Jean Lee
| Jean Lee is currently a PhD student at University of Vermont. Her research focuses on the barriers farmers encounter in participating in and benefiting from agricultural mitigation projects, with a particular focus on women and how they are differentially affected by projects. She will be conducting research in the Kitale, Kenya and working with farmers to understand how farmers’ perceptions of barriers and benefits and how projects can effectively and efficiently deliver their pro-poor objectives while also achieving agricultural mitigation. She completed a Masters of Environmental Management at Duke University and a Bachelors of Arts in Environmental Biology from Columbia University. Email: jean.lee@uvm.edu |
Research on Land-grabbing:
Political dynamics in carbon credit projects and land use change: the case of Western Kenya Smallholder Agricultural Carbon Project (WKSCAP)
The proposed study seeks to understand the equity concerns surrounding smallholder farmers and women in climate mitigation projects. The study will use a political ecology approach that emphasizes the role of power in mediating access to resources and how power dynamics within a community and a household affect equity in access, equity in decision-making, and equity in outcomes of carbon mitigation projects. This field-based case study will focus on the Western Kenya Smallholder Agricultural Carbon Project (WKSCAP), a soil carbon project in western Kenya that works with farmers and encourages them to adopt sustainable agricultural land management practices in maize-based systems. The project offers opportunities for receiving carbon credits by encouraging farming practices that sequester aboveground and belowground carbon. The study will focus on the following questions: Who gets to participate in the project, and how does the degree of participation determine the benefits the project offers? How does differential access to climate mitigation projects result in differential benefits along socio-economic classes and gender roles in a community? How do the power differentials shift among community members and within the household? How might a marginalized famer’s access to land change when projects advertise carbon payments for adopting sustainable land practices? Data on participation and benefits will be collected through household surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups.
