As part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks lecture series, Soumya Balasubramanya, Senior Economist at The World Bank, Washington, DC, will present "Recent trends in groundwater use in South Asia: The role of technology and water-energy-food-poverty nexus tradeoffs."
This event is in person in DC 1304 with a networking reception to follow in DC 1301 (The Fishbowl).
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South Asian countries aim to correct water and energy prices in groundwater irrigation, improve groundwater irrigation efficiency, and ‘rationalize’ quantity of groundwater used in irrigation, but without making poor smallholder farmers worse off. A limited understanding of the tradeoffs between efficiency gains and welfare impacts on smallholders has stymied practical policymaking on groundwater pricing. This seminar identifies knowledge gaps in the water-energy-food- technology-poverty nexus where researchers and policymakers can collaborate to generate evidence for informed decision-making. The questions raised in this seminar are relevant for other geographies where groundwater-dependent agriculture with subsidized water and energy continues to be an important source of income and livelihoods for the rural poor.
Speaker Bio
Soumya Balasubramanya is currently Senior Economist at the World Bank’s Environment Department. She was previously with the CGIAR between 2011-2022.
Soumya conducts field-based research in environment and development economics in Asia and Africa, using methods of micro-econometrics, program evaluation and non-market valuation. Her work examines topics related to water, land, food, energy and forests. She mostly works with primary data, both large and small samples.
Soumya’s research contributes to understanding ‘fractal’ vulnerabilities faced by the poor and has been used by development finance institutions and recipient governments to inform government policy, and to adaptively course-correct ongoing investments and programs.
She contributes to building research capacity in low-, middle- and high-income countries, by mentoring and advising early-career persons interested in using economics to explore issues at the nexus of poverty and natural resource management.
Soumya is Associate Editor for Agricultural Economics, World Development, and Water Resources and Economics. She also coordinates the Committee for Women in Agricultural Economics of the International Association of Agricultural Economics. She maintains academic affiliations with several universities in North America.
Soumya’s research has been featured in media outlets including BBC, Forbes, NPR, The Economist and The Guardian.