Article published in Environmental Research Letters
A new article was published in Environmental Research Letters by researchers from the CaylorLab, the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University and the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center. In this study, first author Drew Gower, along with co-authors Jampel Dell’Angelo, Paul McCord, Kelly Caylor, and Tom Evans explore the tradeoffs between water-insensitive but low-value subsistence crops and a water-sensitive but high-value market crop using a numerical model that simulates soil moisture dynamics and crop production over multiple growing seasons. The model output was then compared to the results of surveys conducted among smallholders near Mount Kenya to better understand how such farmers make cropping decisions. This type of analysis may be helpful in predicting the effects of climate change on agricultural production and food security in dryland environments.