Food Security最新文献

The current diet structure of Chinese residents poses significant challenges to both health and the environment. Accordingly, in this study, a diet structure optimization model was developed to simulate the diet structure of urban and rural residents in four regions of China, taking into account nutritional needs and environmental sustainability for optimization. The results showed that by optimization based on nutrition alone, nutrient adequacy ratios could increase by 2.8% on average, narrowing regional disparities. Incorporating environmental sustainability slightly reduced nutritional improvements but significantly lowered carbon emissions, water usage, and ecological footprints by 2.9%, 6.9%, and 2.4%, respectively. By simulating the optimization of diet structure, the Qinghai-Tibet region showed potential for nutrient enhancement, whereas the southern and northern regions had opportunities for environmental impact mitigation. This study highlights the significance of transitioning towards a sustainable diet structure that enhances nutritional levels while prioritizing individual and environmental well-being and emphasizes the urgent need for change. It also offers targeted recommendations for diet structures in different regions of China, thereby providing invaluable references for policymakers and other countries striving to establish sustainable and balanced diets.

Emergency cash transfers provide essential life support to vulnerable households affected by a crisis, including those living in chronic poverty. So far, project life cycles, nutrition, and asset-related thresholds have informed the decision of when beneficiaries switch from emergency cash transfers to an income-generating livelihoods program. However, factors beyond material poverty influence the likelihood of sustained improvements in well-being during such changes. We argue that a food systems perspective with additional metrics helps provide targeted transition support to beneficiaries. Based on insights gained from an Urban Safety Net in Mogadishu, Somalia, we suggest a multi-level framework to conceptualise the transition readiness of internally displaced people and poor host communities. Based on this framework, we make recommendations for improving safety net programming.

Multiple crises and challenges in the food sector are driving a rising need for innovative food production methods that could provide a growing urban population with high-quality, sustainable and healthy food while strengthening the resilience of food systems. Controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) in urban areas has been proposed as one possible pathway to address these demands. Despite its various potential benefits, CEA is still in a conceptual or experimental stage and there has been less research that focuses on the specificities of urban areas where it could be implemented. Using the Urban Food Production Innovation System (UFoPrInS) concept, this paper analyses the urban contexts and enabling and impeding factors for implementing CEA in three contrasting locations: London, Nairobi and Singapore. Based on document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews, our findings show that Singapore is a favourable location because public policies support the implementation of CEA to reduce food import dependency and enhance the resilience of food supply. In London, high food import dependency is increasingly seen as problematic, but the implementation of CEA has been hampered by other policy priorities. In Nairobi, where over half of the population lives in informal settlements without adequate food, water and sanitation, CEA is unlikely to make an economically efficient contribution to food security. We conclude that the implementation of CEA might be suitable in locations with ample capital and knowledge, stable political, social, and infrastructure conditions, and limited space, where value can be linked to hospitality and tourism, supported by positive pricing for resource savings.

Empowering smallholder farmers in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and improving their livelihood is a critical goal for poverty reduction. To achieve this, agricultural commercialization can play an important role. However, a prerequisite to achieving agricultural commercialization is access and control of stable irrigation. This study revisits empirically the relationship between groundwater irrigation and crop commercialization. It also analyses the underlying mechanisms of how groundwater affects crop commercialization through on-farm production diversity. Studying the effects of groundwater irrigation on crop commercialization is essential for comprehending the trade-off between agricultural benefits and the environmental costs of groundwater irrigation. Geospatial and remote sensing information, combined with primary household data from small-scale farmers in eastern India, are employed in conjunction with an instrumental variable technique and a 3SLS simultaneous equation model for the analysis. The results suggest that small-scale farmers in eastern India experience enhanced crop commercialization when they have access to groundwater irrigation. Furthermore, the study suggests that the utilization of groundwater irrigation indirectly promotes crop commercialization by incentivizing farmers to diversify their production system.

Global agricultural production has risen substantially in recent decades and needs to rise further to meet the ever-growing food demand. While higher production can be directly attributed to agricultural expansion and intensification, the underlying factors behind the changes in cultivated areas and yields can be complicated and have not been well understood. China has dramatically increased its food production in past decades, especially during the initial approximately 30 years following the commencement of the rural reform in the late 1970s. The agricultural land use, including cropland areas, the composition of different crops and their spatial distributions, and crop yields have experienced substantial changes. In this research, we quantitatively analysed the changes in the harvested areas and yields of the four most widely cultivated crops in China (rice, wheat, maize, and soybean) at the county level from 1980 to 2011. We used spatial panel regressions to quantify the determinants of the observed changes in harvested area and yields for the major cultivation region of each of the four crops. Results showed that growth in population, gross domestic product, and urbanisation are positively associated with harvested areas. Higher usage of machinery and fertiliser inputs increased yields of the three cereal crops, while the harvested area of soybean decreased, particularly after China’s accession to the WTO. Our findings reveal how domestic urbanisation and changes in consumption patterns, coupled with the rising globalisation of agricultural markets, shaped China’s agricultural production and land use over the three decades. These insights shed light on the determinants of long-term agricultural dynamics and thus inform evidence-based decision-making.

Food security at the WTO remains one of the significant unaddressed demands of the developing country members. The Agreement on Agriculture has restricted the flexibility of the developing country members to administer price support backed public stockholding programmes for food security purposes, mainly due to the Amber box limit and the methodology for calculating market price support. Despite many deliberations and Ministerial mandates, no concrete solution has been found. The only option available to the developing country members is the Bali Decision on public stockholding, which is limited in product and programme coverage. For a permanent solution, this paper examines the options of addressing the flaws in the market price support calculation methodology through (a) consideration of inflation, (b) moving external reference price, (c) notifying in stronger currency, and (d) increasing the de minimis limit. Further, a solution based on the Bali peace clause has also been analysed. The paper finds that a ‘one glove fits all’ is not an appropriate approach for a permanent solution. Instead, multiple options or a combination of options should be made available according to the agricultural conditionalities of the members.

Improving the agricultural productivity and welfare of rural farming households is important for many governments, especially in low- and middle-income countries like Nigeria, where agriculture plays an important role in the economy. Increasing access to agricultural extension is often suggested as a way to raise farmer productivity and incomes. However, empirical estimations of the causal impact of agricultural extension services in Nigeria are few, especially those that address internal and external validity concerns. Improved estimation of the effectiveness of agricultural extension can support evidence-informed decision-making by agricultural policymakers. In this study we used three waves of the Nigerian General Household Survey to advance understanding of the factors associated with farmers’ use of agricultural extension services, and to examine how receiving extension support might improve welfare among rural farm households in Nigeria. Through random effects regression with endogenous treatment effects, we found that asset ownership, use of inorganic fertiliser, and access to credit were positively associated with the use of extension services. We also found positive associations between use of extension services and household food security and assets. Receiving agricultural extension service was associated with a 16% reduction in food insecurity and a 64% increase in household assets. Further disaggregating extension services by the type of advice obtained showed positive associations with welfare outcomes for households that received advice on new seeds and fertiliser, but mixed results for those who received advice on animal care and marketing. Receiving advice on new seed varieties and fertilisers was associated with a 12–15% reduction in food insecurity and a 92–113% increase in household assets. Our findings add to the body of evidence that suggests enhancing farmers’ access to extension can improve the welfare of farmers. Government policy needs to consider factors that limit or promote farmers’ access to agricultural extension services, so that Nigerian farmers can equitably benefit from the potential welfare gains associated with agricultural extension.

Countries which imposed strict containment measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are thought to have faced particular socio-economic challenges. This study assesses the implications of COVID-19 disruptions on local agri-food value chain actors in Kenya and Uganda, as both countries enacted strict lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus. Using survey data from 527 smallholder farmers and 107 small-scale market actors, the study analyses these actors’ vulnerability and resilience. This is operationalised as (1) the exposure of respondents to COVID-19 containment measures, (2) effects of these measures as observed by respondents (e.g. on production or trade and income), and (3) (short-term) coping strategies used by respondents to deal with such impacts. Our results show how containment measures have restricted personal movement and transport options and have limited access to agricultural inputs and markets. This led to a decrease in agricultural production and local trading activities. While both farmers and market actors experienced massive negative income effects, market actors were being hit particularly hard as their livelihoods depend on free movement which was severely curtailed during the pandemic. Actors from both categories often tried to cope by selling livestock, using savings and lowering both food intake and food diversity. Coping strategies were thus short-term and further reduced actors’ resilience by exhausting their buffering capacity and exposing them to the risk of food insecurity.

The inequities of Brazilian society are present in metropolitan favelas in the scope of the provision of basic sanitation, health, and education services. They are also reflected in the food environment and, consequently, in their access to food. Thus, this study aimed to characterize physical access to food establishments in the favelas of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. We analyzed the distribution of Public Equipment for Food Security and Nutrition and food establishments registered in the State of Minas Gerais, both for the year 2019, in the census sectors of Belo Horizonte. We calculated food deserts and conducted food swamp analyses for the favelas. We used a buffer network to calculate the nearest neighbor and commute distance. We also calculated accessibility through public transport. Establishments that predominantly offer healthy foods are fewer and farther away from favelas, whereas those that predominantly offer unhealthy foods are widely available in the environment. To reduce inequities in these communities, programs and policies that encourage opening healthy food establishments and planting community gardens in favelas are required.

This study stems from a participatory foresight exercise conducted in nine Mediterranean, Baltic, Nordic and Eastern European regions, aiming to strengthen the role of small farms and small food businesses in ensuring food security. A wide range of stakeholders participated by attending workshops. They represented farmers’ organisations, food businesses, consumers’ organisations, NGOs, researchers, extension services, professional groups, and administration and public bodies. The actions proposed by participants are scanned and categorised around six broad objectives, stakeholders’ priorities and their underlying beliefs and preconceptions are discussed around the current debates of the literature, and the drivers that influence the feasibility of the proposed actions are discussed. Furthermore, the alignment of stakeholders’ -driven objectives with the European Strategies on food, agriculture, and rural areas is examined, with a focus on: (i) the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, (ii) the Rural Action Plan contained in the Long-Term Vision of Rural Areas developed by the EU Commission, and (iii) the Common Agricultural Policy in force since January 2023.