Research Publications (Food Safety)

Tsetse-transmitted Animal African Trypanosomosis (AAT) is a disease of economic importance to livestock development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is widely managed using trypanocides that are expensive for smallholders and associated with health risks due to drug residues in animal products and drug resistance.

Legume seed systems in many developing countries are characterized by low availability of certified seeds because the private sector is often absent, and the public sector has limited capacity to produce such seeds. Farmer seed enterprises (FSEs) are therefore increasingly promoted as alternative suppliers of certified and in some instances, quality declared and truthfully labelled seeds.

This article is the third in a series of historical reviews on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), exploring why agricultural production and irrigation schemes are underperforming, and how this contributes to high levels of food insecurity. The expression ‘food security’ emerged in 1974 following the Sahel and Darfur famines. Despite SSA being a net agricultural exporter, food insecurity has persisted and is increasing.

Like most economic sectors, agriculture has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was designed to understand the impact of the initial stages of the pandemic on the agricultural sector in Romania. A web-based research study of farmers was conducted using an online questionnaire. Participants (n = 148) were self–selected, by answering the questionnaire online.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the midstream (processors, wholesalers and wholesale markets, and logistics) segments of transforming value chains have proliferated rapidly over the past several decades in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Their spread has been most rapid in the long transitional stage between the traditional and modern stages, when value chains grow long and developed with urbanization but are still fragmented, before consolidation.

In Burundi, many subsistence farmers employ mixed cropping systems in an attempt to provide food for their families in an environment with high risks, few safety nets and limited storage options. In this paper, we studied the crop portfolios that minimize energy and macronutrient deficiency. We accounted for yield variability, seasonality and storage availability.

Achieving SDG2 (zero hunger) in a situation of rapid global population growth requires a continued focus on food production. Farming not merely needs to sustainably produce nutritious diets, but should also provide livelihoods for farmers, while retaining natural ecosystems and services. Rather than focusing on production principles, this article explores the interrelations between farms and farming systems in the global food system.

Proponents of large-scale land investments (LSLI) still promote them as a development opportunity, which can lead, among other benefits, to job creation and enhanced food security for local communities. However, there is increasing evidence that these investments often deprive affected communities of their access to land, with multiple negative impacts on livelihoods, food security and on the environment.

Composite indicators have gained popularity in various research areas. However, the determination of an appropriate weighting method is challenging. Subjective weighting methods are criticised for their potential bias that may reduce stakeholders’ trust in the results of a composite index. By contrast, objective weighting processes are perceived to provide unbiased results that may overcome trust issues.

The world is challenged to meet the food demand of a growing population, especially in developing countries. Given the ambitious plans to scale up agroforestry in Africa, an improved understanding of the effect of agroforestry practices on the already challenged food security of rural households is crucial. The present study was undertaken to assess how on-farm trees impacted food security in addition to other household income sources in Rwanda.

Food contributes to an individual’s physical and mental well-being and expresses one’s cultural identity through preparation, sharing, and consumption (i.e., foodways). Inadequate access to cultural foods can create cultural stress and affect one’s identity and well-being. In particular, second-generation U.S.

Agriculture and the food sector are critical to food and nutrition security because they not only produce food but also contribute to economic empowerment by employing a large share of female and male workers, especially in developing countries. Food systems at all levels―globally, domestically, locally, and in the home― are expected to be highly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Women and men work as food producers, processors, and traders and will likely be impacted differently.

As these lines were written, the Covid-19 pandemic crisis was continuing to threaten countries around the globe. The worldwide consensus that physical distancing is an effective instrument for mitigating the spread of the virus has led policymakers to temporarily limit the freedom of movement of people between and within countries, cities, and even neighborhoods.

Small island states have features in common which make it difficult for them to assure food security through self-production, notably limited land, fresh water and labour. As these island states grow economically, diet diversification by an increasingly affluent population demands a balance between food imports and self-production.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated mitigation measures are highlighting resiliency and vulnerability of food systems with consequences for diets, food security, and health outcomes. Frameworks and tools are called for to evaluate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as identify entry points for implementing preparedness efforts.

Despite a 2.3% increase in world cereal production in 2019 over 2018, the number of people facing severe food insecurity may double from 135 million in January 2020 to 265 million by the end of 2020. The problem of food and nutritional insecurity is severe in urban centers, where the global population is projected to increase (%/year) by 1.84, 1.63, and 1.44 between 2015 to 2020, 2020 to 2025, and 2025 to 2030, and it will increase overall from 54% in 2016 to 60% by 2030.

Past approaches to food security in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were informed by concerns about food availability. They aimed at domestic self-sufficiency and self-sufficiency by proxy (via farmland investments abroad). These strategies have failed. Water scarcity at home increasingly compromises agricultural production.

In addressing COVID-19, African governments should not forget the livelihoods as well as the food and nutrition security of their citizens. With over 70% of the workforce in the informal sector without any social protection and health insurance, the pandemic could have a devastating impact on income and livelihoods as well as food and nutrition security for workers up and down the food chain.

This opinion article results from a collective analysis by the Editorial Board of Food Security. It is motivated by the ongoing covid-19 global epidemic, but expands to a broader view on the crises that disrupt food systems and threaten food security, locally to globally. Beyond the public health crisis it is causing, the current global pandemic is impacting food systems, locally and globally. Crises such as the present one can, and do, affect the stability of food production.

COVID-19 has had an instant effect on food systems in developing countries. Restrictions to the movement of people and goods have impaired access to markets, services and food. Unlike other concurrent crises, rather than threatening the material hardware of food systems, COVID-19 has so far affected the ‘software’ of food systems, highlighting again that connectivity is at the heart of these systems.

The COVID-19 crisis is worsening food insecurity by undermining informal food chains. We focus on impacts involving the informal food chains that incorporate the resilience-enhancing biodiversity of food and agriculture known as agrobiodiversity. Our analysis addresses how informal food chains and agrobiodiversity are impacted by policies and interventions amidst COVID-19 disruptions.

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the vulnerability of India’s Agri food system and accentuated the need for agricultural market reforms and digital solutions to connect farmers to markets, to create safety nets and ensure reasonable working conditions, and to decentralize Agri food systems to make them more resilient.

This brief article aims to interrogate some widely used concepts in framing the interactions between disease epidemics, food systems and nutrition, with a particular focus on the COVID-19 crisis. How should we conceptualize vulnerability in such situations – both with regard to viral exposure and to subsequent nutrition-relevant impacts of epidemics and responses (including lockdowns)?

A vast majority of the relief and rehabilitation packages announced in the months following the nationwide lockdown in India have focused on economic rehabilitation. However, the education sector has remained absent from this effort, including in India’s central government’s 250 billion dollar stimulus package. In this paper, we discuss the implications of lockdown-induced school and rural child-care center closures on education and health outcomes for the urban and rural poor.

The Covid19 pandemic should be seen as a wake-up call for humanity, to reflect, rethink and redesign food systems that are safe, healthy, sustainable, and beneficial to all. This crisis has disrupted food supply chains, affecting lives and livelihoods. Hunger and malnutrition is expected to increase and the poor and vulnerable will suffer the most. There is urgent need to build resilient food systems.