TIE Affiliation

Environmental Research Fellowship

Research

This project explores the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, its impact on farmers' lives in Puerto Rico, and the necessary mechanisms to help them return to the markets. The hurricane exposed Puerto Rico's vulnerabilities, especially its dependence on food imports and a limited local food supply chain. Understanding that violent climatic events are on the rise, and that farmers play critical roles in the development of a resilient local food system, this project aims to bring forward their experiences of resilience as a result of this unprecedented hurricane and the impact of different types of response. We plan to collect primary-source data from a representative sample of farmers, their farming operations, and systems that support them. This data will be collected to understand how the current safety-net programs, at the state and federal levels, worked or failed to work in response to the disaster.

Biography

Nayla studies Agriculture, Food and the Environment at Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition with a focus on sustainable food systems. Her motivation grows from exposure to food manufacturing, the supply chain and her experiences growing up in Puerto Rico where a dependence on food imports and an agricultural market hungry for development underlines the declining health of its citizens. Nayla is interested in opportunities of inclusive and participatory research that advance food systems work with the contributions of communities and their key stakeholders.