and economic effects. From this, we synthesize our findings and identify lessons learned that will form the foundations of a methods toolkit and template for data collection. This literature review and the eventual development of the toolkit will enable marine energy projects to identify, avoid, and mitigate potential negative effects at the forefront. By sharing findings from the literature and the lessons learned in the process of creating the toolkit, we hope to continue to advance the marine energy industry in a way that promotes energy equity, ensures environmental justice, and centers community values and needs.

Out-of-pocket costs and catastrophic healthcare expenditure for families of children requiring surgery in sub-Saharan Africa

BackgroundOut-of-pocket healthcare costs leading to catastrophic healthcare expenditure pose a financial threat for families of children undergoing surgery in Sub-Saharan African countries, where universal healthcare coverage is often insufficient. MethodsA prospective clinical and socioeconomic data collection tool was used in African hospitals with dedicated pediatric operating rooms installed philanthropically. Clinical data were collected via chart review and socioeconomic data from families. The primary indicator of economic burden was the proportion of families with catastrophic healthcare expenditures. Secondary indicators included the percentage who borrowed money, sold possessions, forfeited wages, and lost a job secondary to their child’s surgery. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression were performed to identify predictors of catastrophic healthcare expenditure. ResultsIn all, 2,296 families of pediatric surgical patients from 6 countries were included. The median annual income was $1,000 (interquartile range 308–2,563), whereas the median out-of-pocket cost was $60 (interquartile range 26–174). Overall, 39.9% (n = 915) families incurred catastrophic healthcare expenditure, 23.3% (n = 533) borrowed money, 3.8% (n = 88%) sold possessions, 26.4% (n = 604) forfeited wages, and 2.3% (n = 52) lost a job because of the child’s surgery. Catastrophic healthcare expenditure was associated with older age, emergency cases, need for transfusion, reoperation, antibiotics, and longer length of stay, whereas the subgroup analysis found insurance to be protective (odds ratio 0.22, P = .002). ConclusionA full 40% of families of children in sub-Saharan Africa who undergo surgery incur catastrophic healthcare expenditure, shouldering economic consequences such as forfeited wages and debt. Intensive resource utilization and reduced insurance coverage in older children may contribute to a higher likelihood of catastrophic healthcare expenditure and can be insurance targets for policymakers.

Uncovering the veil of night light changes in times of catastrophe

Abstract. Natural disasters have large social and economic consequences. However, adequate economic and social data to study subnational economic effects of these negative shocks are typically difficult to obtain especially in low-income countries. For this reason, the use of night light data is becoming increasingly popular in studies which aim to estimate the impacts of natural disasters on local economic activity. However, it is often unclear what observed changes in night lights represent exactly. In this paper, we examine how changes in night light emissions following a severe hurricane relate with local population, employment, and income statistics. We do so for the case of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the coastline of Louisiana and Mississippi in August 2005. Hurricane Katrina is an excellent case for this purpose as it is one of the biggest hurricanes in recent history in terms of human and economic impacts, it made landfall in a country with high-quality sub-national socioeconomic data collection, and it is covered extensively in the academic literature. We find that overall night light changes reflect the general pattern of direct impacts of Katrina as well as indirect impacts and subsequent population and economic recovery. Our results suggest that change in light intensity is mostly reflective of changes in resident population and the total number of employed people within the affected area and less so but positively related to aggregate income and real GDP.

Effects of Sowing Methods on Paddy Rice Yields and Milled Rice Quality in Rainfed Lowland Rice in Wet Savannah, Togo

Identifying the socio-economic constraints of seeding technologies uptake and analyzing the yields, milled quality and growers’ income under various seeding methods are a strategy for sustainable rainfed lowland rice. A survey and an on-farm experiment were carried out at five locations with a random sample of 50 farmers grouped in five of the fourteen partner cooperatives of ESOP-Pagouda. The survey focused on socio-economic data collection. The experiment, replicated at five locations, involved three treatments: broadcast seeding, direct seeding, and transplanting. The paddy rice yields and milled rice quality were analyzed using R software version 4.1.3, and arithmetic means discriminated at the 5% by the Duncan test. The profitability indicators, such as the Gross Margin (GM) and the Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR), were calculated. The results showed that 14% of farmers adopted rice transplanting method. The transplanting method increased rice yield (3.3 t/ha) compared to direct seeding (2.8 t/ha) and broadcast seeding (2.2 t/ha). The milled long grain rate (56%) was significantly higher than those under both seeding methods. Additionally, the transplanting method improved the gross margin (1,146 $USD/ha) compared to 663 $USD/ha and 431 $USD/ha for direct and broadcast seeding, respectively. The benefit/cost ratio 1.5 for transplanting was almost double from that of both seeding methods. Despite its high demand for labor and agricultural inputs, the transplanting method provided the highest paddy rice yields and milled rice quality to improve farmers’ income.

Assessing the Inter-Relationship between Rural Population Migration and Environmental Change in the Dano Watershed, Burkina Faso

The study analyses the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) dynamics as an important environmental factor and links it to migration trends towards the study area. The work uses data collected across two (2) villages, both located in the Dano watershed. Three sets of 30-m Landsat images were used to measure the changes in LULC types for the years 1986, 1999 and 2014. Cumulatively focus group discussion and household interview were employed for socio-economic data collection. Census data for the periods 1987, 1996 and 2006 were also collected from the national census reports. LULC analysis revealed that vegetation area was progressively converted into croplands with an annual rate of 0.92% during the period of study. Pearson correlation analysis between population and cropland on one hand and population and vegetation on the second hand revealed a high positive correlation between population size and cropland (r = 0.99), while there was a high negative correlation between population size and vegetation (r = 0.96). The survey of 180 farmers revealed a diversity of questions about environmental change on their livelihood. Most 78% of farmers believe that deforestation is the main driver of environmental change as a result of the decrease of rainfall and strong wind. Many strategies are used by local communities as a response to environmental changes and migration is seen by 31% of the respondents as a common strategy used by the affected communities. These results from the study showed that migration is one of the major local responses to environmental change.

Performance and Resource Requirements of In-Person, Voice Call, and Automated Telephone-Based Socioeconomic Data Collection Modalities for Community-Based Health Programs

Gathering data on socioeconomic status (SES) is a prerequisite for health programs that aim to improve equity. There is a lack of evidence on which approaches offer the best combination of reliability, cost, and acceptability. To compare the performance of different approaches to gathering data on SES in community health programs. A search of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, ClinicalTrials.gov, the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and OpenGrey from 1999 to June 29, 2021, was conducted, with no language limits. Google Scholar was also searched and the reference lists of included articles were checked to identify further studies. The search was performed on June 29, 2021. Any empirical study design was eligible if it compared 2 or more modalities to elicit SES data from the following 3 categories: in-person, voice call, or automated telephone-based systems. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles and extracted data. They also assessed the risk of bias using Cochrane tools and assessed the certainty of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Findings were synthesized thematically without meta-analysis. Response rate, equivalence, time, costs, and acceptability to patients and health care professionals. The searches returned 3943 records. The 11 included studies reported data on 14 036 individuals from 7 countries, collecting data on 11 socioeconomic domains using 2 or more of the following modes: in-person surveys, computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATIs), and 2 types of automated data collection: interactive voice response calls (IVRs) and web surveys. Response rates were greater than 80% for all modes except IVRs. Equivalence was high across all modes (Cohen κ > 0.5). There were insufficient data to make robust time and cost comparisons. Patients reported high levels of acceptability providing data via IVRs, web surveys, and CATIs. Selecting an appropriate and cost-effective modality to elicit SES data is an important first step toward advancing equitable effective service coverage. This systematic review did not identify evidence that remote and automated data collection modes differed from human-led and in-person approaches in terms of reliability, cost, or acceptability.

Diversity, floral phenology, and socio-economic importance of melliferous plants in Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract. Fassil A, Habtamu T, Tahir M, Terefe T. 2022. Diversity, floral phenology, and socio-economic importance of melliferous plants in Eastern Ethiopia. Nusantara Bioscience 14: 172-181. Beekeeping is a supply of extra money and financial gain for many thousands of farmer beekeepers in Ethiopia and plays a big role in preserving natural resources. Honeybees and flowering plants have co-evolved in their special symbiotic relationship. Bee plant types and their flowering duration differ from one place to another due to variations in topography, climate, and other cultural and farming practices. This study investigated and documented the diversity and floral phenology of honeybee plants in Doba, Gemechis, and Mi’eso Districts, Oromia National Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia, from January 2019 to July 2021. Ethnobotanical data were collected to reveal the diversity of melliferous plants, practices, and communities’ attitudes about honey production and melliferous plant conservation. A total of 422 respondents participated through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and field walks for socio-economic data collection. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, ranking, and scores were used and presented with tables and figures to analyze ethnobotanical data. A total of 120 melliferous plant species were distributed under 108 genera and 55 families, of which 70 plants were found in the Gemechis District, followed by Doba and Mi’eso Districts with 47 and 42 plants each, respectively. Sorenson’s Similarity Index values showed the wide-ranging melliferous plant species distribution patterns in the three districts with 50.4 (between Doba and Mi’eso), 37.5 (between Doba and Gemechis), and 15.3 (between Gemechis and Mi’eso) species overlaps. Fabaceae and Asteraceae contribute a significant number of species, with 12 (10 %) and 9 (7.5 %) melliferous plants, respectively. Local communities have a good awareness of the seasonal availability of melliferous plants, indicating adequate supply (June to early December) and critical shortage (November to early May) of melliferous plant resources favoring strong and weak colony strength, respectively. Lack of nutrition, improper management practices, honey bee predators, and lack of beekeeping knowledge and equipment were the most important constraints deleteriously influencing the honey quality and amount in the study area. The shortage of pollen and nectar flow during the dearth periods (January to March) needs interventions like hive migration and bee floral plantations. Hence, there is an urgent need for intervention through awareness creation, campaign-based melliferous plant plantations, and technology transfers.

Performance and resource requirements of in-person versus voice call versus automated telephone-based socioeconomic data collection modalities for community-based health programmes: a systematic review protocol

IntroductionGathering data on socioeconomic status (SES) is a prerequisite for any health programme that aims to assess and improve the equitable distribution of its outcomes. Many different modalities can be...

The Social and Economic Significance of Natural Gum and Resin in the Woodlands of South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

The social, economic, and ecological role of woodlands forests in dry and lowland areas are more imperative than anywhere else. Most of the dry lands of Ethiopia host woodlands that produce various commercial gum-resin products. The objective of this study was to investigate the social and economic importance of commercial gum-resin products focusing on their roles in the local livelihoods. Four kebeles, namely, Luka and Enchete from Bena-Tsemay district, and Erbore and Asele from Hamer district of South Omo Zone, were purposively selected for the collection of socioeconomic data. Semistructured questionnaire and checklists were used for households and key informant interviews and focus group discussions, respectively. In addition, market assessments and field observation were conducted to collect the primary data and supplemented with secondary data. A total of 80 households were randomly selected for one-to-one interviews from the total number of 425 households in the selected kebeles. A total of 10 key informant interviews with elders, forestry experts, local merchants, and enterprise members involved in gum-resins marketing and 4 focus group discussions with 12 members including men, women, and youth were conducted. Simple descriptive statistical tools were used for the data analysis. The results of the study showed that the mean annual income earned from the sale of gum-resins was 5670 and 4571 ETB per household at Bena-Tsemay and Hamer study sites, respectively. About 84% of the respondents indicated that gum-resin collection was the simplest and fastest means to earn income for school children and women. Gum and resin collection was the third most important livelihood option in the study area following animal husbandry and crop and honey production. The majority (84%) of respondents recognized the income made from gum-resin products as a safety net during recurring famine eras. Moreover, respondents recognized the benefit of gum arabic as food during famine time, as chewing gum, and as nutritious fodder. It was also used as folk medicine for both human and livestock diseases. Communities used this resource as a constituent to treat eye and skin infections, bleeding, wounds, ulcers, stomachache, gastrointestinal infections, etc. In addition, 88.33% of shrubs/trees were used as source of cash income for local communities and 11.67% as fodder for animal husbandry. Despite this significance, various constraints hindered the utilization of the resource in the study area, and these included lack of appropriate tapping techniques, market access, market information, cooperatives, infrastructure facilities, and appropriate institutions as well as poor local communities’ awareness of land management. The present investigation has provided valuable information for overcoming the major constraints by devising strategies to maximize gum-resin production and commercialization in the study area.

Assessment of the Nutritional Profile of Women with Breast Cancer from the Agadir Region (South of Morocco)

Background: Although the incidence of breast cancer and the resulting mortality are very high in Morocco, no study has been carried out on the role of the nutritional factors in the development of BC. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional profile of women with BC in southern Morocco Methods: The study was conducted with 91 women with breast cancer. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were used for the assessment of the nutritional profile and the collection of socio-economic data. Biometric measures were carried out in parallel. Results: The results showed that postmenopausal women had a significantly higher mean weight and Body Mass Index than non-menopausal women (p &lt; 0.015). The majority of patients (79%) had energy intakes above recommendations. The proportion of lipids was excessive in 46% of cases. Intakes of saturated fatty acids were high in 14% of patients. But those of unsaturated fatty acids were high in over 50% of patients. About 58 % had a very high intake of fast sugars. Cholesterol input was high in 40% of cases. Vitamins A, E and D were provided in small amounts, respectively in 66%, 45% and 91% of patients. Likewise, intakes were low for water-soluble vitamins, especially Vitamins B9 (62.6%) and B12 (54%). Almost the majority of participants in our study (92%) had very low calcium intakes. Inputs of magnesium, zinc and selenium were insufficient in 43%, 35% and 48% of patients respectively. Conclusion: Obesity, excessive energy and sugar intake, as well as mineral and vitamin deficiencies could explain the high incidence of breast cancer in southern Morocco. A balanced diet would fight against breast cancer.

Mobility and phone call behavior explain patterns in poverty at high-resolution across multiple settings

Call detail records (CDRs) from mobile phone metadata are a promising data source for mapping poverty indicators in low- and middle-income countries. These data provide information on social networks, call behavior, and mobility patterns in a population, which are correlated with measures of socioeconomic status. CDRs are passively collected and provide information with high spatial and temporal resolution. Identifying features from these data that are generalizable and able to predict poverty and wealth beyond a single context could promote broader usage of mobile data, contribute to a reduction in the cost of socioeconomic data collection and processing, as well as complement existing census and survey-based methods of poverty estimation with improved temporal resolution. This is especially important within the context of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), where poverty and related health indicators are to be reduced significantly across subnational geographies by 2030. Here we utilize measures of cell phone user behavior derived from three CDR datasets within a Bayesian modeling framework to map poverty and wealth patterns across Namibia, Nepal, and Bangladesh. We demonstrate five metrics of user mobility and call behavior that are able to explain between 50% and 65% of the variance in socioeconomic status nationally for these three countries. These key metrics prove useful in very different contexts and can be readily provided as part of an existing CDR platform or software package. This paper provides a key contribution in this regard by identifying such metrics relevant to estimating poverty. We highlight the inclusion of ancillary data and local context as an important factor in understanding model outputs when targeting poverty alleviation strategies.

Community involvement in KPH Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Forest Management Unit) land management: a case study of RPH Mangunan

The management of protection forests in KPH Yogyakarta has involved the surrounding community. Community involvement is expected to keep forest sustainability and contribute to the surrounding community’s income. Community engagement activities in the protection forest at RPH Mangunan have been developed long time before the KPH Yogyakarta was formed. Several social forestry activities was designed by utilizing forest land to involve the community in protection forests, especially in RPH Mangunan. Activities with the community on KPH land are permitted as long as the crops and trees are not disturbed. This paper aims to identify community involvement in RPH Mangunan and calculate the economic contribution of each land area used by the community. The research was conducted in July-August 2018. The collection of socio-economic data are obtained through household surveys of KPH land users, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) of parties involved in KPH land management. The income from managing the KPH land is still below the needs of one household based on Yogyakarta provincial minimum wage. Apart from carrying out agricultural activities, some community members have other sources of livelihood. To increase the community’s income and support forest sustainability, some strategies need to be implemented.

Role of giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in livelihoods of the rural fishers of Northern Province of Sri Lanka

The overall objective of this study was to assess to what extent Macrobrachium rosenbergii culture in reservoir is sustainable and whether it has the potential to provide a livelihood option for reservoir fishers. Fisheries and socio-economic data collection were conducted from 2016 January to 2018 December in five perennial reservoirs in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Results revealed that culture-based fisheries and the introduction of M. rosenbergii in the five selected reservoirs have achieved considerable success and resulted in significant increases in fish production, income of fishers, availability of fresh fish for the rural communities and livelihood opportunities for fishing families. Socio-economic factors such as, age, fisheries experience, fish catch of the previous day, market value, household status and livelihood diversification influenced reservoir fishing. Low rainfall, strong wind, high temperature, over-growth of aquatic plants and algal blooms wildlife attacks and theft of fishing gear were identified as key stressors.

A State-Level Socioeconomic Data Collection of the United States for COVID-19 Research

The outbreak of COVID-19 from late 2019 not only threatens the health and lives of humankind but impacts public policies, economic activities, and human behavior patterns significantly. To understand the impact and better prepare for future outbreaks, socioeconomic factors play significant roles in (1) determinant analysis with health care, environmental exposure and health behavior; (2) human mobility analyses driven by policies; (3) economic pressure and recovery analyses for decision making; and (4) short to long term social impact analysis for equity, justice and diversity. To support these analyses for rapid impact responses, state level socioeconomic factors for the United States of America (USA) are collected and integrated into topic-based indicators, including (1) the daily quantitative policy stringency index; (2) dynamic economic indices with multiple time frequency of GDP, international trade, personal income, employment, the housing market, and others; (3) the socioeconomic determinant baseline of the demographic, housing financial situation and medical resources. This paper introduces the measurements and metadata of relevant socioeconomic data collection, along with the sharing platform, data warehouse framework and quality control strategies. Different from existing COVID-19 related data products, this collection recognized the geospatial and dynamic factor as essential dimensions of epidemiologic research and scaled down the spatial resolution of socioeconomic data collection from country level to state level of the USA with a standard data format and high quality.

Framework for Monitoring of Road Agency Performance in Rural Road Asset Management

The Research for Community Access Partnership (ReCAP) is providing technical assistance and capacity building initiatives to foster sustainable improvements in asset management performance in selected rural road agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Central to the research methodology is the development of a specification to enable road agencies to assess their performance in asset management as a basis for self-improvement. The specification is based on the development of an objectively determinable “road sector sustainability index” which measures the extent to which six building blocks considered essential for achieving effective road asset preservation are satisfied in practice. Periodic measurements of the condition of the project road networks, coupled with the collection of socioeconomic data, are being used to monitor the trend in road asset value, and to assess the effectiveness of, and improvements in, asset management as well as the impact of road condition on the wellbeing of rural communities. This paper outlines methodologies and tools that have been developed and piloted in four Sub-Saharan African countries to assess and monitor performance in rural road asset management and to achieve improvements over time. It summarizes progress achieved in the first 3 years since the project’s inception. The initial findings of the research indicate that severe institutional, funding, and technical shortcomings exist in the participating countries that preclude sustainable road asset preservation. However, following implementation of the methods summarized here, there is now an increased awareness of the importance of adopting a holistic approach to road asset management using simple and sustainable methods.