Higher Education Solutions Network – Bi-Annual Report (FY 2018)

This is accomplished through multidisciplinary, interlinked research, teaching, and practice, dissemination of results into development policy, program design, and management, and scholarly publication on the causes of conflict and its remediation through the application of science and technology. The Center tests the general hypothesis that conflict at the interface of human communities is caused by perceived differential benefits from capital in its various forms, and that science and technology can be used to modify perceived benefits at those interfaces to reduce conflict and the damage it causes. During the reporting period, a new collaboration with USAID/Mexico was planned, and programs with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation in Rwanda and El Salvador expanded, as HGBF work in DR Congo reached completion. A ConDev-created NGO in the DR Congo, the Congo Peace Center, and ConDev were jointly awarded a new project for peace-building in Bas Uele Province, DRC. ConDev academic courses expanded to three with the successful completion of the fall term course, "Women, International Development, and Environmental Conflict." Several ConDev articles were published in prestigious journals, and one ConDev-supported student graduated with his MS degree. With the maturity of the Conflict and Development Foundation from a charity into a permanent foundation under IRS regulations, a new kind 501(c)(3) charity partner, the Conflict and Development Research Foundation, was formed to permanently support ConDev. Fiscal stability of the Center appears assured with the establishment of the CDF-associated $5 million trust fund, the income from which will be partly allocated to sustaining five slots for PhD graduate research assistantships for ConDev research. Additionally, ConDev established the Tony Laos Endowed Fellowship for Research on Conflict and Development in the Middle East. The ConDev Director was named to the US Department of State Advisory Board for Stabilization, expanding upon ConDev's participation in the US Department of State Conflict and Stability Operations Network. The Center on Conflict and Development reached several major milestones and achievements in the first half of the FY18 reporting period. On January 29, 2018, the ConDev was notified that in accordance with an institutional 5-year review the Center is approved to operate as a unit of Texas A&M University for an additional 5 years. The commendation states, "The Center continues to have an impressive array of programs and geographic breadth of reach. Since its inception in 2014, the Center has made progress on broadening its portfolio beyond the USAID Center and funds from the Buffett Foundation. The Center is producing a significant contribution to the scholarly knowledge and literature of the field of conflict and development. It is developing and testing new concepts and technologies, all while incorporating students in the process as part of their education." ConDev joined the Education in Conflict and Crisis Network (ECCN) community to advocate for and advise USAID and other development organizations on promoting education in conflict-prone societies. Due to the efforts of ECCN, USAID, and its partners, most development organizations have adopted policies to promote safe learning environments for school children. The Congo Peace Center and ConDev were awarded a $1 million sub-contract by the DRC Fond Social, a contractor to the World Bank, to build local institutions to reduce conflict in the Bas Uele Province, DRC. A ConDev representative was named to the US Department of State Advisory Board on Stabilization, charged with supporting the State Department implementation of precepts included in the newly released multi-agency report on political stabilization. ConDev researchers established a causal link between commodity prices and conflict in Sudan, using dynamic time series modeling and Bayesian algorithms to show that commodity prices that are not determined by the local markets are more likely to drive conflict. The results of this research may have policy implications on strategies of disbursing agricultural and food aid. ConDev researchers also established a causal connection between penetration of governance and conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa, using Geo-Coded information and weather shock data as an instrumental variable to avoid endogeneity and to establish causal links. The research has the potential to affect aid delivery mechanisms and USAID's efforts to promote civic engagement. ConDev researchers completed a study on the effects of ICT in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, using information gathered from a "Transformative Solution" implemented by Domaine Monts de la Lune, a local firm. The study found that while several challenges to farmer extension persist, the presence of ICT generated several unexpected outcomes, including improved communication of logistical and organizational information across long distances. In addition, the study found that ICT enabled farmers' collective action in several capacities that addressed their greatest perceived challenges, including their response to crop theft and lobbying the cooperative's management entity to ensure cash-on-receipt payments for their crops. The study was presented in the International Food and Agri-Business Management Association Conference, where several organizations showed interest in adapting to DML's approach. Recently, Gadiraju Co-Op in India has