Food Security

issues signals a clear warning for the future sustainability of this global industry. The linking together of global experts in the culture, capture and trading of crustaceans with pathologists, epidemiologists, ecologists, therapeutics specialists and policy makers in the field of food security will allow these issues to be better identified and addressed.

The welfare state continues to be eroded in the Global North. In Canada and the U.S., food banks are now one of the only systems of relief available. But in both countries, critics have accused food banks of being apolitical and thus taking away government responsibility to address inequality. The rise of food banks has been linked to the decline of the welfare state, leading to an assumption that an increase in public assistance can end the need for food banks. Yet little research exists that examines how other institutions such as the food industry drove food bank growth, or how food banks are politically active. The history of food banks in Canada presents an informative case study because the state was not directly involved in establishing food banks, thus allowing greater insight into the role of industry in the institutionalization of food banks and their political activity. Using environmental institutions and political ecology frameworks we conducted a literature review and interviews of experts, as well as a case study of one food bank. Our findings suggest that the factors leading to the existence of food banks cannot only be linked to cuts in welfare; rather, the influence of industrial decline and centralization of the food industry must also be taken into account, as well as social movements and the policy gap around food waste. Food banks can be political, using available resources as ‘fuel’ to challenge government failure. The case of Canadian food banks indicates that, to address inequality and food insecurity in the Global North, researchers and policy-makers should not only focus on welfare but need to tackle the cost-shifting practices of the food industry and work toward joined-up and nested food policy institutions. Further, food banks, or organizations that look like them, can help address rising food insecurity if they are provided with sufficient legal, political, and financial support.

This paper identifies some of the key intersections between trade policy and water management, in areas such as agriculture, hydropower generation, water services and wastewater management.
From a trade policy perspective, the main immediate concern is to ensure that international trade rules and disciplines do not unduly affect countries’ ability to manage their water resources sustainably and according to their respective social preferences. While the local nature of water systems and the diversity of water management objectives is not conducive to the application of trade instruments to enforce a prescriptive, one-size-fits-all approach to water management, there
is also a range of areas in which trade policy could support the sustainable management of water
and related SDG objectives.

Which heat process value F should a particular food receive to make it safe and shelf stable?
* Section 1 lists reported sterilization values F0 = F zero (reference temperature 121.1 oC; z = 10 oC) for commercial food preservation processes of all types of food products, for several package sizes and types.
* Section2 contains reported pasteurization values F, or P, of a great variety of foods. The required storage conditions of the pasteurized foods, either at ambient temperature, or refrigerated (4 - 7 °C), are indicated.
* Section 3 shows a decision scheme: should a particular food be pasteurized or sterilized? This depends on the intended storage temperature (refrigerated or ambient) after heating, the required shelf life (7 days to 4 years), the food pH (high acid, acid, or low acid), the food water activity aW, and on the presence of preservatives such as nitrite (E250) mixed with salt NaCl, or nisin.
* In Section 4, two worked examples are presented on how to use an F value when calculating the actual sterilization time Pt:
- C.R. Stumbo’s (1973) calculation method has been manually applied, verified by computer program STUMBO.exe, to find the sterilization time and the thiamine retention of bottled liquid milk in a rotating steam retort;
- O.T. Pham’s (1987; 1990) formula method,  incorporated in Excel program “Heat Process calculations according to Pham.xls”, has been used  to find the sterilization time and the nutrient retention of canned carrot purée in a still steam retort.
* The worked example in Section 5 illustrates the use of the pasteurization value F of apple juice, in calculating the required (average) residence time in the holding tube of a heat exchanger. The Excel program Build-Heat-Exchanger.xls next calculates the juice’s spoilage rate by a mold, a yeast and an enzyme, and the nutrient retention of vitamins C and folic acid in the pasteurized juice.
* Section 6 explains how F values can be calculated when a microbial analysis of the food is available. The actual pasteurization or sterilization time calculations should be based on all micro-organisms of concern present, and rather NOT on the highest F value only!
An example calculation shows that the required F value for a food, to be sold in a moderate climate country, usually differs considerably from the F, required  for the same food, to be sold in tropical areas.

This presentation captures the historical adaptation of medieval warriors’ methods for security and thwarts toward adversarial attacks on fortifications for protective areas. History can often be a good teacher for modern day designers for security protection because the evolution of human beings has not changed since the beginning of time. Applicable lessons are applied to all aspects of security to include physical, technical, personnel, information and operational security. The article provides examples of the original concept of access controls, vaulted areas, chemical warfare, and the origins of physical security.

Terra Madre “arabanın arka tekeri” olarak nitelendirilen mütevazı ve marjinal bir kesimin kendi önemini anlayıp birlik olma hayalinin sayfalara dökülmüş halidir. Bu insanların önemi hep göz ardı edildi. Bu insanlar zamanın gerisinde kalan, dünyanın geri kalmış bir parçası, hatta “az gelişmiş” olarak görüldü. Küçük çiftçiler ve sürdürülebilir gıda üreticileri neredeyse serseri olarak kabul edildi. Ama bu olumsuz yargı, temelinde ciddi bir hatayı barındırır, üstelik dünya ekonomik ve politik sistemi için ölümcül bir hata olma riskini taşır.

Onlar ömürlerini mücadele içinde geçiren, hiç boş vakti olmayan insanlar. Bulundukları yerden uzaklaşamazlar, hak ettiklerini her zaman kazanamazlar, didinirler, çabalarlar ve doğayla konuşurlar, onu üretken kılarlar, kendi toplumları ve diğerleri için gıda üretirler.

Bu insanlarla farklı ve değerli bir biçimde yeniden ilişki kuran gıda toplulukları kırsal ve kentsel ilişkinin yeniden tanımlanması için iyi birer laboratuvardır. Belki de böylece tekrar “satmak” için değil, “yemek” için gıda üretimine başlanabilir. Hatta yeniden gerçek gıda nicelikten, verimlilikten, homojenlikten, taşınabilir olmaktan daha önemli hale gelebilir.

Gıda toplulukları yerel ağlardan oluşan bir sistem oluşturmanın ilk adımıdır. Gıdanın yeniden “lezzetli, temiz ve adil” olduğu insani ve sürdürülebilir bir sistem. Ancak bu yolla hayatlarımıza yeniden “egemen” olabiliriz. Gıda, hayatlarımızı geri almanın anahtarıdır. Bütün dünyaya yayılan bu hareketin “çocukça” olduğunu düşünenler Slow Food’a bakıp dillerini ısırsınlar. Bu uzun bir yol ancak yavaşlık değeri bize bir kerede elde edemeyeceğimizi, daha önemli olan şeyin niyetler, açılmaya olan uyum, hafıza ve bakım olduğunu anlatır.

Carlo Petrini’nin çağrısına milyonlar el veriyor. Bir el de sen uzat.

Objective: Hunting-based food donation (HBFD) programs are unique food assistance programs because they provide under-resourced food bank participants with a quality protein source. This study aimed to summarize the characteristics of US HBFD programs and discuss the potential barriers and considerations to use or access these programs. Methods: Data were collected via a web search for HBFD programs within all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Results: Most states were found to have an active program (n = 36), whereas 14 states and the District of Columbia do not have programs. Game donation amounts vary greatly between states, and funding for these programs typically comes from a government agency. Conclusions and Implications: Hunting-based food donation can positively impact the food security and nutritional status of vulnerable populations. Nutrition professionals can aid in promoting awareness of these programs and provide nutrition education around wild game nutrition, safety, and food preparation.

Thanks to Food Tank: The Food Think Tank for publishing our guest blog coauthored with Tara Moreau of UBC Botanical Garden on the role of botanical gardens in food security. Much of this is due to Norbert Steinhaus inviting me to become involved in the EU-funded "Big Picnic"project. Date of publication: June 8, 2018.

Background: Approximately 55,000 children in New Zealand do not eat breakfast on any given day. Regular breakfast skipping has been associated with poor diets, higher body mass index, and adverse effects on children's behaviour and academic performance. Research suggests that regular breakfast consumption can improve academic performance, nutrition and behaviour. This paper describes the protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of a free school breakfast programme. The aim of the trial is to determine the effects of the breakfast intervention on school attendance, achievement, psychosocial function, dietary habits and food security. Methods/Design: Sixteen primary schools in the North Island of New Zealand will be randomised in a sequential stepped wedge design to a free before-school breakfast programme consisting of non-sugar coated breakfast cereal, milk products, and/or toast and spreads. Four hundred children aged 5-13 years (approximately 25 per school) will be recruited. Data collection will be undertaken once each school term over the 2010 school year (February to December). The primary trial outcome is school attendance, defined as the proportion of students achieving an attendance rate of 95% or higher. Secondary outcomes are academic achievement (literacy, numeracy, self-reported grades), sense of belonging at school, psychosocial function, dietary habits, and food security. A concurrent process evaluation seeks information on parents', schools' and providers' perspectives of the breakfast programme.

Climate change is a major challenge, particularly for Ethiopia’s rural populations who depend on rainfall for subsistence farming and are therefore more vulnerable to climate-related risks. Agriculture accounts for more than 40% of Ethiopia’s gross domestic product (GDP) (UNDP, 2015), and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (FDRE, 2015). In Ethiopia, annual GHG emissions were estimated to be 150 Mt CO2e in 2010, with 50% of emissions coming from agriculture, and another 37% from forestry sectors — mainly agriculture related deforestation (FAO, 2016). Furthermore, the capacity of Ethiopia’s agricultural, forest, and grassland sectors to act as carbon sinks is decreasing rapidly due to unsustainable agricultural practices. Since 2011, the federal government of Ethiopia has embarked on implementing the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy. CRGE has ambitious commitments in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted to the United Nations Fr...

Background: Drought is regarded as a leading cause of food insecurity affecting about 220 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. Drought early warning systems (DEWSs) have the potential to strengthen capacity of communities in managing and reducing drought effects through building preparedness and providing coping strategies. The Karamoja subregion is the only region with a functional DEWS in Uganda. The subregion suffers from effects of recurrent episodes of drought with negative impacts on food security. Despite having DEWS in place, the subregion remains the most food insecure in the country. The extent to which DEWS has contributed to household food security in the subregion remains unclear. This study determined the effect of DEWS on agro-pastoral household food security in the subregion. The study was conducted in Nakapiripirit and Kotido districts of the Karamoja. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 305 participating and non-participating households in DEWS. The effect of participating in DEWS on food security was analyzed using the generalized linear model. The level of food security and nutrition were measured using the household food insecurity access score and household dietary diversity score (HDDS), respectively. Results: Findings showed that all respondents had experienced food insecurity during the course of the year. Drought was indicated as the main cause of food insecurity in the households. Participation in DEWS significantly (p < 0.01) reduced the threat of food insecurity by 23.7% and increased the level of household nutrition by 30%. Better nutrition was realized in DEWS participating households (HDDS = 9.0) compared to non-participating households (HDDS = 6.6). Conclusion: Owing to intermittent drought events in the Karamoja subregion, DEWS contributes to household food security and nutrition by providing households with information on timely planting, crop diversification, farm equipment, drought management and drought-tolerant crop varieties. There is need for DEWS practitioners to focus on information dissemination, provision of drought-tolerant crops and provision of training opportunities to communities for increased production in semi-arid areas.

La entomofagia, el consumo de insectos y sus derivados con fines nutricionales y/o terapeuticos, es una practica cultural difundida en diversas regiones del mundo. El crecimiento poblacional y el impacto que el calentamiento global tendran en la productividad agropecuaria convencional hacen necesario identificar fuentes complementarias de alimento sostenible. Por su alto contenido de proteinas, acidos grasos, minerales y otros nutrientes, se estima que los insectos jugaran un rol importante en la seguridad alimentaria humana ante dicho escenario. Peru tiene una larga tradicion de consumo de insectos; sin embargo, existe escasa documentacion sobre las especies utilizadas, su distribucion, forma de consumo y perfil nutricional. La presente revision busca elaborar el primer listado nacional de insectos comestibles del Peru . Se hallo que existen 66 especies reportadas de uso directo e indirecto, y otras 120 tambien presentes que, aunque su consumo no ha sido reportado en el Peru, este ...

Discussion on plant genetic engineering has experienced increasing momentum with the introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) corn in Germany and other European countries. This paper determines the various groups of German farmers, their attitudes and expected decisions on the use of GM foods using cluster analysis of 370 German farm managers. The results of cluster analysis indicate five main farmer groups who differ in terms of certain demographic characteristics and attitudes towards GM adoption. The study proposes tailored communication and risk management as an important measure that can be used by the biotechnology advocates to improve the level of acceptance.

The biggest producers and exporters of agricultural products have been adopting the genetic engineering in order to improve the factors productivity and the firms profits In the last decade, the United States of America (US) and the European Union (EU) have established a high divergent regulation on production, distribution and consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Apparently, the EU´s complex legislative framework related to GMOs was intend to satisfy the European consumers which are concerned about food safety and whish to make more informed choice about the food they eat. The aim of this paper is to understand the potential motivations behind the different policies on GM products adopted by US and EU.

Global food security has been a challenge, especially in Africa. This has attracted the adoption of strategies to improve soil productivity and crop yield. One of such strategies is the use of solid wastes as soil organic matter amendments. An investigation of the effects of soil amendment using poultry manure, sawdust and their mixtures on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission, maize (Zea mays L.) growth and dry matter yield were assessed under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Top soil obtained from unfertilized plots at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching and Research farm, Ile-Ife, Nigeria was used for the experiments. The organic amendments were added at the rate of 10 g/kg, treatments were in triplicates and treatment means were separated using Duncan's Multiple Range Test at 95% level of significance. Results obtained revealed that CO 2 emission decreased while maize heights and dry matter yields significantly (P > 0.05) increased with increasing ratios of poultry manure in the poultry manure-sawdust mixtures. The CO 2 emission from poultry manure amended soil was about 61% that from sawdust amended soil while the mean height and dry matter yield in sawdust-amended soils were 84% and 52% respectively those obtained in poultry manure amended soil. This paper concludes that it is essential to design and implement policies that will guide and encourage the use of organic amendments at ratios that can enhance crop yield and mitigate CO 2 emission to the environment.

Policy briefing accompanying presentation to Northern Ireland Assembly 'Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series' (KESS) 2016-2017. The paper provides an introduction to scenario planning, its increasing application to food system planning, and reports on the QUB Nexus project, funded by the ESRC through the Nexus Network, and addressing food system sustainability in Northern Ireland, in light of plausible future climate and energy scenarios.

This review was conducted to examine the income diversification and food security situation in Ethiopia. The objective is specifically to identify the determinants of income diversification of smallholder farmers, and its effect on food security status of rural households and to review the determinants of food security status of households. Agriculture is the basic economic sector in which the country relies for its social and economic development. In spite of the fact that 80% of the population has been employed in food production, it fails to feed relatively large proportion of population from its domestic production. In Ethiopia, 83% of smallholder farmers participated in farming activities and only 27% were engaged in non-farm/off-farm economic enterprises. Non-farm employment provides additional income that enables farmers to spend more on their basic needs include food, education, cloth and health care services. Food security exists when all people at all times have the physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for active and healthy life. The basic factors influencing the food security status of smallholder farmers are the socioeconomic characteristics and resources of individual households. To make considerable improvement on food security situation, action should be taken by household heads, government of Ethiopia, national and international organizations.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has called for halving the global per capita food waste from retail to consumer level and the reduction of food losses along production and supply chains by 2030 (United Nations 2015). Globally, state and non-state actors have introduced measures (e.g., regulatory and other incentive mechanisms) to mitigate food waste (FW) at the national, regional or local/supply chain level (Chalak et al. 2016).

Millions of people in Bangladesh suffer from hunger, unpredictable and unstable livelihoods, precarious living conditions, and social injustice. Yet they survive and become resilient. However, the resilience achieved by the poor is minimal and incremental and does not result in their well-being. Based on three years of qualitative research, this article attempts to understand the nature of and pathways to ‘resilience of the poor people'. The article argues that poor people's approach to ‘resilience’ is twofold. First, they perceive their poverty and associated problems as ‘Allah's will', with not much to be done about it. At the same time, they engage in continuous innovative practices to survive. These two worldviews together ('fatalism’ and ‘self-help') make the poor ‘resilient'. This also ‘partially’ explains the absence of strong activism, collective action and protests within a context of state failure (in terms of ensuring rights and entitlements to its citizens).

Agriculture is heavily contributing towards the economy of Pakistan. Water deficiency and drought conditions, long duration load shedding issue, poor extension services, absence of land reforms, absence of distribution of certified varieties, high price of fertilizers, deliberate use of adulterated, non-recommended and expired insecticides, non utilization of cultivable waste land, conventional farming practices, indirect access of farmer to main market, absence of ecological based cropping pattern, smuggling of agricultural inputs and outputs, lack of cooperation between agricultural research, education & extension services, absence of crop insurance, depletion of forests, lack of modern post-harvest technologies and disease outbreaks of poultry birds are some of the key issues that are playing a negative role in demotion of agricultural sector in Pakistan. The review article will briefly discuss above mentioned issues and some of the possible remedies under the environment of Pakistanand their adoption to improve the agricultural productivity in the country.

The aim of this study is to chronicle the utilization pattern of a number of plant species by four major tribes inhabiting in Koraput district of Odisha, India. Fifteen villages dominated by tribal communities, under five Community Development Blocks were selected. A semi structured questionnaire was developed to bring together data on traditional crops and forest species still used by the communities. The methodology engaged was personal discussions with mixed focused groups combined with field visits, photographs, voice recordings and collection of materials. Findings were that tribal communities cultivate a diverse crop species with varying durations to meet their food and economic requirement throughout the year. This was supplemented by wild food collections during scarcity periods. Various forest species provide wood, fibre, leaves and grasses for agriculture, house construction and specific uses besides enhancing household income. Tribal health care practitioners collect medicinal plants from the wild and semi wild to treat both humans and livestock. At the end of the study the team assumed that tribal communities would continue to depend on traditional crops and wild forest foods for their household consumption and a diverse species of plants for other specific use. Conservation of these valuable resources in its natural habitat would be an appropriate approach for ensuring food security of future generations. Conventional plant breeders and biotechnologists should undertake scientific validation of these crops and plants to make their value explicitly known. This knowledge could be utilized for crop improvement and bio-prospecting. There is also scope for equitable sharing of benefits if used by the seed and pharmaceutical industries in future.

Safety of the street foods is an important aspect in the field of nutrition security. A study was conducted in the city of Varanasi in India. It was observed that about 42% of the working man and women in the age group of 25-45, and 61% of the students in the age group of 14-21, consume foods from the street

This paper looks at the substantial role of informal traders in ensuring food security, and other economic and social goods in South Africa and how they have been impacted by Covid-19 and responses to it. The state responses have reflected a continued undervaluing and undermining of this sector to the detriment of the traders themselves, their suppliers, and their customers. There is a need for a new valuing of the sector that would recognise and build on its mode of ordering and key contributions to society. This needs to include: shifting the narrative about the actors involved and challenging the concept of “informal”; planning and regulating to ensure more space for owner-operated small-scale food retailers; and putting in place a social-safety net to support them in times of crisis.

The article introduces Urban Food Policies (UFP) in the field of decentralized
cooperation as a relatively new field of work, exchange and action-oriented
research within and between cities, and local authorities in the global North
and South. Indeed, a plethora of cities have been implementing actions with
different implementation mechanisms indicating that UFP can generate
positive stimuli, new perspectives, and reciprocal benefits. The article
examines a number of ongoing international projects to then focus on the
relevant programs developed in Italy and on the African continent, looking
into aspects of governance, outlining essential features of decentralized
cooperation and of these ongoing development projects, and concluding
with potential prospects in this area.

Social capital is widely recognized as one of the five capitals that can be used to sustain livelihood, avert risk and vulnerability. This paper looks at the use of social capital as a risk mitigation device and to sustain livelihood and food security. In this research IFPRI panel data collected during 1996-1997 (pre-flood) and 1999-2000 (post-flood period) and field data

Since the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in 1994, there has been increasing debate about the implications of freer trade for domestic or "nontrade" objectives in agriculture. These range from traditional concerns, such as food security and rural development, to more recent issues such as the relationship between agriculture and the environment, and the effects of agricultural practices on human health and animal welfare. For countries reluctant to reduce agricultural protection, a key issue is the extent to which domestic policy objectives would need to be sacrificed under freer trade. For countries espousing trade liberalization, the issue is whether domestic policy objectives will be used as a guise to undermine freer trade in agricultural products.

What are the analytical benefits of using the security vocabulary when addressing issues of human well-being? And to what extent can a security framing of these issues be useful in the normative and political sense – that is, when making judgements about existing policies and when formulating and implementing alternative ones? This article uses the case of food security to engage with these questions. It argues for a shift away from conceptual fine-tuning of what food security should mean and towards an appreciation of how security functions as a political modality. Whilst acknowledging that this modality can work to encourage international conflict, enable governmental control and empower global capitalism, the idea that security has an inherent logic which denies progressive politics is refuted. Drawing on the idea of emancipation in critical security studies, and applying it to empirical examples from contemporary Brazil, it is shown how food security can help expedite action to address harm and vulnerability, reinforce the public sphere and widen the scope of social concern.

Em agosto deste ano a Índia frustrou a implementação do Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), acordado entre os ministros do Comércio dos países com representantes na Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC). Tal acordo, firmado no encontro realizado em Bali, em novembro de 2013, deveria ser adotado a partir do dia primeiro de agosto deste ano com o propósito de diminuir barreiras comerciais entre as nações. No entanto, devido ao caráter de unanimidade das decisões da OMC, ele foi bloqueado pela não adoção indiana. Críticas severas se originaram em países da Europa e nos Estados Unidos. Um grupo liderado pela Austrália também afirmou que esta atitude poderia minar a capacidade da OMC em atuar no futuro. Apesar de tais críticas, a comissão indiana argumentou que nenhum tratado de facilitação de comércio mundial, sobretudo os que versam sobre produtos agrícolas, pode ser firmado sem que antes seja encontrada uma solução permanente para a questão de segurança alimentar do país. Atualmente, a Índia mantém uma rede de subsídio com duas finalidades: para que pequenos agricultores possam desenvolver sua cultura de subsistência e para repassar alimentos para os que mais precisam. O governo, assim, compra produtos com valores artificialmente mais caros e, em seguida, revende as mercadorias a preços simbólicos para os mais pobres do país. Esse modelo vai no mesmo caminho da prioridade apontada por Sen (2010). "O enfoque tem de ser sobre o poder econômico e a liberdade substantiva dos indivíduos e famílias para comprar alimento suficiente, e não apenas sobre a quantidade de alimento disponível no país em questão" (Sen, 2010, p. 211). Essa política abrange arroz e trigo -principais alimentos da dieta de um indiano comum (Iqbal e Amjda, 2010) -, mas só é realizada com sucesso nos estados de Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh e Madhya Pradesh. Esse serviço é tocado pela Food

The importance of food in any economy cannot be overstated. In Nigeria, available literatures reveal that while the population is growing at a geometric rate, food production is growing at Arithmetic rate. There is therefore need for adequate & systematic preparation and planning towards bridging the food demand-supply gap. To do this, there is need to quantify and project future food demand. This paper attempt a forecast of food demand for the next fourteen years in Nigeria. The result reveals an upward trend from 243,168,942 metric tons in 2016 to 335,100,918 metric tons in total food demand. When disaggregated to fish, livestock and crop, the trend-1,821,092, 427,920 and 21,927,280 metric tons respectively showed crop (21,927,280 metric tons) would have highest demand when compared to other food components. Policies and programmes that will mitigate the effect of climate change on agriculture and encourage increased food production to match the growing pupation are recommended. Introduction The Importance of food as a basic necessity of life cannot be overstated. On it hinges the requirement for healthy and productive life at the household level. At the National level, food has economic, strategic, and political significance. In many countries, the food sub-sector of agriculture is a major productive subsector contributing significantly to gross domestic product, export earning, employment and industrial growth. In some countries, cereals (especially rice and wheat) are even regarded as wage foods (olayemi, 1998). The national strategic importance of food is evident in its consideration as a key variable in matters relating to national security and in planning against national disasters and other emergencies. As a political weapon, food is useful for maintaining political stability and for ensuring peace and contentment among the populace. In Nigeria, the intense and still increasing demand pressure on food arising from rapid rates of population growth, increasing real per capital income, the growing importance of food and Nutrition status as an indicator of National Socioeconomic development and the use of food in relief operations in places affected by disaster of all kinds have made food production and supply situations more precarious due to increasing food supply shortfalls and degree of seasonal and annual fluctuations in both production and supply. It is in view of the foregoing that economists and other have often focused considerable attention on the study of food problems at Sub-National, National and International levels. However, the study of food problems would appear to have acquired added impetus in recent years, if one goes by the volume and range of studies now available in the literature. Mabogunje (1990) reported the result of the rural agricultural sample survey conducted in Nigeria in the early 1980s by the Federal office Statistics (FOS), revealed a declined in the quantity of cassava produced from 2.85 million metric tons in 1960/61 to about 1.2 million metric tons in 1983/84. Similarly, over the same period, the production of yams fell from 15.9 million metric tons to about 5.0 million metric tons, guinea corn production fell from 3.4 million metric tons to 94,000 tons; rice production fell from 154,000 metric tons to 94,000 metric tons. Some crops however, showed some increases in quantity produced during the same period. They include millet whose production quantity rose from 2.5 to 3.8 million metric tons in the period. Beans also rose from 366,000 to 723,000 metric tons. This decline in food situation which was not existent prior to the emergence of oil in Nigerian deteriorated more rapidly post oil discovery, a period when the food demand of the nation was on the increase. According to an International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Study (1988), the projected food demand for Nigeria in the year 2000 based on a population growth of 2.5 percent per annum, and per capita income growth rate of 3.0 percent per annum and a 12-state structure, was about 22.3 million metric tons. Also, a food demand of 25. 4 million metric tons was projected for the 2000, based on a 3.3 percent per annum growth in population and a 3.0 percent per capital income growth rate. According to this projection there will be a food deficit of 3.2 million tones. This indicates a

Despite the progress made in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to ensure food security, pockets of food insecurity still remain in the Ivorian landscape. The objective of this study was to assess the food consumption of rural households in the department of Man in western Côte d&#39;Ivoire and to identify the determinants of food insecurity. The assessment of food consumption was based on the calculation of the food consumption score. A survey of 1065 households was conducted to characterise the socio-economic profile and food consumption within these households. A survey of 1065 households was conducted to characterise the socio-economic profile and food consumption within these households. During the favourable period (October-February), 98.5% of households had an acceptable food consumption score, compared with 87.5% during the transitional period (March-June) and 15.5% during the lean season (July-September). The lean season is the most critical with 33.6%...

Insects such as the black soldier fly (BSF; Hermetia illucens) are currently being promoted as an alternative protein source for animals and organic waste management agents. To play the dual roles sustainably, there is need to reduce reliance on wild BSF and develop an appropriate farming methodology for the insect. This study aimed at improving larvae production in a black soldier fly colony previously established from the wild in Kenya. The study explored the effect of four locally available organic wastes as feedstocks for production the black soldier fly larvae. Separate feeding trials on faecal sludge (FS), banana peelings (BP), brewer’s waste (BW) and restaurant food waste (FR) was done and their effect on BSF larvae growth rate, larvae weight, total prepupal yield in grams, crude protein and lipid (ether extract) content analysed. The efficiency of the BSF larvae to consume and therefore reduce the waste load of the different substrates was also evaluated. Results showed that...

With the explosive growth in the world’s population which has little or no corresponding rise in the food production, food insecurity has become eminent, and hence, the need to seek for opportunities to increase food production in order to cater for this population is paramount. The second goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (i.e., ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture) set by the United Nations (UN) for the year 2030 clearly acknowledged this fact. Improving food production cannot be achieved using the obsolete conventional methods of agriculture by our farmers; hence, this study focuses on developing a model for predicting climatic conditions with a view to reducing their negative impact, and boosting the yield of crop. Temperature, wind, humidity and rainfall were considered as the effect of these factors is more devastating in Nigeria as compared to sun light which is always in abundance. We implemented ...

Over India as a whole, between 1972–1973 and 2004–2005, the annual per capita consumption of sorghum declined from 8.5 to 2.7 kg (68 %) in urban areas and from 19.1 to 5.2 kg (73 %) in rural areas. However, in inland regions of Central, Eastern and Western Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka sorghum is still an important crop with annual per capita consumption in rural areas ranging from 31.8 to 54.2 kg and in urban areas from 9.9 to 34.0 kg. Moreover, in the rural parts of these areas as well as Northern Maharashtra, the inverse relationship between sorghum consumption and income is less apparent than elsewhere. Both states grow a large proportion of the Indian crop – Maharashtra 47 % and Karnataka 20 % with lesser amounts being grown in Andhra Pradesh 9 %. There is variation within regions of the three states with respect to the total amounts grown and the proportions of the two sorghum types, rabi and kharif. The former is preferred as food as the latter tends to be of poorer qual...

Despite the widely acknowledged prognosis that the danger of unrelenting hunger and famine looms large in sub-Saharan Africa and that there is a constant need for donors to provide much required food relief, there is a paucity of literature based on comprehensive empirical work at the household or individual level. Based on data collected across two years and two locations in rural Kenya, attempts to develop further the literature on household food security. Food balances are computed and various approaches to food poverty analysis are employed by setting a very low poverty line to determine the proportion of households whose members would require external food support. Results show that per capita food production is low and varies with rainfall and food poverty and inequality in distribution are high. A great deal could be done, therefore, in the sphere of livelihood opportunities to enhance household purchasing power and hence effective demand and food distribution.

This paper examines whether poor and vulnerable groups in society share in the benefits of a foreseen economic expansion in the demand for fruit, vegetables and flowers from consumers at home and abroad. Primary survey data is collected on the differentiated position of low-income households in different supply structures (with varying levels of vertical coordination) and markets (national, regional and international markets). The data support the following hypotheses: (i) For many resource-poor agents, horticulture-related activities make substantial contributions to their livelihood security-certainly in the short term. (ii) Farming, trading services, small-scale retail, and farm labour are activities to which members of resource-poor and economically vulnerable households have the best access given their endowments. (iii) A move from food production for home consumption towards cash crops or off-farm labour is supported when there are sufficient options to reduce livelihood risk in the household. (iv) Both value creation and the generation of opportunities for (self-) employment in domestic marketing channels are substantial, and possibly outweigh the economic impact of overseas export marketing. Policy support is best tailored to specific conditions and specific actors to achieve a maximum impact on poverty alleviation. For that purpose, a three-tiered grouping of marketing channels for livelihood development is proposed.

The role of women in food production, processing and marketing has become more relevant as a way of fighting poverty and ensuring food security in Africa. This study was undertaken to assess the state of women in small-scale fish smoking in the Central Region of Ghana. The study involved 150 women fish processors. Descriptive and correlational statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the women fish processors were mainly full-time fish processors with a minimum of 10 years experience in fish processing. The women fish processors were generally poor income earners with great responsibility of catering for a large number of dependents. Inadequate capital was the most important constraint for the women fish processors. Many of them need a little additional money to revamp their business, but only few of them could obtain loans from commercial banks. Personal savings were their main source of capital. Full-time status of the fish processors was significantly and positively related to age (r=0.28, p=0.001) and negatively related to education (r=-0.37, p=0.000). This indicated that the fish processing business in the Central Region of Ghana is aging (mean age ≈ 50 years) and not attracting the literate and the youth who may have the capacity to manage things better. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has not done much in terms of establishing contact with fish processors and providing training to support the efforts of small-scale women fish processors in the Central Region. The inability of MoFA to achieve greater and wide-ranging effectiveness in supporting women fish processors was attributed to inadequate staff, logistics, and financial support from government and development organisations. There is the need for the government of Ghana (local and national) to play a catalytic role in terms of financial, material and technological support and to ensure linkages among women in fish processing, non-governmental organizations, research and training institutions and MoFA. This will ensure a sustained economic development especially in the fishing communities in the Central Region of Ghana.

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi intensi masyarakat untuk beralih dari konsumsi pangan pokok beras ke pola konsumsi pangan pokok non beras. Sampel penelitian sebanyak 300 orang dari rumah tangga yang berdomisili di 16 kecamatan di kota Semarang. Sampel ditentukan secara purposive quota sampling. Responden dipilih dengan kriteria berusia diatas 20 tahun dan berpendidikan minimal SMA. Data dikumpulkan dengan metode kuesioner. Metode analisis data menggunakan metode deskriptif dan sintesis komparatif. Hasil studi menunjukkan bahwa beras masih menjadi bahan makanan pokok yang paling disukai dan tidak tergantikan. Makanan pokok non beras hanya dikonsumsi pada waktu-waktu tertentu (khususnya pagi hari) namun masih sebagai pelengkap dan cenderung digunakan karena alasan kepraktisan. Masyarakat cenderung tidak ingin beralih dari makanan pokok beras ke makanan pokok non-beras. Kata kunci: Makanan pokok, keberagaman makanan pokok, keamanan ABSTRACT This study aims to identify people's intention to switch from rice staple food consumption to non-rice staple food consumption pattern. Primary data collected from 300 housholds purposive selected 16 sub-districts in Semarang city. Data were analysed using a descriptive and comparative technique. The study revealed that, rice was still the most preferred and irreplaceable staple food. Non-rice staple foods are consumed only at certain times (especially in the morning) but are still complementary and tend to be used for practical reasons. Furthermore, it was identified that people tend not to switch from staple foods to non-rice staples.