Bapu Vaitla

Visting Fellow

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FIC Visiting Fellow-Bapu Vaitla

Bapu Vaitla is a food security researcher focused on the causes of child under nutrition.

His work is split into three major areas:

  1. Household-level determinants of rural under nutrition and food insecurity
  2. The political economy of child nutrition, especially of agriculture and social protection policy; and
  3. Theoretical modeling of cooperation in intra-household and community network contexts.

He has experience in econometric modeling, household survey design and analysis, and participatory qualitative research methods. He has in-depth country-specific knowledge of Brazil, where he was a Fulbright Scholar in 2013-14; India, where he conducted research as a David L. Boren Fellow on federal and state-level nutritional and food security policies; and Ethiopia, where as a Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellow he analyzed productive safety nets and foreign assistance programs. Bapu has a PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a M.S. in International Agricultural Development from the University of California-Davis.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

COURSES TAUGHT

SELECTED JOURNAL AND BOOK PUBLICATIONS

MOST RECENT EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS

NEWS STORIES

Food Policy publishes article on measuring food security by Dan Maxwell and team

Feinstein Research Director Dan Maxwell teamed up with Visiting Fellow Bapu Vaitla, Senior Researcher Jennifer Coates, Laura Glaeser, Christopher Hillbruner, and Preetish Biswal to publish “The measurement of household food…

FEINSTEIN PUBLICATIONS

farming in Nepal

An Analysis of Food Security Resilience in Rural Nepal

This report investigates food security resilience in Far-Western Nepal.

Comparing Household Food Consumption Indicators to Inform Acute Food Insecurity Phase Classification

One important component of analysis of food insecurity in emergencies is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity Reference Table. This table provides a graduated description of…

Resilience, Food Security Dynamics, and Poverty Traps in Northern Ethiopia

Humanitarian assistance or safety net programs may be able to prevent mortality or reduce malnutrition in the face of shocks or crises, but households, their communities, and their institutions may…

How do Different Indicators of Household Food Security Compare?

With recent food crises at both regional and global levels, and renewed commitments from major donor countries to address chronic hunger, food security is more prominent on the policy agenda…

Resilience and Livelihoods Change in Tigray, Ethiopia

Resilience is the ability of an individual, a household, a community or an institution to withstand a shock or setback of some type and recover, or “bounce back,” after a…

FEINSTEIN RESEARCH PROJECTS

Rebuilding the Humanitarian Information Ecosystem

This project includes studies on early warning and assessment of crises, specifically looking at real-time monitoring, anticipatory action, political constraints, data collection and analysis, and the validity of indicators.

A mother and daughter stand with their herd of goats in El Baraf, Somalia

Humanitarian Information Systems: Anticipating, Analyzing, and Acting in Crisis

This study seeks to understand the availability and quality of information, and the external influences on data collection and analysis for the classification of food emergencies.

Promoting Agriculture, Health, and Alternative Livelihoods (PAHAL) in Nepal

This USAID-funded five-year project (2014-2019) aims to improve food security, resilience, and livelihoods for poor and marginalized communities in select areas of rural Nepal.

Food Security Measurement

Under this project, a variety of food security indicators are incorporated into field surveys of other studies in order to assess their applicability, cost, reliability, and internal, external, and construct validity.

Livelihoods Change over Time

The overarching objective of the proposed research is to enhance the understanding of how livelihoods change in response to stress and crisis, and to improve humanitarian practice in responding to disaster and improving livelihoods.