Liz Bageant

Wastewater systems collect and treat water that flows from indoor uses, such as homes

and businesses. Drinking water systems supply safe, reliable drinking water to homes,

businesses and other structures requiring water service. This Idaho at a Glance focuses

on domestic wastewater and drinking water systems and excludes industrial systems,

except where specified.

Populations change due to a combination of migration, births and deaths. Population change is the difference between all new residents in Idaho, including babies born and people moving in, and those who died or moved away. Population totals are estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau based on census counts, household surveys and other government data. These estimates are updated annually using new data and every decade based on census counts.

A refugee is someone who has fled their home country and is unable to return due to “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”1. The United States Refugee Resettlement Act (1980) created a permanent process for the U.S. to admit and support refugees, which is implemented in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).2 The U.S. permanently resettles refugees in all states, including Idaho.2,3

This report describes Idaho’s unauthorized workforce and how their work, spending and taxes relate to Idaho’s economy. The University of Idaho James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research examined existing data and research on unauthorized immigrants, both nationally and in Idaho. The most recent data on the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States and Idaho are from 2021, with more detailed data only available for earlier years.1 This report summarizes conclusions from existing data and does not update estimates or collect new quantitative data. It integrates perspectives and up-to-date information on Idaho’s unauthorized workforce from Idaho professionals in agriculture, dairy and hospitality industries. The McClure Center conducts independent, evidence-based research. Publications contain no policy recommendations.

Introduction: The impact of COVID-19 on small-scale fishing communities is of great concern given the importance of aquatic foods in trade, nutrition and livelihoods. Using a case study of Lake Victoria, augmented by published literature, we examine the socioeconomic dynamics and severity of COVID-19 impacts on Kenyan fishing communities.

Methods: A household level questionnaire was administered through phone interviews on a monthly basis from June 2020 to May 2021, including a focus group discussion in July 2021.

Results: We find that multifold fear of COVID-19 infection and control measures were present and varied across case rates and stringency of control measures. Fishers and traders reported being affected by disease control measures that limited market access and their ability to fish overnight. In spite of these worries, and contrary to what has been reported in the published literature regarding impacts observed in the early months of the pandemic, we see stable participation in fishing and fish trading over time despite the pandemic. Food insecurity was high before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, but did not substantially shift with the pandemic.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Kenyan fishing and fish trading households adopted diverse strategies to cope and balance generating income to provide for their families and staying safe. Our results underscore the need to understand ways in which acute pandemic impacts evolve over time given that effects are likely heterogeneous across small-scale fishing communities.

For decades, the lack of high-quality empirical economic research on the state of Africa's agriculture and rural economies has been an important factor impeding the formulation of evidence-based policy on the continent. The Structural Transformation of African Agriculture and Rural Spaces program aims to build a critical mass of early career African scholars and policy research through an emphasis on mentorship and professional development to help remedy that deficiency. This paper explains the motivations, origins, and outcomes to date of the program, and offers lessons learned for others wishing to create research capacity development opportunities for under-represented groups.

This open access book is the result of an expert panel convened by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Nature Sustainability. The panel tackled the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 head-on, with respect to the global systems that produce and distribute food. The panel’s rigorous synthesis and analysis of existing research leads compellingly to multiple actionable recommendations that, if adopted, would simultaneously lead to healthy and nutritious diets, equitable and inclusive value chains, resilience to shocks and stressors, and climate and environmental sustainability.

Small-scale fisheries underpin the aquatic food supply, and are facing acute challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aimed to examine how small-scale fishing households, including fishers and fish traders, are responding to COVID-19 and associated movement restrictions around Lake Victoria, Kenya. We conducted phone interviews with 88 households in three riparian communities around Lake Victoria to examine shifts in fish consumption, fishing activities, price changes, and coping strategies. We found that households are consuming less fish, perceiving high fish prices, and coping by more often selling than eating fish. Most fishers and traders reported spending less time fishing and trading, and concern about being infected with COVID-19 was high. Our findings suggest movement restrictions and COVID-19 concern, along with high lake levels in the region, may limit fishing activities and fish access. Controlling COVID-19 and supporting opportunities for fishers and traders to safely return to their livelihood activities will be paramount to the recovery of small-scale fishing communities today. Our findings can also support planning to mitigate the impacts of future crises on small-scale fishing communities.