News

URBANA, Ill – The world’s ecosystems quietly keep human beings alive, and we largely do not notice their impacts until they are gone. Take forests, for example, whose services are valued at $4.7 trillion each year. Trees capture and filter water running through the landscape, which maintains aquatic habitat and improves water supplies for drinking and recreation.

Deforestation has diminished ecosystem services to the detriment of many communities, but policies like payments for hydrological services (PHS) can provide funds for preservation efforts. A new study from the University of Illinois explores ways to make these programs more effective, financially sustainable, and adapted to domestic user preferences.

The study focuses on the conservation of forestland to provide hydrological services in Veracruz, one of the most intensely deforested states in Mexico. The region struggles with both water quality and water regulation issues.

URBANA, Ill. – The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Soybean Value Chain Research (Soybean Innovation Lab, “SIL”) at the University of Illinois has been awarded $5 million by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to train and empower other Feed the Future Innovation Labs to achieve sustained impact from their innovations. The new award, called “Innovation to Impact” (i2i) 2.0 utilizes an innovative instructional design curriculum and matched management system to support Innovation Lab technology managers as they seek to reduce poverty and malnutrition globally through uptake and scaling of their cutting-edge technologies. Peter Goldsmith directs SIL. Read more from the ACES News. 

URBANA, Ill. – A family’s socioeconomic status affects children’s health long into adulthood. Individuals growing up in low-income families have much higher risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases later in life. That’s especially true for permanent low-income families, a University of Illinois study shows.

“There has been a lot of research connecting parents’ socioeconomic status with children’s future outcomes. Our innovation in this study is to differentiate the importance of two components, which are permanent and transitory income. Each of these would have different policy implications,” says Yilan Xu, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at Illinois, and lead author on the study.

Photo: A farm worker harvests cocoa pods at a cocoa farm in Côte d'Ivoire, by Jorge Sellare.

URBANA, Ill. – While agrifood production is essential for feeding our growing global population, it can also contribute to environmental and social problems, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, poor or precarious labor conditions, and persistent poverty. Certification and standards can encourage use of sustainable production practices, but how effective are such programs in addressing food system challenges? A new study from a team of international researchers reviews the literature on sustainability standards and identifies a series of important questions.

(Published in Landmarks magazine, August 2021)

A once thriving hotel and cultural hot spot in Clarksdale, Mississippi, now sits partially gutted and vacant, awaiting a day when it might be brought back to life. The New Alcazar Hotel in Clarksdale is among many buildings in the region that appear on the National Register of Historic Places but are now in disrepair. A former Mississippi State graduate student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences analyzed the cultural and economic benefits of restoring structures like the Alcazar.