Lucia Carrillo

Experiential learning for groundwater governance in India study data

This data article presents a dataset developed to support a rigorous impact assessment of an experiential learning intervention aimed at enhancing groundwater governance and agricultural water management in rural Indian communities. The intervention combined collective action games, participatory planning tools, and community debriefings to promote behavioral shifts toward sustainable groundwater and surface water management. These tools are designed to support informed decision-making, foster collective action, and strengthen governance of water as a common resource. The impact evaluation follows a randomized control trial design, incorporating baseline and follow-up data from both treatment and control habitations. The dataset encompasses behavioral, social, and institutional variables collected through individual surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The intervention and data collection took place in four districts across three Indian states, targeting communities heavily dependent on groundwater. Baseline data were gathered between November 2021 and February 2022, prior to intervention implementation, with follow-up data collected from January to June 2023. The data was collected by local trained enumerators to test the scalability of the approach. Participants were selected through stratified random sampling from a purposively defined sample frame, reflecting groundwater reliance and socioeconomic diversity. The resulting dataset comprises anonymized, structured files detailing demographic, social, agricultural, and water governance information across all study groups. The dataset’s multi-layered structure and detailed documentation enable a wide range of reuse opportunities, including replication of previous analyses, in-depth exploration of behavioral and institutional dynamics, and the advancement of novel methodological approaches in water governance research. It supports diverse research needs spanning cross-regional comparisons and policy evaluations.

Effectiveness of experiential learning games for sustainable water management and governance in India

Conflict, aspirations, and women’s empowerment: Household survey evidence from farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria

Using original survey data from three states in rural, southwestern Nigeria, this study examines the relationship between conflict intensity at various distances and the empowerment and aspiration levels of women whose households are primarily engaged in farming. We analyze geo-coded data on violent clashes between ethnic groups that primarily herd livestock for their livelihood and those that primarily farm crops; these clashes are growing more frequent across West Africa with climate-induced land degradation, as herding populations are moving further south in search of grazing land. Our outcomes of interest include women’s economic and social aspirations, and women’s economic, social, and political behaviors that could impact their long-run empowerment. We find that exposure to higher conflict intensity is closely linked to adverse outcomes, including income loss, assault, and forced migration. Higher conflict intensity is also associated with lower women’s economic and social aspirations, though social aspirations are more affected by proximate conflicts, while economic aspirations are more affected by more distant conflicts. Women’s economic, social, and political activities also vary with conflict-affectedness. With more conflict nearby, women are more likely to own their own off-farm businesses and less likely to own an off-farm business in which they share ownership with their husband. With more exposure to distant conflicts, women devote less time to off-farm labor and more time to agricultural labor. Near conflict, women are less likely to be members of mutual aid groups and to contact government officials and more likely to engage local security groups for protection and to be members of political parties. These differences could have long-run implications for women’s empowerment.