Led by Program Director Dr. Christa Court, interdisciplinary experts from the Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have created a robust disaster impact analysis program that leverages carefully procured data and input from Florida’s communities to produce timely, accurate, scientifically-based analysis of the impacts experienced by in the aftermath of both natural disasters and manmade hazards.
For these efforts, Court, an Associate Professor of Regional Economics in the UF/IFAS Department of Food & Resource Economics, was recently recognized with an honorable mention for the Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program Award for an individual with less than ten years of experience at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) annual meeting.
“This award is highly competitive as there are many economists providing very influential and impactful extension programs for a variety of audiences around the country! My team and I are very honored and humbled to receive an honorable mention, as it demonstrates that our work is not only useful and usable for our audiences, but also that it is recognized and respected for its scientific rigor by our discipline,” Court said.
The members of the UF/IFAS EIAP team working on disaster impact analysis include research assistant professor Dr. Xiaohui Qiao, Ph.D. candidate Roberto Koeneke, research coordinator Kelsey McDaid, and marketing and communications specialist Alena Poulin.
Assessment of Agricultural Losses Due to Natural Disasters
With 9.7 million acres of farmland that produce over $8 billion in crops, livestock, and animal products annually, and some form of agriculture present in every county, Florida agriculture is a vital part of our state’s economy and its identity.
“Our state’s cultural heritage is closely tied to agriculture through subsistence farming practices of native populations, the arrival of cattle with European settlers in the 1500s, and the post-Civil War explosion of commodities grown throughout Florida thanks to its climatic conditions, rich soils, and railway system,” Court said. “While the economy and food system have both evolved over time, one thing remains constant: for our producers, farming is a way of life – one that can be threatened by natural or manmade disasters.”
The analyses done by Court and her team in response to disaster events supports the agricultural industry by providing information that can guide decision-making related to agricultural disaster declaration, response, recovery, and relief.
In the case of tropical cyclones and other flooding events, Dr. Court and her team analyze the acute, short-term agricultural production losses associated with these events and communicate results to industry stakeholders, government agencies, and policymakers.
“We specialize in estimating agricultural production losses, in part due to data availability, but also because these production losses allow us to focus on changes to Florida producers’ sales revenues for the current calendar year or marketing season,” Court said. “Understanding these changes in revenues is vital when decisions are being made related to disaster response, relief, long-term recovery, and resilience.”
Assessment of Other Hazards
For other types of hazard events, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, harmful algal blooms, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the team also often investigates the broad array of socioeconomic impacts that occur due to change in the quality of a natural resource or changes in demand.
“Disaster impacts vary widely based on the type of event, event characteristics (time, location, intensity, duration, etc.), what was impacted, and how it was impacted,” Court said. “A more comprehensive understanding of how various human and natural systems are connected and interact during all types of disaster events is critical to making Florida’s communities and populations more resilient.”
Statewide Collaboration Efforts
The UF/IFAS EIAP works extensively with other UF faculty and administrators, UF/IFAS Extension professionals in the field, and other organizations. Florida Cooperative Extension professionals work directly with producers and businesses in their regions and assist Court and her team by leveraging their connections with the stakeholders to determine impacts to their businesses. With support from the UF/IFAS Communications Spanish Media Team, the UF/IFAS EIAP has also been able to provide Spanish–language versions of all surveys, hurricane reports, and informational flyers. These translation efforts make both data collection efforts and outreach more accessible for a wider range of Floridians. Court stresses the importance of these relationships and appreciates the connected network’s concerted efforts.
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