Abstract: The impact of agricultural decisions on the dietary diversity of people living on subsistence farms is poorly documented. This study examines the relationship between diversity in agricultural production and d... PubDate: 2025-06-07
Abstract: Climate change endangers food security globally and in Uganda particularly. Our objective was the assessment of weather shocks’ impact on the food security of smallholder households in Uganda. We used the Uganda National Panel Survey (UNPS) data. A multistage cluster sampling procedure had been employed to recruit respondents. We used the periods 2013/2014, 2015/2016 and 2019/2020 to construct an unbalanced panel with 3,935 observations. We employed Poisson and logit fixed effects panel regressions. Food security was measured as the number of meals consumed by a farming household each day or alternatively the likelihood of experiencing a food shortage. Our main result is that weather shocks unequivocally reduce households’ food security. Furthermore, households that are large, female-headed, lack literacy or assets or reside in Northern Uganda or in rural areas tend to suffer from reduced food security. In contrast, non-agricultural (business) activities improve the food security of households. Households with low asset ownership or residing in the North are hit hardest by weather shocks in terms of the number of meals, while households with middle asset ownership are hit hardest regarding food shortages. For development policy, our results are in favour of region-specific support for climate adaptation and for non-agricultural (business) activities, the improvement of literacy via better education and support for building up assets or starting non-agricultural (business) activities. PubDate: 2025-05-28
Abstract: This paper develops a Knowledge Agenda for food systems resilience in the Horn of Africa, based on the recognition that knowledge needs of food systems transformation in protracted food crisis requires specific attention from humanitarian, development and peace partners, national governments, multilateral and bilateral organisations, the private sector, and universities and training centres. A knowledge agenda is an advocacy and policy document which highlights systemic, structural and individual/collective goals and targets as they relate to knowledge, competencies and perspectives in a particular field or domain. Such a Knowledge Agenda, comprising Knowledge Development Goals, can be a powerful tool for advocacy, policy and programming advice and for bridging research and practice. The framework for the Knowledge Agenda has been provided by the ‘Agenda Knowledge for Development’, informed by the literature on knowledge management for development, and on knowledge for food systems transformation and resilience. We have taken the approach of relying on a variety of literature because there is very little literature specifically addressing knowledge for food systems resilience in protracted crisis. Against this background, a draft Knowledge Agenda (pages 11–13) is proposed which features 12 Knowledge Development Goals with specific targets, recognising that the Agenda needs further elaboration and contextualization in a consultative process. This version has novelty and value as it provides a roadmap of how researchers, practitioners and policymakers can develop draft Knowledge Agenda for consultation for contexts where the literature is limited. [204 words]. PubDate: 2025-05-14
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered unparalleled political, economic, and social ramifications, exacerbating global food insecurity (FI). To understand the overall impact of the pandemic and how different socio-economic groups were affected, we assessed prevalence and severity of FI in a sample of 18,997 households across seven countries in South America. We employed the Food Insecurity Experience Scale developed by the FAO. Our results showed that pre-pandemic, 4.5% of the sampled population across the entire continent faced Moderate FI, while 0.6% experienced severe FI. During the pandemic, Moderate FI increased to 16.9% (+ 12.4%), and Severe FI to 2.7% (+ 2.1%). By country, pre-pandemic households in Venezuela had the highest prevalence of Moderate FI (9.7%), with Peru experiencing the highest Severe FI frequency (1.1%). Peru had the greatest rise in Moderate (+ 23.9%) and Severe FI (+ 4.6%) during the pandemic. Low-income households, defined as those earning PubDate: 2025-05-13
Abstract: Who is malnourished, why some people have access to diverse and healthy diets while others do not, and the lifelong and intergenerational consequences of these situations are questions that are central to why we care about food and nutrition equity – but these questions are often overlooked in research and practice. The purpose of this paper is to review recent work on equity and equality in the field of food, diets and nutrition, and to provide empirical case-studies demonstrating issues and solutions in practice, in order to move the field forward coherently. The Nutrition Equity Framework illustrates how unfairness, injustice and exclusion condition deep drivers of inequity that lead to unequal diet and nutrition outcomes. We use the framework to structure four case-studies from Brazil, South Africa, Vietnam and the UK on how researchers and activists are involved in the struggle for fair and just diets that are healthier and more sustainable. Comparison across the four case-studies provides a useful illustration of how diet and nutrition equity dynamics can play out in diverse ways depending on national historical and contemporary contexts; but at the same time, we see some parallel trends and characteristics suggesting common drivers of unhealthy and inequitable diets. In terms of action, equity can be operationalized in the positive as the need for recognition, representation and redistribution with relation to marginalized population groups, and the paper ends with suggestions from the literature on how to take this forward in research and action. PubDate: 2025-05-02
Abstract: Promoting gardening among urban residents holds the potential to improve urban diets in low- and middle-income countries, but there is a lack of evidence of impact. This study tests the hypothesis that training urban residents in gardening increases their intake of fruit and vegetables. It uses panel data for 254 control and 425 treatment households from four city corporations in the Dhaka metropolitan area of Bangladesh. Urban residents, 85% of whom were women, were interviewed before the start of an urban gardening program and one year after training and inputs were provided to the treatment group. The study estimated the average treatment effects using a difference-in-difference estimator. Of the 38 outcomes tested, 20 are significant (p PubDate: 2025-04-30
Abstract: The transformation of food systems in low-and middle-income countries is indispensable for attaining food and nutrition security. To analyse and better understand food system transition, transition pathway approach is commonly used as a tool to engage key stakeholders in looking for a solution to a major structural food system issue that requires a transition. Inherent in these food system transition pathways are trade-offs and synergies within or between different dimensions of sustainability, scales, and types of actors. The objective of this study was to identify and assess with the stakeholders the trade-offs and synergies in transition pathways of doubling dairy consumption in Ethiopia. Of the four transition pathways developed of doubling dairy consumption within 15 years, we focused on two pathways in this study. The “peri-urban pathway” focused on the vision that all low-income peri-urban consumers have access to safe and affordable pasteurized milk by 2037 while the “ rural pathway” aimed at access to pasteurized milk by all rural pregnant and lactating women, and children under 7 years. Fifteen trade-offs were identified by the participants for the two pathways. Scores of the importance of each trade-off ranged from 1 to 3 on a Likert scale from 1 (low) to 4 (very high) with average of 2.47 ± 0.42 and 2.6 ± 0.371 for peri-urban and rural pathways, respectively. Applying transition pathway approach to this case study shows that stakeholder participation is essential to assessment of trade-offs and synergies in food system transition, and that it is context-specific and pathway-dependent. PubDate: 2025-04-30
Abstract: This article explores the relationship between agricultural crime victimization, including theft and vandalism of crops and livestock, and food security of smallholder farming households. We use a distinctive panel dataset from rural Tanzania collected in 2016, 2018, and 2021 and measure various dimensions of food security using the Food Consumption Score (FCS), the Household Food Insecurity Access Score (HFIAS) and the Reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI). We use the linear two-way fixed effects model to analyze the association between victimization and FCS, and Tobit regression model for HFIAS and rCSI. Our findings reveal that on average, households suffer losses from crime equivalent to 6% of total food expenditure in a year. While vandalism is consistently linked to lower food security across all indicators, theft of crops and livestock is associated with higher HFIAS and rCSI scores, suggesting greater food insecurity. These findings necessitate the need to recognize agricultural crime victimization as an emerging threat to food security that requires attention and intervention in rural communities. PubDate: 2025-04-28
Abstract: Fruit and vegetable consumption is below the WHO recommendations, globally, in Southeast Asia, and in West Africa. Affordability, accessibility, and acceptability are the main drivers of consumption. Nutrition-sensitive food system interventions that address these drivers may be effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. This study evaluates the effect of an integrated nutrition-sensitive program that aimed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in low-income urban adults in Hanoi, Vietnam (n = 582), and Ibadan, Nigeria (n = 626), through the simultaneous implementation of three interventions at the market and consumer levels. Fruit and vegetable intake data were collected after eight months of exposure to the program with repeated quantitative 24-hour recalls and exposure effect was estimated with inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment, adjusting for potential confounders. The impact size on total fruits and vegetables (144 g/d, 95%CI 93, 196), fruits (137 g/d, 95%CI 93, 183) and vegetables (6 g/d, 95%CI -12, 24) showed that intake was higher in the exposed Nigerian population than the control group. In Vietnam, intakes of fruits and vegetables in the exposed group did not statistically differ from the control group when controlling for differences between groups with propensity scores. Participants exposed to all three interventions reported slightly higher intakes compared to those who were exposed to fewer interventions, but these differences were not statistically significant. Integrated approaches of nutrition-sensitive food system interventions need to be implemented to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. Co-creation of interventions provides the possibility to address the different drivers and barriers of healthy diets specific of the context. PubDate: 2025-04-24
Abstract: The present study aimed to determine the risk levels affecting food safety and security in foods distributed to earthquake victims by organizations. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in food distribution organizations in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay between 20–24 February 2023 (N = 40). The data were collected face-to-face by using the Descriptive Data Form and Food Safety and Security Observation Form (FSSOF) developed by the researchers. According to FSSOF, organizations had a 41.6% risk concerning food safety and security. According to the multiple linear regression analysis, organizations that did not control the foods were found to be associated with an increased total score of FSSOF (β: -0.527, p = 0.010). No relationships could be found between the type of organization, the population served, having a food technologist and/or dietitian, the distance between the organization and waste, and the total scores of FSSOF (p > 0.05). The organizations that did not control the food were found to be associated with Organization-specific conditions (β: -0.623, p = 0.002), Food distribution conditions (β: -0.531, p = 0.015), Personnel hygiene (β: -0.608, p = 0.005), Food security (β: -0.480, p = 0.036) and Environmental conditions (β: -0.537, p = 0.018) were found to be associated with an increased level of risks. Also, not having an engineer and/or dietitian was associated with an increased risk of Food storage practices (β: -0.469, p = 0.005), and increased the number of staff was associated with an increased risk of Organization-specific conditions (β: 0.348, p = 0.007). The level of risk of the organizations concerning food safety and security was found to be relatively high. Control of the food provided was the most important determinant of food safety and security. PubDate: 2025-04-22
Abstract: Forests support food security and nutrition worldwide, especially so for highly forest-dependent communities who collect a variety of food products from nearby forests. While the importance of forest cover to the diets of forest-dependent communities has been well-researched, little is known regarding the role of more specific forest characteristics – information that would be valuable for better identifying the landscapes that support a nutritious and diverse diet. To address this research gap, we linked child dietary data to remotely-sensed geospatial indicators of surrounding forest characteristics – using more nuance than is typically undertaken – by examining forest age, tree density, and forest fragmentation in Kenya’s East African Montane Forests. Interestingly, dietary diversity of children demonstrated no or relatively weak associations with forest characteristics. However, by parsing out individual food groups, we exposed the nuance and complexities associated with the forest-diet relationship. Vegetable/fruit consumption was positively associated with open and moderately dense forest cover, but negatively associated with fragmented forest cover. The consumption of meat and vitamin A-rich fruit was positively associated with younger forest cover, and negatively associated with dense forest cover. Older forest cover was positively associated with green leafy vegetable consumption, but negatively associated with other vegetable/fruit consumption. Our findings provide suggestive evidence that there is no single ‘ideal’ type of forest for supporting food security and nutrition – rather, different types of forests are associated with different dietary benefits. Taken together, these results indicate the need for more in-depth research that accounts for factors beyond the proximity and amount of generic forest cover. PubDate: 2025-04-08
Abstract: Sri Lanka Government’s ambitious decision to ban synthetic agrochemicals, including chemical fertilizers (and pesticides), in April 2021 made it the first nation in the world to embark on a full-scale transition to – as the Government called it—organic farming, and address concerns about human health and the environment. Previous policies had envisioned a gradual shift, but the sudden ban caught agriculture off guard. Declining foreign exchange reserves to import chemical fertilizers and coinciding peak fertilizer prices appeared to support the timing of the move. However, the ensuing rush for organic fertilizers failed to meet the national demand, resulting in severe losses in rice and export-oriented plantation crops. Facing decreasing yields and food insecurity, the government lifted the ban in November 2021. The events raised critical questions about the necessity and feasibility of such a drastic transition and alternative ways. To explore the general feasibility of transitioning toward organic fertilizers, this study considered the actual and potential availability of biomass to “replace” chemical fertilizers at the national scale as was envisioned by the Government. The analysis focused on the four main national crops and showed that in none of the selected scenarios, Sri Lanka’s actual and potentially available organic fertilizer could supply rice- and plantation-based agrosystems with sufficient nitrogen, not to mention other crops or nutrients. The Government will in every scenario, including one that assumes a stepwise transition, remain compelled to spend significantly on importing organic fertilizer to maintain the required crop yields, which would cost the Government more foreign currency than purchasing chemical fertilizer. Even more costly is purchasing rice to close the national production gap, as Sri Lanka eventually did at the end of its nationwide experiment, which resulted in major food security concerns. PubDate: 2025-04-02
Abstract: Though improper food trader hygiene and handling practices can cause food contamination, few studies have examined both the drivers of their adoption and their impact on the safety of food. Thus, this study examined the hygiene and handling practices of adult vegetable traders in southwest Nigeria by analyzing microbial contamination in vegetable samples and survey data from 166 traders collected over multiple seasons. Our findings show that just half of the traders routinely changed the washing water (every four hours), putting consumers at risk of severe E. coli infection. Almost no traders have received formal training on food safety. High toilet-use fees and a limited number of toilets are also significantly associated with practice gaps among traders. The study findings reveal the need for increased awareness about hygiene and food safety among food traders, e.g. through training programs. In addition, improving market infrastructure such as more toilets and hand washing stations and reducing the associated costs of using these services could facilitate better adoption and adherence to good hygiene practices which has a direct impact on food safety. Addressing food safety requires a multifaceted approach that includes education, infrastructure improvement, and policy interventions aimed at promoting and sustaining good food handling practices among food traders in Nigeria and similar contexts. PubDate: 2025-03-29
Abstract: The rapid expansion of global food trade over the last decades has intensified the debate about its environmental impacts and the role of trade policies in resource conservation. This paper examines whether tr... PubDate: 2025-03-28
Abstract: Malnutrition, in all its forms, poses a significant threat to human development and economic growth. Consequently, enhancing food security and consumption is a moral and social imperative for fostering develop... PubDate: 2025-03-12
Abstract: As sustainable intensification is a major pathway for improving agricultural productivity and reducing the environmental impacts of land use, the Government of Ethiopia and international development organizati... PubDate: 2025-02-12
Abstract: In West Africa, increasing rural–urban flows of food, driven by growing urban populations, require functional, efficient links between cities and production areas. However, underlying mechanisms of urban food ... PubDate: 2025-02-10
Abstract: This paper estimates consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for meat certified to be safe for human consumption in Peru. Citizens in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are increasingly concerned about the s... PubDate: 2025-01-18
Abstract: Irrigation is often celebrated as a means of intensifying agricultural production and improving food and nutrition security. In the context of semi-subsistence smallholder agriculture irrigation can have a pos... PubDate: 2025-01-10
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