Valuation and financing of National Parks in South and South East Asia: a meta-analysis

Protected Areas, the mainstay of biodiversity conservation, are facing an unprecedented threat of being exploited, making their conservation not only crucial but also urgent. As the looming threat does not leave scope for expensive and time-consuming surveys, this paper intends to add to the existing literature and to the cause of biodiversity conservation by undertaking the first ever multinational Meta-Analysis of National Park (NP) valuation studies in South and South East Asia. The relative importance of study-, site-, and socioeconomic characteristics is estimated through a meta-regression and suggestions for redesigning pricing strategies to capture the unrealized consumer surplus are presented. Key results highlight the importance of the place of residence, area of the NP, and GDP per capita in explaining variation in NP value. Furthermore, taking note of the havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the study highlights the need to diversify the funding base for NP management in order to ensure sustainable financing by presenting country-specific examples.

Political returns to ad hoc farm payments?

This paper investigates the extent to which ad hoc farm payments made under the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) affected voting patterns in the 2020 Presidential Election. MFP and CFAP payments were historically unique not only in terms of their magnitude, but also because they were authorized almost entirely by the incumbent Administration of President Donald Trump without direct Congressional authorization or appropriation. Our results indicate that these payments did influence county‐level voting outcomes. The observed response is driven almost exclusively by increased turnout among Trump supporters—we do not observe evidence that ad hoc payments generated widespread "vote switching” away from the Democratic or third‐party candidates and toward Trump. We find the MFP and CFAP programs generated 677,512 votes for Republican candidate Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election with an estimated cost‐per‐vote‐gained of $66,124. These votes induced by ad hoc farm payments were insufficient to change electoral college outcomes in any U.S. state.

The Healthy Communities Initiative: Gathering Community Input During COVID-19

The Louisiana Healthy Communities Initiative, led by the LSU AgCenter, guides SNAP-Ed policy, systems, and environmental change efforts. Prior to COVID19, agents held in-person community forums to gather input and community priorities for interventions. COVID19 spurred innovation in this process. Although many states have used videoconferencing services to host meetings, lack of functional internet access posed a barrier for many communities in Louisiana.To gather broad community input through Qualtrics surveys in order to assess needs and assets, guide project prioritization, and gather feedback on previous projects.Qualtrics surveys were distributed via email to community members, stakeholders, and partners serving low-income audiences. Three surveys solicited feedback for existing Healthy Communities coalitions (n = 45), 1 survey gathered initial input for a newly formed Healthy Communities coalition (n = 63). The overall response rate across all surveys was 23.6%.Survey responses to community health and engagement questions were separated by counties and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The research team worked with Extension agents to conduct member checking through discussing survey results with participants.One hundred and eight responses were received from 4 communities. Extension agents reported high satisfaction with the process. Surveys provided action items and potential new coalition members. Across all 4 communities, common themes included acknowledging racial health disparities, a need for greater community involvement in coalition efforts, and a lack of healthy food options.Qualtrics surveys were an effective way to gather community input and allowed wider participation than would have been possible with a virtual meeting. Post-COVID, agents plan to continue to solicit community input through Qualtrics surveys, in addition to face-to-face forums. This method is a valuable tool for lower-income and rural communities. Results reflected an awareness of low community engagement, racial health disparities and limited healthy food access.

The Role of Older Adults in 2- and 3-Generation Households: Implications for Diet Quality and Household Food Security

Food insecurity rates have declined overall (pre-COVID), but have increased significantly among older adults in the past decade. The majority of older adults in the U.S. also have suboptimal diet quality. An older adult's household role may influence their diet quality and the household's food security status, especially in mixed-generation households, but this hypothesis has yet to be tested.To explore the relationships between an older adult's household role, the household's food security status, and the older adult's diet quality in mixed-generation households.A cross-sectional analysis of a nationally-representative sample of U.S. households with at least 1 older adult (age 60+ years) from the 2011-2016 NHANES was conducted (n = 8,136). Households were categorized as: older adult as head of household and child caregiver (ie, child(ren) present, but no adults 18-59 years, HHC), head of household, but not a caregiver (HHNC), and neither head of household nor caregiver (ie, reference person < 60 years, NHNC). The U.S. Household Food Security Survey and Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) from a single dietary recall were used to assess food security status and diet quality, respectively.Weighted chi-square and ANOVA tests were used to compare food security status and HEI-2015 scores across household categories, respectively.HHNC households were significantly more likely to be fully food secure (84% FFS, P < 0.001) than HHC households (67% FFS) and NHNC households (68% FFS). Older adults as HHNC had significantly higher HEI-2015 scores (mean: 53.7, P < 0.001) than HHC older adults (50.2) and NHNC older adults (51.5).Findings suggest that caregiving demands may have a negative influence on food security and diet quality of older adults in mixed generation households. While such relationships have potential bearing on nutrition programming and policy, further research is needed to understand the underlying household dynamics, including more advanced analyses to account for potential covariates (eg, the number and age of children and roles of other household members).