Browsing by Author "Jeuland, Marc"
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Item Embargo A Systematic Testing and Comparative Assessment of Three Time Use Methods: Evidence from Four Sub-Saharan Countries(2024) LI, MengqiIn sub-Saharan Africa, women are burdened with gendered tasks of cooking and fuel gathering, leading to time poverty, gender inequality, unhappiness, physical health issues due to unclean cooking methods, and broader social implications including employment limitations and adverse effects on household food security. This scenario underscores an urgent need to scrutinize and reveal the existing patterns of time use, especially for women. By applying pairwise correlation and ordinary least squares regression analyses, this study assesses the consistency across three distinct time use methods and delves into potential causes for any observed discrepancies especially for time use on fuel preparation and acquisition, as well as cooking. Data sourced from primary cooks across four Sub-Saharan African countries indicate that: (a) there is significant difference in time use that is recorded across time use methods; and (b) individual and household characteristics, and specific behaviours related to cooking and fuel activities, partially account for the observed time gaps in both cooking activities and fuel preparation and collection. This research contributes to the field by: 1) highlighting the challenges in achieving consistent time measurements, underscoring the variations that different methods can produce; and 2) providing insights on the influence of individual and household factors, as well as cooking and fuel-related behaviours, on the perception and reporting of time use. These findings suggest directions for developing more reliable and valid methods for time use research, especially for interventions aimed at reducing the burden of uncompensated work on women in sub-Saharan Africa.
Item Open Access Benefits, Costs, and Distributional Impacts of a Groundwater Trading Program in the Diamond Valley, Nevada(2016-10-17) Zeff, Harrison; Characklis, Greg; Jeuland, Marc; Kaczan, David; Murray, Brian; Locklier, KatieIn Nevada’s Diamond Valley, unsustainable groundwater pumping has decreased the aquifer’s water level, raising irrigators’ pumping costs and threatening the viability of existing wells and springs. Continued extraction in excess of natural recharge will trigger a legally required curtailment of water rights in the valley, which was recently declared a critical management area (CMA). The extent of rights curtailment is not mandated, but it could be as high as 64%, the amount required to reach the estimated natural recharge rate. The default policy for curtailment of water rights will occur according to the principle of prior appropriation, whereby rights are revoked in reverse order of their date of issuance. Rights granted most recently will be canceled first, and the revocation will proceed in order of increasing seniority until the government’s desired level of total water extraction is reached. Nevada law requires this intervention to occur within 10 years of the CMA declaration. By law, irrigators and other stakeholders can propose alternative policies for reducing groundwater over-extraction. Because sudden rights curtailment could have detrimental economic impacts, such policies are under discussion. This report analyzes the economic outcomes of sudden and alternative curtailment policies. Using a hydro-economic model tailored to conditions in the region to examine alternative extraction scenarios, the analysis finds that, with no action, the depth to the water table will exceed 200 feet by 2045; with policy action, aquifer levels can be stabilized at 170–180 feet and at higher depths with more gradual curtailment. Across all policy scenarios, net agricultural profit is lowest under the default curtailment policy, and it increases with more gradual curtailment. Under curtailment, allowing parties to trade rights to extract water modestly increases economic benefits relative to no-trade alternatives.Item Open Access Climate Finance for Just Transitions: Building Low-Carbon Development Pathways in an Age of US-China Rivalry(2022-09-14) Phillips, Jonathan; Ewing, Jackson; Rao, Abhay; Teji, Liilnna; Plutshack, Victoria; Jeuland, MarcThis paper investigates challenges throughout the international climate finance landscape and recommends pathways for how investments into low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can more effectively drive low-carbon development. The paper focuses on three issue areas: (1) aligning national climate strategies and international finance, (2) finding avenues for positive climate finance outcomes in an era of growing rivalry between Chinese and Group of Seven—particularly US—public financiers, and (3) reforming major climate finance practices and institutions to more effectively cater to the needs of LMIC stakeholders. This paper is part of a series of work under the New Frontiers in Climate Finance project, led by the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project, which is scoping the challenges and opportunities inherent to climate finance in LMICs, and seeking to help increase the scale and transformational impact of climate finance to these economies. The project aims to mobilize key stakeholder organizations around a common vision for aligning the tools of development finance with the needs and strategies of LMICs, and to build low-carbon development pathways that support poverty alleviation while reducing the next global wave of greenhouse gas emissions.Item Open Access CMIP5 model simulations of Ethiopian Kiremt-season precipitation: current climate and future changes(Climate Dynamics, 2016-05-01) Li, Laifang; Li, W; Ballard, Tristan; Ge Sun; Jeuland, Marc© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Kiremt-season (June–September) precipitation provides a significant water supply for Ethiopia, particularly in the central and northern regions. The response of Kiremt-season precipitation to climate change is thus of great concern to water resource managers. However, the complex processes that control Kiremt-season precipitation challenge the capability of general circulation models (GCMs) to accurately simulate precipitation amount and variability. This in turn raises questions about their utility for predicting future changes. This study assesses the impact of climate change on Kiremt-season precipitation using state-of-the-art GCMs participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5. Compared to models with a coarse resolution, high-resolution models (horizontal resolution <2°) can more accurately simulate precipitation, most likely due to their ability to capture precipitation induced by topography. Under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario, these high-resolution models project an increase in precipitation over central Highlands and northern Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia, but a decrease in precipitation over the southern part of the country. Such a dipole pattern is attributable to the intensification of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH) in a warmer climate, which influences Ethiopian Kiremt-season precipitation mainly by modulating atmospheric vertical motion. Diagnosis of the omega equation demonstrates that an intensified NASH increases (decreases) the advection of warm air and positive vorticity into the central Highlands and northern Great Rift Valley (southern part of the country), enhancing upward motion over the northern Rift Valley but decreasing elsewhere. Under the RCP 4.5 scenario, the high-resolution models project an intensification of the NASH by 15 (3 × 105 m2 s−2) geopotential meters (stream function) at the 850-hPa level, contributing to the projected precipitation change over Ethiopia. The influence of the NASH on Kiremt-season precipitation becomes more evident in the future due to the offsetting effects of two other major circulation systems: the East African Low-level Jet (EALLJ) and the Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ). The high-resolution models project a strengthening of the EALLJ, but a weakening of the TEJ. Future changes in the EALLJ and TEJ will drive this precipitation system in opposite directions, leading to small or no net changes in precipitation in Ethiopia.Item Open Access Energy access, time use, and women’s empowerment in low- and middle-income countries(2024) Chandrasekaran, Maya ParvathiThis dissertation examines aspects of the relationship between improved energy access,both in terms of cooking energy and electricity access, and women’s time use patterns, labor productivity, and empowerment in low- and middle-income countries. The first chapter of this dissertation examines the relationship between women’s empowerment and various measures of cooking energy and electricity access across 7 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia using the multi-tiered framework datasets from the World Bank. Since there are many potential facets to women’s empowerment, for example, social standing (i.e., ability to participate in community groups, ability to move freely), employment, or education levels, we use principal component analysis to create an “empowerment index” that captures multiple aspects of women’s empowerment as a singular value. We then use simple regression analysis to study the correlation between women’s empowerment and energy access measures. We find positive associations between empowerment and measures of energy access, though this pattern is not consistent across all countries and contexts.
After descriptively establishing a positive relationship between women’s empowermentand improved cooking energy access, especially in Sub-Saharan African contexts, the second chapter of this dissertation describes an impact evaluation of an improved cookstove distributed in Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia. We used a quasi-experimental design to survey approximately 3,000 households across three countries, looking for impacts on women’s time use patterns and labor productivity as a result of take up of the improved cookstove. Using a difference-indifferences approach, we find that in most contexts, this improved cookstove intervention does not result in changes to time use patterns, labor productivity, or time use agency, though the lack of positive impacts may be due to sample contamination, too short of a time frame between stove installation and endline surveys, or reporting errors in modules where time use data is collected.
In order to understand these results in the context of prior published evidence of timesavings from improved cookstoves, in the third chapter, we investigate the population and study characteristics that may impact the time saved in fuel collection as a result of the distributed improved cookstove. Specifically, we apply Bayesian linear regression modeling and Bayesian model comparison to investigate whether and how methodological and contextual choices, such as geography, level of remoteness of a region, fuel use behaviors, the type of time use elicitation method used, and respondent characteristics affect estimates of time savings in fuel collection derived from the cookstove distributed in Chapter 2. Our prior is constructed from 34 estimates of time savings from the improved cookstove literature, while our sampling data is provided by the quasi-experiment in Chapter 2. The approach provides insight on how different sources of variation impact time savings estimates and allows us to make predictions of potential time savings in new settings. Results suggest that the potential for time savings from this improved cookstove is highest in poorer, less educated populations.
In this dissertation, I contribute to the literature by first describing the relationshipsbetween forms of energy access, including improved cooking technologies, and women’s empowerment, and describing those patterns across countries. I then test this relationship using quasi-experimental methods to find causal impacts of improved cooking technologies on outcomes pertinent to women’s livelihoods, including women’s time use patterns, across four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, I provide insight into how population and study characteristics impact time savings results from improved cooking technologies, and in what contexts we might find maximum impact.
Item Open Access Harnessing the Power of Data: Sustainable Energy Transitions Initiative Conference(2018-06-28) Girardeau, Hannah; Phillips, Jonathan; Jeuland, MarcOn May 15–17, 2018, more than 100 academic researchers and energy access practitioners gathered at Duke University to discuss critical issues related to energy access as part of the third annual conference for the Sustainable Energy Transitions Initiative (SETI). Presentations by Kyle Bradbury of Duke University, Johannes Urpelainen of Johns Hopkins University, Nathan Williams of Carnegie Mellon University, and Jay Taneja of the University of Massachusetts–Amherst highlighted remarkable advances in energy data analytics, described applications for developing world energy challenges, and outlined remaining data-related hurdles impeding progress on energy access. Energy developers, utilities, planners, and policy makers are often not equipped with the necessary tools to understand the changing landscape of energy delivery options and customer preferences. Researchers and grid operators are often restricted by outdated, unavailable, or biased data in the field. Through innovative methods and analytical tools, such as remote sensing, satellite imagery, and machine learning, data analytics are improving our understanding of energy demand in rural areas, customer needs and expectations, the local availability of energy resources, and the realities of providing electricity to underserved communities. These proceedings present key conference takeaways related to the core theme of energy data analytics.Item Open Access Improving Rural Livelihoods, Energy Access, and Resilience Where It’s Needed Most: The Case for Solar Mini-Grid Irrigation in Ethiopia(2022-07-18) Ingram, Matthew; Phillips, Jonathan; Dufera, Hizkyas; Hizikias, Liuel; Jeuland, Marc; Lovedale, JamesEthiopia’s levels of agricultural productivity and energy access are among the lowest in the world. Now Ethiopia is moving forward with the new Distributed Renewable Energy-Agriculture Modalities (DREAM) project to test distributed solar mini-grids as a solution for improving irrigation, increasing agricultural productivity and farmer incomes, expanding rural electricity access, and enhancing gender and social inclusion. DREAM—the largest project in the world of its kind—aims to achieve these outcomes while also demonstrating an approach that can mobilize private investment to deliver scale. This policy brief summarizes the approach, along with findings of an economic viability analysis examining how the solar mini-grid irrigation projects are likely to impact farmers' incomes at nine unique sites in rural Ethiopia. A full evaluation will be conducted over the next three years to understand the broader impacts of the intervention on the resilience of farm enterprises and households. It will further impart lessons for the scale-up of DREAM in Ethiopia as well as similar programs elsewhere in Africa.Item Open Access Research Agenda on Electricity Access and Productive Use(2019-04-04) Jeuland, Marc; Morrissey, James; Phillips, JonathanOn February 21, 2019, Duke University’s Energy Access Project and Oxfam cohosted a meeting of approximately 60 energy practitioners and researchers to discuss the role of electricity access in spurring productive use. A motivation for this convening was a paper, produced by Oxfam, which had been confounded by the mixed findings on the impact of electrification on productive use. This note provides a summary of the research agenda that emerged from these interactions.Item Open Access Resilience Monetization and Credits Initiative: A Background Paper(2024-05-23) Al-Mashat, Rania; Jeuland, Marc; Puri, Jyotsna; Vieira, Pablo; Aboulatta, Mahinour; Ahmad, Saib; Chowdhury, Jahan-Zeb; Diaz-Herrera, Alejandro; Elsharief, Mirna; Farghal, Farida; Phillips, Jonathan; Tawfik, Nada; Teji, Liilnna; von Glahn, DrewAddressing climate change requires urgent and innovative action aimed at both mitigating its effects and addressing its most severe impacts. However, current investment levels are insufficient to match the escalating climate risks and damages. Despite the annual target of $100 billion established at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference/Conference of Parties, climate finance directed to low- and middle-income countries continues to lag behind stated goals. Adaptation efforts are especially underfunded, with investment falling short by a significant margin, estimated at 5 to 10 times the actual need. This document has been developed as part of an endeavor to propose an innovative solution—the Resilience Monetization and Credit Initiative— aimed at bridging the gap in resources made available to those most urgently in need of climate adaptation finance. Under this initiative, resilience credits are introduced as a novel asset class designed to align public and private capital to deliver improved resilience to the communities most vulnerable to climate impacts, while also ensuring equitable benefit sharing. This paper is part of a series of work under the Resilience Monetization and Credit Initiative project, led by the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project, which aims to close the finance gap for those urgently needing climate adaptation finance by developing innovative methods to measure and monetize adaptation and resilience benefits.Item Open Access Taxes and Subsidies and the Transition to Clean Cooking: A Review of Relevant Theoretical and Empirical Insights(2022-11-22) Das, Ipsita; Jeuland, Marc; Plutshack, Victoria; Zong, JiahuiUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7.1 sets a target of ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by 2030. Unfortunately, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are well off course to meet this target, especially with respect to access to clean cooking energy. Though many challenges impede progress, cost barriers are perhaps most significant. This report discusses the role of subsidy and tax policies—levied on both the supply and demand side of this market—in affecting progress toward universal access to clean cooking in LMICs. Moreover, we also combat a common myth among those opposing subsidies for clean cooking: we show that a “fear of spoiling the market” with such incentives finds little empirical support in the literature. This report offers recommendations to policy makers, in addition to a case study on clean cooking transitions in Nepal.Item Open Access The effect of non-fluoride factors on risk of dental fluorosis: Evidence from rural populations of the Main Ethiopian Rift(Science of the Total Environment, 2014-08-01) Kravchenko, Julia; Rango, Tewodros; Akushevich, Igor; Atlaw, Behailu; McCornick, Peter G; Merola, R Brittany; Paul, Christopher; Weinthal, Erika; Harrison, Courtney; Vengosh, Avner; Jeuland, MarcElevated level of fluoride (F-) in drinking water is a well-recognized risk factor of dental fluorosis (DF). While considering optimization of region-specific standards for F-, it is reasonable, however, to consider how local diet, water sourcing practices, and non-F- elements in water may be related to health outcomes. In this study, we hypothesized that non-F- elements in groundwater and lifestyle and demographic characteristics may be independent predictors or modifiers of the effects of F- on teeth. Dental examinations were conducted among 1094 inhabitants from 399 randomly-selected households of 20 rural communities of the Ziway-Shala lake basin of the Main Ethiopian Rift. DF severity was evaluated using the Thylstrup-Fejerskov Index (TFI). Household surveys were performed and water samples were collected from community water sources. To consider interrelations between the teeth within individual (in terms of DF severity) and between F- and non-F- elements in groundwater, the statistical methods of regression analysis, mixed models, and principal component analysis were used.About 90% of study participants consumed water from wells with F- levels above the WHO recommended standard of 1.5mg/l. More than 62% of the study population had DF. F- levels were a major factor associated with DF. Age, sex, and milk consumption (both cow's and breastfed) were also statistically significantly (p<0.05) associated with DF severity; these associations appear both independently and as modifiers of those identified between F- concentration and DF severity. Among 35 examined elements in groundwater, Ca, Al, Cu, and Rb were found to be significantly correlated with dental health outcomes among the residents exposed to water with excessive F- concentrations.Quantitative estimates obtained in our study can be used to explore new water treatment strategies, water safety and quality regulations, and lifestyle recommendations which may be more appropriate for this highly populated region. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.Item Open Access The Role of Taxes and Subsidies in the Clean Cooking Transition: A Review of Relevant Theoretical and Empirical Insights(2022-07-21) Das, Ipsita; Jeuland, Marc; Plutshack, VictoriaUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7.1 sets a target of ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by 2030. Unfortunately, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are well off course to meet this target, especially with respect to access to clean cooking energy. Though many challenges impede progress toward use of modern and sustainable energy for cooking purposes, cost barriers are perhaps most significant. Against this backdrop, this brief discusses the role of subsidy and tax policies—levied on both the supply and demand side of this market—in affecting progress toward universal access to clean cooking in LMICs. Moreover, combating a common myth among those opposing subsidies for clean cooking, the brief demonstrates that a “fear of spoiling the market” with such incentives finds little empirical support in the literature. Based on theory and evidence discussed in additional detail, this brief offers recommendations to policy makers.