Threats to food sufficiency among smallholder farmers in Choma,Zambia

Relationships involving maize (Zea mays) production, maize retained for household consumption, household maize requirement, household size, rainfall and temperatures were assessed in order to explain food insufficiency among smallholder farmers in Choma, Zambia. Post-harvest agricultural data for 1976 to 2014 were collected from the Central Statistics Office while a survey of 319 smallholder farmers and eight key informants provided data on mean annual household maize requirements and crop preference. Despite maize production in Choma increasing at an annual rate of 230.8 t/year, maize insufficiency persisted as maize retained for household consumption could not sustain the 185.2 kg per capita maize requirement by farmers in the area. While extending the maize area planted was responsible for increasing annual maize production by 1.8 t for each additional ha planted, Choma’s annual percentage population increase was larger at 2.6%, requiring an increase of 821 t/year for maize sufficiency. Maize produced was usually enough for annual consumption before sales. However, farmers sold about 50% of what they produced making the amount of maize retained for household consumption insufficient. Government incentives attached to maize production and marketing encouraged a maize-centric farming culture among farmers. Maize which had a guaranteed market from the Zambia Food Reserve Agency was allocated 73.4% of the available land over the study period. The maize centric system has encouraged mono-cropping of maize. Farmer preference for maize, rooted in cultural norms, further encouraged maize mono-cropping at the expense of food sufficiency. In conclusion, government incentivising production and marketing of other agronomically suitable crops for the region could reduce food insufficiency.     

Current and future interventions for improving poultry health and poultry food safety and security: A comprehensive review

Poultry is thriving across the globe. Chicken meat is the most preferred poultry worldwide, and its popularity is increasing. However, poultry also threatens human hygiene, especially as a fomite of infectious diseases caused by the major foodborne pathogens (Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Listeria). Preventing pathogenic bacterial biofilm is crucial in the chicken industry due to increasing food safety hazards caused by recurring contamination and the rapid degradation of meat, as well as the increased resistance of bacteria to cleaning and disinfection procedures commonly used in chicken processing plants. To address this, various innovative and promising strategies to combat bacterial resistance and biofilm are emerging to improve food safety and quality and extend shelf-life. In particular, natural compounds are attractive because of their potential antimicrobial activities. Natural compounds can also boost the immune system and improve poultry health and performance. In addition to phytochemicals, bacteriophages, nanoparticles, coatings, enzymes, and probiotics represent unique and environmentally friendly strategies in the poultry processing industry to prevent foodborne pathogens from reaching the consumer. Lactoferrin, bacteriocin, antimicrobial peptides, cell-free supernatants, and biosurfactants are also of considerable interest for their prospective application as natural antimicrobials for improving the safety of raw poultry meat. This review aims to describe the feasibility of these proposed strategies and provide an overview of recent published evidences to control microorganisms in the poultry industry, considering the human health, food safety, and economic aspects of poultry production.     

Drought insurance for agricultural development and food security in dryland areas

This paper reviews the potential role for and experience with index based insurance for managing drought risks in agriculture and rural areas in the dry areas of developing countries. It argues that while index insurance is not a panacea for risk management, it could make important, market-based contributions in catalyzing sustainable safety nets and promoting agricultural growth. And though the private sector should be the main supplier, there are still important enabling and facilitating roles that need to be played by the public sector.     

Expert-based ex-ante assessments of potential social,ecological, and economic impacts of upgrading strategies for improving food security in rural Tanzania using the ScalA-FS approach

Subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are highly vulnerable to food insecurity given their low adaptive capacity against ecological and socio-economic shocks. Therefore, food security is one of their main challenges. Participatory action research across food value chains (FVCs) can help stabilize and enhance food security by developing upgrading strategies (UPS) that enhance specific aspects of crop production, post-harvest processing, marketing, income generation, and consumption. However, prior to their widespread adoption or upscaling, UPS need holistic understandings of their potential social, ecological, economic, and institutional challenges and opportunities in target areas. This article reports the application of the “ScalA-FS” tool, which assessed the potential success of selected UPS using assessment criteria developed by agricultural scientists and local farmers in a participatory process in Tanzania. This work is embedded in a larger participatory research project conducted in semi-arid and sub-humid ecological settings of the Dodoma and Morogoro regions of Tanzania. Results from the assessment of the potential impact of the UPS differed strongly between the UPS and the social, economic and environmental assessment criteria, but only slightly between semi-arid and sub-humid regions. The positive impacts of food-securing UPS centre on productivity and income generation. Rain water harvesting, fertilizer micro-dosing, optimized weeding, and promotion of kitchen gardens were expected to have the highest impacts after implementation. The ScalA-FS ex-ante assessments provide a knowledge base about potential impacts, as well as the potential bottlenecks to address during the implementation of UPS.     

我国社会力量参与食品安全监管的现状与展望

从非政府组织、媒体和公众3方面,对社会力量参与食品安全监管的理论基础、优势特点、功能作用、阻碍因素和应对策略等作了简要概括,指出现有研究的薄弱环节,并对社会力量参与食品安全监管的研究趋势作了展望。     

Key factors influencing food security of smallholder farmers in Tanzania and the role of cassava as a strategic crop

Due to beneficial characteristics of cassava such as robustness and versatility for multiple uses, it can have a major role in contributing to local food security. The objective of this study was to find out whether and how the cultivation of cassava benefits smallholder farmers in the regions of Dodoma and Morogoro, Tanzania. In addition, the study assessed the main factors that support or threaten food security of smallholder farmer households in the survey region and analysed whether cassava cultivation could counteract them. We applied a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were provided by a comprehensive household survey of the Trans-SEC project, and qualitative data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews. To approach the complexity of our chosen food security definition, three approaches for household food security measurement were applied. These covered the components of food availability, food access, and food utilization. Additionally, dependent variables for regression models were constructed and a multivariate analysis was run. The results show that cassava contributes to food security in the households, but achieving food security through cassava cultivation was constrained by several factors, including pests, missing markets, poor processing, social perception and lack of knowledge. Besides these, other factors affecting food security in the study area were found, uncovering some roots of local food insecurity and serving as a basis for further research and action on how to enhance food security.     

Rethinking the food security debate in Asia: some missing ecological and health dimensions and solutions

Food security is a global and regional concern of rapidly increasing consequence. It is at risk of inattention because of competing crises, because of its theoretical amenability to previously effective, if temporary measures, most impressively with the so-called Green Revolution and because of the recourse to the global trade paradigm as a putative solution. We identify some missing or under-emphasised dimensions in this analysis, with particular reference to Asia, which in spite of recent growth??or in some cases because of it??faces particularly daunting food problems. Greater emphasis needs to be given to population size and distribution through more concerted family planning and enlightened migration policy; public policy to retain or encourage plant-based diets; integration of food, health and environmental approaches to create resilient regional food systems; and the incorporation of food into the broader human security agenda. While regional organisations, along with their NGO counterparts and nation states, have an over-arching role to strategise in this way, substantial progress could still be made at the community and household levels, especially with current technologies which can marshal their collective and coherent action.     

Food security in high mountain regions: agricultural production and the impact of food subsidies in Ladakh,Northern India

The issues of food security and its specifics in high mountain regions are often neglected in national and international science and policy agendas. At the same time, local food systems have undergone significant transitions over the past two decades. Whereas subsistence agriculture still forms the economic mainstay in these regions, current dynamics are generally characterized by livelihood diversification with increased off-farm income opportunities and an expansion of external development interventions. A case study from Ladakh (Indian Himalayas) illustrates how changes of the political and socio-economic conditions have affected food security strategies of mountain households. In the cold, arid environment of Ladakh, where combined mountain agriculture is the dominant land use system, reduced importance of the subsistence base for staple foods is reflected in current consumption patterns. Seasonal shortfalls and low dietary diversity lead to micronutrient deficiencies, a phenomenon that has been described as “hidden hunger”. This paper describes determinants of the transition of the current food system, based on land-use analyses and quantitative and qualitative social research at the household, regional and national level. It shows how monetary income and governmental as well as non-governmental development interventions shape food security in this peripheral region. Focusing on the particular example of staple food subsidies through the Indian Public Distribution System, the paper illustrates and discusses how this national-level measure addresses food security and shows the implications for household strategies. Against the background of our findings we argue that tailor-made regional policies and programmes are needed to face the specific challenges in high mountain regions.     

Fortifying food in the field to boost nutrition: case studies from Afghanistan, Angola, and Zambia

Deficiencies in micronutrients such as iron, vitamin A, and iodine affect billions of people worldwide, causing death, disease, and disability. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has long been recognised for its ability to deliver food to some of the most remote locations, under the toughest conditions: refugees in border camps, populations cut off by conflict, extremely poor and marginalised people like ethnic minorities, orphans, and widows. Relatively little, however, is known about its efforts to ensure that the food it delivers not only provides enough calories for immediate survival but also provides the vitamins and minerals needed for healthy growth and development. Much of the food delivered by WFP is fortified with iron, vitamin A, and other micronutrients before being shipped. But there are several reasons to mill and fortify food as close to the beneficiaries as possible. For instance, milling and fortifying food locally helps to overcome the problems of the short shelf-life of whole fortified maizemeal. It also enhances the nutritional value of locally procured cereals. And it can foster demand for fortified foods among local consumers beyond WFP beneficiaries, thus nurturing an industry with potentially significant benefits for the health of entire communities. This paper outlines three approaches by WFP to fortifying cereals in Afghanistan, Angola, and Zambia. It examines the challenges faced and the outcomes achieved in an effort to share this knowledge with others dedicated to improving the nutritional status of poor and food-insecure people. In Afghanistan, attempts to mill and fortify wheat flour using small-scale chakki mills were successful but much larger-scale efforts would be needed to promote demand and reach the level of consumption required to address serious iron deficiencies across the country. In Angola, maize has been fortified to combat the persistent occurrence of pellagra, a micronutrient deficiency disease found among people whose diets are dominated by maize. By providing fortification equipment to a commercial mill at the port of Lobito and using a vitamin and mineral pre-mix provided by UNICEF, this project has overcome many of the difficulties common in countries emerging from conflict to provide monthly fortified maize rations to some 115,000 beneficiaries. In Zambia, iron deficiency anaemia was a serious problem among camp-restricted refugees. WFP and its partners imported, installed, and trained workers in the use of two containerized milling and fortification units (MFUs), halved iron-deficiency anaemia, and reduced vitamin A deficiency among camp residents. In addition, WFP dramatically reduced waiting times for refugees who used to have their whole grain maize rations milled at small local facilities with insufficient milling capacity. The context and scale of each of the three case-studies described in this paper was different, but the lessons learned are comparable. All projects were succesful in their own right, but also required a considerable amount of staff time and supervision as well as external technical expertise, limiting the potential for scaling up within the WFP operational context. In order to expand and sustain the provision of fortified cereal flour to WFP beneficiaries and beyond, getting the private milling sector as well as governments on board would be crucial. Where this is not possible, such as in very isolated, difficult to reach locations, strong, specialized partners are a prerequisite, but these are few in number. Alternatively, in such contexts or in situations where the need is urgent and cannot be met through local flour fortification in the short term, or through local purchases of fresh foods, other approaches to improve the diet, such as the use of multimicronutrient formulations, packed for individual or household use, may be more appropriate.     

Household food security,economic empowerment,and the social capital of women’s shea butter production in Mali

Shea butter, an edible oil and lotion produced primarily by women in over twenty-one countries in sub-Saharan Africa and consumed locally and exported internationally, can contribute considerably to achievement of several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This study investigated the importance of shea butter to women and their families for food security, household economy, women’s empowerment, and social capital. It highlights the vital social value of shea butter in cooperative labor for production, gifting customs among women, and traditional and religious ceremonies. In addition, this study identifies critical opportunities for and obstacles to further market expansion. Based on a mixed methods approach employed in Mali from 2009 to 2014, this study included participant observation, interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions as well as shea tree mapping and weighing of shea and firewood. Major challenges that exist for shea market expansion and food security potential include climate change and globalization of other competing world edible oils. Nevertheless, there are promising opportunities for the shea market with the extensive shea tree distribution, growth of consumer support for environmentally and socially conscious products, and capacity building efforts of rural shea nut collectors and butter producers by the Global Shea Alliance.     

Exploring the profitability of improved storage technologies and their potential impacts on food security and income of smallholder farm households in Tanzania

This study assesses the profitability of selected improved grain storage technologies and the potential impact of their adoption on food security and income of smallholder maize producers in Tanzania. We used on-farm experiment data, time series maize price data, and household survey data to address the objectives. For the improved technologies, we considered Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags, metallic silos of different sizes, and polypropylene (PP) bags treated with Actellic Super®. We compared them with PP bags without insecticide treatment as the control. Results show that PICS bags and PP bags plus Actellic Super are profitable in all locations and not significantly different. While the feasible period varies by location, profit is most likely negative if farmers sell their maize in the first two months after harvest and in the last two months before the next harvest. There are mixed results with regards to the profitability of metallic silos; bigger silos are profitable for farmers who have economies of scale to use them while smaller ones are profitable only within the context of higher grain price and bigger seasonal price gap. The results also show that PICS bags (or PP bags plus Actellic Super) are useful to address food security and income objectives among poor rural households whereas metallic silos with bigger storage capacity can increase the income of those farmers who have bigger surplus grain to sale.     

Improving food security through agricultural research and development in Timor-Leste: a country emerging from conflict

Timor-Leste is a small, poor and predominantly-agricultural nation of less than 1 million people. Most families suffer from chronic food insecurity practising food rationing 1–6 months of the year. The small size of Timor-Leste, its recent birth as a nation and conflict history, together with little previous research on staple crops make it a unique crucible to test the effect of a major post-conflict initiative of agriculture research on national food security. Research started in 2000 with the introduction of germplasm of staple crops (maize, peanut, rice, cassava and sweet potato). Replicated trials confirmed by extensive evaluation in farmer-managed trials revealed significant yield advantages over the local cultivar in maize of 53%, in peanut of 31%, in rice of 23% and in sweet potato of 80%, accompanied by improvements in size and eating quality. Cultivars of maize (2), peanut (1), rice (1) and sweet potato (3) were released in 2007. One year later an early adoption study of 544 farmers involved in on-farm trials showed that 73% had re-grown new cultivars. Cultivar adoption not only increased household food security but often produced surpluses for sale in the market—sometimes for the first time. The project is planning to increase seed production and dissemination to move from a highly positive pilot-scale impact in six Districts to impact food security nationally.     

PROCAMPO,the Mexican corn market,and Mexican food security

PROCAMPO (Program for Direct Assistance in Agriculture or Programa de Apoyos Directos al Campo) is an income transfer payment to Mexican farmers that compensates them for subsidies received by foreign competitors. Corn (Zea mays) has received the largest amount of PROCAMPO payments and is the primary component of Mexico’s food and feed supply. Results of a spatial and temporal model show that without PROCAMPO, Mexican annual average corn production would have been lower and corn imports would have been 40.5% higher in 2005–2007. Increased producer and consumer surplus and savings from reduced imports reveal that the benefits of PROCAMPO were higher than the program’s costs. Greater PROCAMPO support would decrease Mexican corn imports and increase domestic corn production. It is recommended that PROCAMPO payments to corn producers be continued and increased in the interest of Mexican national food security.     

加强食品化学与营养学的研究, 促进食品工业的发展

<正>民以食为天。膳食是人类生存的基本条件,它不但为人体生长发育和维持健康提供所需的能量和营养物质,而且在预防人体的许多疾病方面起着重要作用,甚至会对人的思维方法和行为举止产生一定影响。膳食的本质就是营养。营养是指人体从食品中所能获得的满足自身生理需要的必要的生物学过程,营养学是研究人体营养规律及其改善措施的科学,而食品营养学是营养学的一门分支学科,是研究食品营养与人体健康、与食品贮藏加工关系以及提     

严厉打击在食品中使用非食用物质的违法犯罪行为， 科学合理规范使用食品添加剂

1 违法使用非食用物质是对我国食品安全的最大威胁 近年来,我国出现的多起重大食品安全事件,主要是一些不法分子在食用农产品种养殖、食品生产加工、食品运输、储藏和餐饮烹制过程中使用非食用物质造成的,如使用三聚氰胺、苏丹红、瘦肉精、吊白块、孔雀石绿、皮革水解蛋白、敌敌畏、石蜡、工业双氧水、甲醛、石蜡、罂粟壳等。这些物质属于毒性很大的化工原料,根本不是食品添加剂,对人体健康的危害性最大。     

The integration of smallholders in agricultural value chain activities and food security: evidence from rural Tanzania

The integration of smallholders into agricultural value chains is considered an important pathway for raising the welfare of farmers, including their food security. Distinct from literature that has mainly dwelt on smallholder integration in high-value and export-orientated agricultural value chains (AVCs), we focus on domestic, traditional AVCs, which are relevant to the majority of smallholders. Using primary household data from Kilosa and Chamwino districts in rural Tanzania, we examined the nature and extent of smallholder participation in traditional AVC activities and their associated welfare effects, focusing primarily on household food security. Cluster analysis was used to explore different smallholder livelihood activities and the extent of participation in traditional AVCs while propensity score matching and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment approaches were employed to analyze food security effects of various AVC activities. Results revealed that smallholders participate at varying levels in different AVC activities and their integration in traditional AVCs plays an important role in improving food security. Whereas other studies analyze only the impacts of participation in single AVC activities, we show the relevance of assessing the effects of multiple AVC activities on food security. Findings highlight the importance of promoting policies that enable effective vertical and horizontal integration of smallholder farmers into traditional AVC activities for enhanced food security and improved livelihoods.     

我国食品安全问题产生的原因及对策

目前,食品安全已成为全球性的重大战略性问题,随着我国国民经济的高速发展及人民生活水平的提高,对食品安全提出了越来越高的要求,解决食品安全问题对我国有重要的意义。在提出对食品安全和安全食品正确认识的基础上,从食品供应的各个环节具体分析了我国食品安全问题产生的因素,并提出以下相应对策:建立和完善相关的法律、法规及标准;加强食品安全的监督管理,加强食品安全重大关键技术的研究和开发,运用信息技术建立食品安全信息管理体系,建立食品安全社会信用体系,提高全民对食品安全的重视程度。     

Climate change, flooding and food security in south Asia

The most vulnerable groups in terms of food security during floods in south Asia under climate change will be the poor, women and children. Current procedures for the transfer of climate adaptation funds tend to marginalize these groups. Food production is being disrupted by flooding more frequently and more severely than before, due to climate change. By 2080 the situation is likely to be much worse than at present. Adaptation has to encourage management of all stages of food security, from the farm to the consumer, both urban and rural. Measures have to be participatory, from the community to the international level. While many individual initiatives offer hope and demonstrate good practice, institutional, economic and environmental factors may all impede the maintenance and enhancement of food security in south Asia. Innovative forms of food production, distribution and storage will have to be developed.

当前我国围绕食品安全内涵及相关立法的研究热点--兼论食品安全、食品卫生、食品质量之间关系的研究

介绍国内外关于食品安全概念的不同定义和当前我国围绕食品安全概念及内涵的各种认识,论述了食品安全、食品卫生、食品质量三者之间的关系,指出了确立食品安全法律概念的长远的重大意义。