The rural poor of Hazaribag suffer from vitamin A and iron deficiencies from meals containing rice (200-400g) and limited (25-50g) slow-cooked vegetables with potatoes. This causes undernourishment in 50% of children and 40% of women. The two main causes are lack of access to nutritious foods, and lack of knowledge about nutrition. Through extension, 24 women were taught and quantitatively assessed about growing avocado and drumstick trees, and proper nutrition. Participants were monitored for four months using persistent observation to qualitatively evaluate the adoption process of four behaviors (eating and feeding avocados to children; increasing consumption of drumstick leaves/pods; caring for grafted avocado trees, and planting avocado seeds) and their consequences. From the assessment of knowledge gained and retained, results indicate a statistically significant difference among all test scores, T1 and T2 (p = .001, t = -5.58), T1 and T3 (p = .001, t = -6.98), T2 and T3 (p = .038, t = -2.20), and T4 perceptions of knowledge before/after training (p = .001, t = -16.32). Qualitative studies show the women did adopt a majority of the behaviors, with 100% eating or feeding avocados to children; 60% eating more drumstick leaves/pods; 90% caring for avocado trees and 50% planting seeds. A number of consequences were associated with the adoption of the behaviors. Many of the women reported perceptions of improved health and expressed that children were falling sick less often due to the avocados and drumstick leaves/pods. The MUAC test showed that children who ate avocados weekly had increases in their mid-upper-arm circumference. And, people outside the study became interested in avocados because the participants shared their new knowledge. Most extension programs result in knowledge gains, but this study showed that with continued engagement and interaction, the participants were able to retain and gain additional knowledge about agriculture and proper nutrition. From the data collected, it is clear that the women learned and adopted the behaviors to improve their nutrition resulting in positive changes. Ultimately, there is a connection between extension, knowledge gains, and behavior adoption. This could be a powerful tool to address malnutrition in Hazaribag.

This dissertation aims to understand the mechanisms behind the adoption of smart cities technologies (SCT) and how they can promote social equity in local communities in the United States. There is a distinct lack of empirical research addressing the methods designed for the promotion of social equity despite their numerous benefits. The present study will address this omission in the scholarship by providing evidence-based insights on how public administrators can leverage SCT to promote distributional social equity through the Digital Era Governance (DEG) and Adoption Theory frameworks. This study also demonstrates the efficacy of applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to understand better the mechanism leading to the acceptance and adoption of SCT in the United States. Lastly, it provides insightful evidence demonstrating the value of these approaches and their influence on policymakers’ decisions using SCT to address one of society’s most challenging issues, fostering social equity. It utilizes data from the ICMA’s 2016 Smart Cities Survey, the 2015 Sustainability Practices Survey, and the U.S. Census Bureau. The study employs logistic and negative binomial regressions to examine the factors influencing commitment to using SCT, engagement with SCT, and distributional social equity. The findings indicate that factors such as ‘perceived usefulness’ and ‘ease of use’ influence commitment to SCT usage, which impacts SCT engagement, leading to social equity outcomes