Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 20th Sept 2025, 10:19:45pm CEST
External resources will be made available 60 min before a session starts. You may have to reload the page to access the resources.
Session Chair: Arjola Arapi-Gjini, Leibniz Institute for Agriculture Development in Transition Economies
Location:Conference Room II
Presentations
Cause or Result? The Relationship Between Internet Use and Mental Health Risks Among Rural Children
yu wan1, Tianli Feng2, Huan Wang3, Qiran Zhao1, Scott Rozelle3
1College of Economic and Management, China Agricultural University, China; 2School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China; 3Center on China's Economy and Institutions, Stanford University, USA
Rural out-migration is reshaping demographic and economic landscapes worldwide, often leaving behind children in resource-limited environments. This study examines how internet use interacts with mental health among rural children in China, where digital access has expanded amidst ongoing socio-economic transformations. As digital connectivity expands, concerns arise about its psychological effects, particularly in resource-limited settings. While prior studies in high-income countries suggest internet use may contribute to adolescent depression, little is known about its impact in rural developing areas, where internet use might instead serve as a coping mechanism rather than a cause of distress.
Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines qualitative interviews with students, parents, and teachers in rural Sichuan and quantitative analysis of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data. A structural simultaneous equations model is employed to address endogeneity, leveraging parental nurturance and a Bartik-style instrumental variable.
Findings indicate that depression risk drives increased internet use rather than the reverse. The root cause of children’s depression risk is parental maltreatment or emotional neglect. Internet use functions as a coping strategy, yet its long-term effectiveness remains uncertain. The study suggests that policies should prioritize improving family support structures and mental health resources rather than solely restricting internet access.
Household Food Security Dynamics in Kyrgyzstan (2013–2022): A Probabilistic Approach
Salima Bekbolotova1, Nodir Djanibekov1, Barchynai Kimsanova1, Thomas Herzfeld1,2
1Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Germany; 2Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg: Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt, DE
We analyze food security dynamics in Kyrgyzstan from 2013 to 2022 using data from the Kyrgyz Integrated Household Survey (KHIS; >5,000 households) and the probability of food security (PFS) metric proposed by Lee et al. (2023). The selected approach allows us to examine the conditional distribution of food insecurity spells, distinguishing between chronic and transient food insecurity. Given regional consumption patterns, we estimate food expenditures based on self-reported consumption, including self-grown food as recorded in KIHS.
Our approach captures variations in food security across income, demographics, geography, and education. Differentiating between chronic and transient food insecurity is crucial for effective policymaking. This distinction informs targeted long-term interventions for persistently food-insecure households and short-term safety nets for those experiencing temporary shocks. Our findings provide critical insights for designing more adaptive and equitable food security policies in Kyrgyzstan.
Pathways to food security in Tajikistan: direct and indirect effects of migration through farm resilience
Bekhzod Egamberdiev1,2, Ihtiyor Bobojonov1, Lena Kuhn1, Thomas Glauben1
1IAMO, Germany; 2German-Uzbek Chair on Central Asian Agricultural Economics (GUCAE), International Agriculture University (IAU)
Households, experiencing unprecedented climate change in Tajikistan, depend on migration. However, the contribution of migration is not always pervasive in food security achievements. The manuscript analyses how migration directly or indirectly changes food security outcomes. Using a dataset from USAID and IFPRI for the Khatlon province of Tajikistan, we confirm that migration directly increases dietary diversity and decreases household hunger. In addition, migration through strengthening farm resilience capacity indirectly improves food security outcomes.
