The Impact Of Irrigation On Nutrition Health And Gender A Review Paper With Insights For Africa South Of The Sahara

Author : Laia Domenech
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 28 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2013-04-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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The Impact of Irrigation on Nutrition, Health, and Gender by Laia Domenech Pdf

Agriculture in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) is still largely rainfed. SSA also exhibits the lowest crop yields for major staples in the world, largely due to low use of irrigation and fertilizer. Rainfed agriculture poses growing production risks with increased climate variability and change. At the same time, smallholder irrigation in the region developed rapidly over the past decade, albeit starting from very low levels. In addition to largely demand-driven irrigation development by smallholders, there is a significant push by donors for large-scale irrigation development, as well as some push for smallholder irrigation. There has also been a long-standing debate about whether irrigation in SSA should be large scale or small scale to achieve its potential. However, given the potentially high rewards, but also high possibility of failure, the assessment of irrigation potential must go beyond large scale versus small scale to integrate concerns regarding environmental sustainability, resource use efficiency, nutrition and health impacts, and women’s empowerment. The hypothesis underlying this review paper is that how irrigation gets deployed in SSA will be decisive not only for environmental sustainability (such as deciding remaining forest cover in the region) and poverty reduction, but also for health, nutrition, and gender outcomes in the region. The focus of this paper is on the health, nutrition, and gender linkage. We find that to date, few studies have analyzed the impact of irrigation interventions on nutrition, health, and women’s empowerment, despite the large potential of irrigation to affect these important variables. Irrigation interventions may have differential effects on different members in the household and in the community, such as irrigators, non-irrigators, children, and women. Measuring and understanding such differences, followed by improving design and implementation to maximize gender, health, and nutrition outcomes, could transform irrigation programs from focusing solely on increased food production toward becoming an integral component of poverty-reduction strategies.

Author : Laia Domenech, and Claudia Ringler
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2024-06-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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The impact of irrigation on nutrition, health, and gender: A review paper with insights for Africa south of the Sahara by Laia Domenech, and Claudia Ringler Pdf

Author : Lyla Mehta,Theib Oweis,Claudia Ringler,Barbara Schreiner,Shiney Varghese
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 214 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2019-09-19
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781315189949

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Water for Food Security, Nutrition and Social Justice by Lyla Mehta,Theib Oweis,Claudia Ringler,Barbara Schreiner,Shiney Varghese Pdf

This book is the first comprehensive effort to bring together Water, Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) in a way that goes beyond the traditional focus on irrigated agriculture. Apart from looking at the role of water and sanitation for human well-being, it proposes alternative and more locally appropriate ways to address complex water management and governance challenges from the local to global levels against a backdrop of growing uncertainties. The authors challenge mainstream supply-oriented and neo-Malthusian visions that argue for the need to increase the land area under irrigation in order to feed the world’s growing population. Instead, they argue for a reframing of the debate concerning production processes, waste, food consumption and dietary patterns whilst proposing alternative strategies to improve water and land productivity, putting the interests of marginalized and disenfranchized groups upfront. The book highlights how accessing water for FSN can be challenging for small-holders, vulnerable and marginalized women and men, and how water allocation systems and reform processes can negatively affect local people’s informal rights. The book argues for the need to improve policy coherence across water, land and food and is original in making a case for strengthening the relationship between the human rights to water and food, especially for marginalized women and men. It will be of great interest to practitioners, students and researchers working on water and food issues.

Author : John L. Fiedler,Enoch M. Kikulwe,Ekin Birol
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 44 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2013-07-16
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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An Ex Ante Analysis of the Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Biofortified High-Provitamin A and High-Iron Banana in Uganda by John L. Fiedler,Enoch M. Kikulwe,Ekin Birol Pdf

Uganda has made notable progress in reducing micronutrient deficiencies in recent years, but the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and anemia among children under 5 remain unacceptably high. According to World Health Organization criteria, VAD remains a public health problem in Uganda, and anemia is a severe problem. In this paper we explore the potential contribution to reducing both of these deficiencies using a genetically modified, high–provitamin A and high-iron banana (HPVAHIB) that is currently being developed. We present an ex ante analysis of the costs and nutritional benefits of HPVAHIB. Using the Ugandan National Household Survey of 2005/06, we analyzed the production and consumption patterns of highland cooking banana (nakinyika) and sweet banana (sukalindizi). Informed by the empirical findings, we developed geographically differentiated adoption, production, consumption, and diffusion patterns for several types of HPVAHIB. Based on households’ reported quantities of each type of banana currently consumed, we estimated the number of people consuming each banana and the quantities they consume, and then simulated the additional intakes of vitamin A and iron and estimated the number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved attributable to each. Combining the health impacts with the estimated costs of the project, three impact measures of the HPVAHIB are developed: the cost per DALY saved, the benefit–cost ratio, and the internal rate of return. Eighteen scenarios are estimated. The base scenario, which includes only the biofortification of cooking banana with provitamin A at a level equal to 400 percent its intrinsic provitamin A content, estimates that the net present cost per DALY saved of HPVAHIB is US$62, its benefit–cost ratio is 16, and its internal rate of return is 31 percent. According to criteria established by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, the HPVAHIB project is a “very cost-effective” health intervention.

Author : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher : Food & Agriculture Org.
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2020-11-26
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9789251334416

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The State of Food and Agriculture 2020 by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Pdf

Intensifying water constraints threaten food security and nutrition. Thus, urgent action is needed to make water use in agriculture more sustainable and equitable. Irrigated agriculture remains by far the largest user of freshwater, but scarcity of freshwater is a growing problem owing to increasing demand and competition for freshwater resources. At the same time, rainfed agriculture is facing increasing precipitation variability driven by climate change. These trends will exacerbate disputes among water users and inequality in access to water, especially for small-scale farmers, the rural poor and other vulnerable populations. The State of Food and Agriculture 2020 presents new estimates on the pervasiveness of water scarcity in irrigated agriculture and of water shortages in rainfed agriculture, as well as on the number of people affected. It finds major differences across countries, and also substantial spatial variation within countries. This evidence informs a discussion of how countries may determine appropriate policies and interventions, depending on the nature and magnitude of the problem, but also on other factors such as the type of agricultural production system and countries’ level of development and their political structures. Based on this, the publication provides guidance on how countries can prioritize policies and interventions to overcome water constraints in agriculture, while ensuring efficient, sustainable and equitable access to water.

Author : Margherita Calderone,Jean-Francois Maystadt,Liangzhi You
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 78 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2013-07-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Local Warming and Violent Conflict in North and South Sudan by Margherita Calderone,Jean-Francois Maystadt,Liangzhi You Pdf

Weather shocks and natural disasters, it has been argued, represent a major threat to national and international security. Our paper contributes to the emerging micro-level strand of the literature on the link between local variations in weather shocks and conflict by focusing on a pixel-level analysis for North and South Sudan at different geographical and time scales between 1997 and 2009. Temperature anomalies are found to strongly affect the risk of conflict. In the future the risk is expected to magnify in a range of 21 to 30 percent under a median scenario, taking into account uncertainties in both the climate projection and the estimate of the response of violence to temperature variations. Extreme temperature shocks are found to strongly affect the likelihood of violence as well, but the predictive power is hindered by substantial uncertainty. Our paper also sheds light on the vulnerability of areas with particular biophysical characteristics or with vulnerable populations.

Author : Leslie Lipper,Nancy McCarthy,David Zilberman,Solomon Asfaw,Giacomo Branca
Publisher : Springer
Page : 630 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2017-10-20
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9783319611945

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Climate Smart Agriculture by Leslie Lipper,Nancy McCarthy,David Zilberman,Solomon Asfaw,Giacomo Branca Pdf

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license. The book uses an economic lens to identify the main features of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), its likely impact, and the challenges associated with its implementation. Drawing upon theory and concepts from agricultural development, institutional, and resource economics, this book expands and formalizes the conceptual foundations of CSA. Focusing on the adaptation/resilience dimension of CSA, the text embraces a mixture of conceptual analyses, including theory, empirical and policy analysis, and case studies, to look at adaptation and resilience through three possible avenues: ex-ante reduction of vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity, and ex-post risk coping. The book is divided into three sections. The first section provides conceptual framing, giving an overview of the CSA concept and grounding it in core economic principles. The second section is devoted to a set of case studies illustrating the economic basis of CSA in terms of reducing vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity and ex-post risk coping. The final section addresses policy issues related to climate change. Providing information on this new and important field in an approachable way, this book helps make sense of CSA and fills intellectual and policy gaps by defining the concept and placing it within an economic decision-making framework. This book will be of interest to agricultural, environmental, and natural resource economists, development economists, and scholars of development studies, climate change, and agriculture. It will also appeal to policy-makers, development practitioners, and members of governmental and non-governmental organizations interested in agriculture, food security and climate change.

Author : Ringler, C.,Choufani, J.,Chase, C.,McCartney, Matthew,Mateo-Sagasta, Javier,Mekonnen, D.,Dickens, Chris
Publisher : Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)
Page : 28 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2018-12-11
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9789290908722

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Meeting the nutrition and water targets of the Sustainable Development Goals by Ringler, C.,Choufani, J.,Chase, C.,McCartney, Matthew,Mateo-Sagasta, Javier,Mekonnen, D.,Dickens, Chris Pdf

Author : Mayaux, L.P., Lejars, C., Farolfi, S., Adamczewski-Hertzog, A., Hassenforde, E., Faysse, N., Jamin, J.Y.
Publisher : Food & Agriculture Org.
Page : 71 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2022-07-30
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9789251366332

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Enabling institutional environments conducive to livelihood improvement and adapted investments in sustainable land and water uses by Mayaux, L.P., Lejars, C., Farolfi, S., Adamczewski-Hertzog, A., Hassenforde, E., Faysse, N., Jamin, J.Y. Pdf

This report reviews the main global trends in land and water uses, policies and investments that have taken place over the last decade and identifies the institutional arrangements that have been the most conducive to sustainable and equitable use of these resources. The report focuses particularly on family farmers, who have limited access to key resources (land, water, credit and infrastructure). It pays special attention to their common challenges and needs, but also to their diverse conditions. It provides evidence-based information on the institutional conditions needed to ensure inclusive land and water programmes, and to upscale such programmes at local levels. It is based on a systematic review of official documents and academic papers and on detailed case studies, often grounded in the authors’ own significant knowledge. The report is organized in three main parts. The first section begins with a review of the main global trends affecting land and water uses over the last decade, and links them to the public policies and types of private investment that encouraged such trends. The main structural drivers of growing pressures on water resources and land availability are discussed, including population growth, diet changes, climate change, urbanization and biofuel development. The report discusses the direct effects of these drivers, including water scarcity, increased global competition for land use and the degradation of existing resources, on land and water availability. It then examines the main types of private investments and public policies that drive these trends: large-scale land acquisition, reassertion of large-scale infrastructure programmes for surface water irrigation, public subsidies and private initiatives that stimulate access to groundwater. The second section of the report focuses on the impacts of global changes, policies and investments on farmers’ livelihoods and water use. It reviews the numerous beneficial impacts of irrigation on poverty reduction emphasizing that they are highly contextual and unequally shared across social groups. It documents the widening gap between irrigated and rainfed areas, and the risks of a medium-term crisis for agricultural economies that are based on groundwater irrigation. It emphasizes that existing policies are poorly tailored to farmers’ needs. Lastly, the section documents the complex relationship between migration and increased pressures on land and water. The third section of the report charts the way forward for more sustainable and equitable management of land and water. It takes stock of policies inspired by the principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM).

Author : Catherine Ragasa,Yan Sun,Elizabeth Bryan,Caroline Abate,Atlaw Alemu,Mahamadou Namori Keita
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 64 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2013-07-17
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Organizational and Institutional Issues in Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management by Catherine Ragasa,Yan Sun,Elizabeth Bryan,Caroline Abate,Atlaw Alemu,Mahamadou Namori Keita Pdf

Climate change places demand on existing governance structures to reform and work more effectively than in the past. In response, greater attention to and funding for climate change adaptation—including the efforts of National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs), the Least Developed Country Fund, the Special Climate Change Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and the E.U. Global Climate Change Alliance—provide an opportunity for institutional, organizational, and human-capacity strengthening. This study was conducted to explore the challenges and opportunities for building human, organizational, and institutional capacity for more effective climate change adaptation in developing countries. It is part of a larger research project titled “Enhancing Women’s Assets to Manage Risk under Climate Change: Potential for Group-Based Approaches,” which is being conducted to help organizations better understand ways in which development projects can assist rural households in adapting to and managing the effects of climate change. This report provides some reflections and insights on the level of awareness, practices, and organizational and institutional issues being faced by countries as they adapt to climate change, based on interviews with 87 practitioners working in government agencies, local organizations, international organizations, and think thanks reporting involvement in climate change adaptation. Data were collected in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mali using both an e-survey platform and face-to-face interviews. Responses reveal active work within these organizations on climate change adaptation and emphasize their important role in the countries’ efforts to address and adapt to climate change. Responses also reveal strong awareness among these organizations of different aspects of climate change adaptation along the different stages in a climate change adaptation project cycle, which may be a reflection of the active discussions and awareness campaigns during NAPA development in these countries. However, despite the awareness and presence of national strategies and action plans, there seem to be no explicit and clearly defined policy and strategy within these organizations outlining their role in and contribution to the national and collective efforts and, more importantly, no explicit and measurable targets and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system to track progress and outcomes over time. Reported capacity gaps can be grouped into two categories: training needs and institutional challenges. In many organizations, there is limited awareness of and emphasis on the need for participation of target groups and beneficiaries during design and planning of climate change adaptation projects. In addition, many respondents reported a need for greater attention to issues related to profitability, financial sustainability, and market access from climate change project design to M&E. Finally, respondents emphasized that climate change projects should pay greater attention to gender, social, political, and cultural issues in their design and implementation. Reflections of respondents also highlighted the need for organizational capacity strengthening for those local organizations working in and providing services to rural communities, and for promoting a culture of impact and M&E within these organizations, in addition to the reported training needs in climate change management and in gender and social analysis. While this report provides some insights, further empirical analyses are needed to discover more details on strategies that could help trigger mind-set and organizational culture change and to capture the complexity of organizational and institutional issues hindering climate change adaptation efforts that aim at reducing vulnerability and contributing to development outcomes.

Author : Mariam A. T. J. Mapila
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 32 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2013-07-16
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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The Impact of Alternative Input Subsidy Exit Strategies on Malawi’s Maize Commodity Market by Mariam A. T. J. Mapila Pdf

This study has been conducted in order to generate evidence of the visibility of exit from farm input subsidies in an African context. The study simulates the impact of alternative exit strategies from Malawi’s farm input subsidy program on maize markets. The simulation is conducted using a multiequation partial equilibrium model of the national maize market, which is sequentially linked via a price-linkage equation to local rural maize markets. The model accounts for market imperfections prevailing in the country that arise from government price interventions. Findings show that some alternative exit strategies have negative and sustained impacts on maize yields, production, and acreage allocated to maize over the simulation period. Market prices rise steadily as a result of the implementation of different exit strategies. Despite higher maize prices, domestic maize consumption remains fairly stable, with a slow but increasing trend over the simulation period. Results further suggest that exit strategies that are coupled with improvements in agricultural extension services have the potential to offset the negative impacts of the removal or scaling down of agricultural input subsidies. The study findings demonstrate the difficulty of feasibly removing farm input subsidies. Study recommendations are therefore relevant for policymakers and development partners debating removal or implementation of farm input subsidies.

Author : Travis J. Lybbert,Nicholas Magnan,David J. Spielman,Anil Bhargava,Kajal Gulati
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 44 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2013-07-02
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Targeting Technology to Reduce Poverty and Conserve Resources by Travis J. Lybbert,Nicholas Magnan,David J. Spielman,Anil Bhargava,Kajal Gulati Pdf

Demand heterogeneity often makes it profitable for firms to price and promote goods and services differently in different market segments. When private consumption brings public benefits, this same heterogeneity can be used to target public subsidies. We explore the design of public–private targeting and segmentation strategies in the case of a resource-conserving agricultural technology in India. To understand farmers’ heterogeneous demand for laser land leveling (LLL), we conducted an experimental auction for LLL services with an integrated randomized controlled trial to estimate the private benefits of the technology. We use graphical and econometric approaches to characterize farmer demand for LLL. We then add detailed cost data from LLL providers to simulate and evaluate several potential targeted delivery strategies based on measures of (1) the cost-effectiveness of expanding LLL dissemination, (2) water savings, and (3) market surplus in a welfare framework. These simulations demonstrate inherent tradeoffs between increasing the amount of land that is leveled and expanding the number of farmers who adopt the technology, and between adoption and water savings. While segmenting and targeting are popular elements of many public–private partnerships to develop and disseminate agricultural technologies, formulating and implementing effective delivery strategies requires a rich understanding of costs, benefits, and demand. Our experimental approach generates such an understanding and may be relevant in other contexts.

Author : Oluyemisi Kuku-Shittu,Astrid Mathiassen,Amit Wadhwa,Lucy Myles,Akeem Ajibola
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 44 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2013-07-30
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis by Oluyemisi Kuku-Shittu,Astrid Mathiassen,Amit Wadhwa,Lucy Myles,Akeem Ajibola Pdf

The Nigerian Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) provides an in-depth assessment of the food security situation within Nigeria. This is very important as it equips policymakers with timely and relevant information that will aid the targeting of interventions. Some of the most pertinent findings of the study are listed below: • Food insecurity and poverty are intricately linked. Some 29 percent of households in the poorest wealth quintiles have unacceptable diets (9 percent poor and 20 percent borderline) compared with 15 percent in the wealthiest (2 percent poor and 13 percent borderline). • The poorest livelihoods are found in agriculture. Seventy-seven percent of subsistence farmers are found in the two poorest wealth quintiles, as are 70 percent of mixed or cash crop farmers. • The general state of water and sanitation facilities available to households in all wealth categories is very poor, with consequent health implications. Forty-five percent of respondents do not have access to decent toilets, and 85 percent have no proper means of refuse disposal. • The vulnerable and food insecure are mostly found in rural areas and the North West and North East regions of Nigeria. • Most households in all regions and at all wealth levels purchase food, but rural households and poorer households (by wealth and livelihood) also rely heavily on own food production. Households in the poorest quintiles in both rural and urban areas rely on own production (32 percent rural and 24 percent urban). Wealthier urban households rely mostly on purchases, whereas own production is common at varying levels across all wealth levels for rural households. • Nigerians generally consume a starchy diet, but wealthier households can afford more nutrient-rich foods (including animal-based proteins) than poorer households. For instance, the wealthiest households consume meat, fish, and eggs an average of four days a week compared with only two days for the poorest households. • Most households protect vulnerable household members in terms of food allocations (women and children), but that may not hold in the poorest households where some difficult allocation decisions may have to be made. • Poorer households are more likely to engage in extreme coping strategies (like going a whole day without food) to deal with food shortages.

Author : Hiroyuki Takeshima,Kipo Jimah,Shashidhara Kolavalli,Xinshen Diao,Rebecca Lee Funk
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2013-06-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Dynamics of Transformation by Hiroyuki Takeshima,Kipo Jimah,Shashidhara Kolavalli,Xinshen Diao,Rebecca Lee Funk Pdf

Agriculture in African South of the Sahara (SSA) can be transformed if the right public support is provided at the initial stage, and it can sustain itself once the enabling environment is put in place. Successes are also specific to the location of projects. In Ghana, interesting insights are obtained from the successful Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP), contrasted with other major irrigation projects in the country. Through an exploratory review, we describe how a productive system evolved in KIP and how public support for critical aspects (accumulation of crop husbandry knowledge, selection and supply of profitable varieties, and mechanization of land preparation) might have created a productive environment that the private sector could enter and fill in the market for credit, processing, mechanization of harvesting, and other institutional voids that typically have constrained agricultural transformation in the rest of SSA. Slower progress in other projects also raises a number of questions. We conclude by summarizing those questions and some testable hypotheses for future research.

Author : Haipeng Xing,Xiaobo Zhang
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 28 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2013-06-26
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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The Logic of Adaptive Sequential Experimentation in Policy Design by Haipeng Xing,Xiaobo Zhang Pdf

Inspired by the wide adoption of rigorous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in medical research, economists and other social scientists have increasingly used RCTs in their research. As researchers pick up projects amenable to the RCT methodology, they likely leave out important questions to which RCTs cannot be directly applied. As a result, RCTs have been criticized for the proclivity of addressing trivial questions. As a matter of fact, in medical research RCTs are an integral part of adaptive sequential experiment design—a few steps must be taken to screen out drugs that have toxins and strong side effects before running any RCTs on humans. In this paper, we argue that economists can learn a great deal from the design principles implemented in medical research. We develop a theoretical model to show the logic of adaptive sequential experiment design in the presence of uncertainty over negative effects and discuss how to choose samples in a population to minimize the experiment cost. We also point out the applications of our proposed framework in the economic domain, such as economic reforms and new product design.