Buiatrics as a strategic infrastructure for global food security: A Brazilian presidency and a new practical phase at the World Association for Buiatrics

In the past few decades, the Nepali government has endorsed several nutritional policies, strategies, and guidelines. Given the lack of a comprehensive review of such policy documents, this review aims to describe the nutrition and food security policies and understand the existing policy gaps in Nepal. Findings from this study can be used to develop policies and programs to address Nepal's current and future nutritional needs. Policies relevant to nutrition and food security were identified by searching government websites and directly approaching relevant government ministries. Thematic analysis was conducted using framework methods under 8 predetermined themes: nutrition intervention, food security, food system, capacity building of human resources, nutrition education, nutrition governance, research, and monitoring and evaluation. The contents of each document reviewed were manually extracted in a spreadsheet stratified by the themes, and the findings were summarized for the respective themes. A total of 30 policy documents were reviewed. Most policies have focused on undernutrition; only a few have addressed overnutrition and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Food security through a sustainable food system has been considered a key policy area in Nepal. Other areas in the food and nutrition policy landscape are capacity building for human resources, behavior change practices, nutrition governance, monitoring, and evaluation. Policy gaps have been identified in the quality and sustainability of nutrition programs; access to health care services; competent human resources for nutrition; intersectoral coordination and commitment; and support for monitoring, evaluation, and research activities. Most policies have tried to address a wide range of components of food and nutrition security; however, strategies focused on overnutrition and diet-related noncommunicable diseases are lacking. Several gaps are identified in this policy review; the findings can guide the policymakers to address these gaps via further policy development.

South Africa is food secure at national level, but not at household level. Some communities experience food shortages for a certain period during the month or for a period during the year. This is a food security threat to the community, as long as food loss and waste is not given the attention it deserves. Food loss mostly takes place at post-harvest and throughout the value chain until it reaches the consumer. Sweet potatoes are not spared from such losses. These losses tend to undermine the impact of sweet potato as a food security crop. This study was conducted to determine sweet potato food loss experienced at different stages of the value chain. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a number of entities that are involved in the sweet potato food value chain and have purchased sweet potato material from the Agricultural Research Council. These entities were located in four provinces of the country where sweet potato is mostly produced and processed. Moreover, these entities were involved in at least one post-harvest (value chain) activity. The results indicated that small-scale sweet potato producers sold sweet potato to the local informal market while commercial producers with washing facilities, pack-houses and distributor licenses were supplying established formal markets. Sweet potato processing was done by commercial entities only, not small-scale entities. Sweet potato food loss was experienced throughout the food value chain beginning from crop growth where poor weed management and pest attack was observed. Sweet potato breakages and skinning were predominantly experienced during the post-harvest stage. “Out of specification” losses were experienced at packing and distribution stage while at processing stage, losses were through peeling and removal of insect bites/lesions. No losses were reported at the storage of processed sweet potato stage because entities had well established infrastructure to prevent losses. Processing of sweet potato and other crops reduces food loss and further strengthens the agrifood system and extends shelf-life of food crops to provide food and nutrition security. Key words: Agri-food, post-harvest, food waste, commercial processing, small-scale, informal markets

Some 815 million people world-wide suffer from chronic malnutrition and the most devastating and persistent problem of food security and environmental degradation are found in rural areas. These people are also information marginalized due to remote nature of most of such areas as in Nigeria. The objective of the research study was to identify opportunities in ICTs for sustainable food and nutrition security and propose policy framework towards achieving sustainable food and nutrition security through the use of ICTs. The information generated through literature showed that to be food secure, households need information and the understanding of what constitutes an appropriate diet, as well as the skills and motivation to make sound choices on family care and feeding practices. It was determined that nutrition knowledge is significantly associated with child nutrition, independent of mothers’ level of formal education or household income. Acceleration of agricultural development by increasing agricultural production, improved marketing and distribution that would lead to food and nutrition security can only be possible through knowledge and information. Bridging the digital divide through development and utilization of information communication technologies (ICTs) which include fixed lines, mobile phones and Internet services will go a long way in making significant impact in solving the problem of food security and malnutrition. Key words: Hunger, malnutrition, ICTs, access, capacity building, policy advocacy.

Millets have regained significance as climate-resilient and nutritionally superior crops capable of strengthening food and livelihood security, especially among smallholders and tribal communities. In India, these grains continue to hold ecological and cultural importance across rainfed regions. Attappadi, a major tribal block in Kerala inhabited by the Irula, Kurumba and Muduga communities, has traditionally relied on millet-based farming systems deeply rooted in Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK). Millet cultivation has declined in recent decades due to environmental, socio-economic and institutional pressures. This study examines the millet value chain dynamics, documents the role of institutional actors, and identifies SWOC of the value chain in Attappadi. The results show that cultivation remains largely subsistence-oriented, with production shaped by climatic variability, wildlife intrusion and infrastructural gaps. Institutional actors such as Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and Kudumbashree microenterprises have emerged as central players in processing and value addition. Despite the fragmented nature of the value chain, growing consumer demand and improved institutional support present opportunities for upgrading. Revitalising millet cultivation could significantly improve livelihood resilience, food security, women’s empowerment and cultural preservation in Attappadi.

Agriculture dominates the economy of the Sub-Saharan African countries. Main producers of agricultural commodities are smallholders who depend strongly on the sector for incomes, food security and employment. These goods reach consumers via multilevel marketing systems, not directly from production. Thus, the fights to achieve food and nutrition security as well as prosperity for these countries will be won or lost by the way agricultural value chains are coordinated. However, value chains in developing countries face series of impediments in many of the cases smallholder farmers are disadvantaged. In recent years activities and actors to be coordinated along the value chain have increased significantly. These include a change in consumer demands, climate change, water scarcity, stringent market standards, including food safety, production and processing technologies to minimize post-harvest losses, information and communication technologies and new or emerging markets. Such dynamics will lead to a changing business environment and change relationships between actors in the chain. Thus, it is essential to realize the dynamic change, problems, risks and necessary changes combined with it. Lack of comprehensive strategies along the entire value chain affect the potential benefits that smallholder farmers might obtain from it. The strategies could range from improving productivity through increasing access to inputs to increasing access to markets through strengthening value chain relationships and improving an enabling environment. The strategies should also incorporate activities and actors out of the value-chain like universities and research centres to support the poor smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Food and livelihood security are key concerns for coastal communities in Indonesia as local and global drivers threaten fisheries across the archipelago. However, the focus of fisheries management and conservation on fish production excludes important aspects of the fish food system such as local economies, relationships, and cultures. For management and conservation policy to address food insecurity and marine resource declines, there is a need to understand local trade and consumption. In this study, we use value chain analysis and a “fish as food” framework to investigate the links between fish production, distribution, and consumption in an Indonesian fishing community (Bontosua Island, which is near the port city of Makassar). To explore dimensions of food security, we employed value chain surveys spanning trading structures and livelihood benefits (Chapter 2) and household surveys depicting on-island distribution pathways (Chapter 3). Three questions guide the research: i.) What social and economic benefits do actors in the Bontosua-Makassar value chain receive from the fish trade, and what maintains them? (Chapter 2); ii.) Which fisheries are most important for food security (i.e. trade, nutrition, cultural, and social value) on Bontosua? (Chapters 2 and 3); and iii.) In what ways do the island’s nutritional dependence on certain fish species and acquisition pathways reflect the local fishing and trading environment? (Chapter 3). The results of this study are also interpreted to advise an ongoing coral restoration project on the island, which was formed with a socio-economic aim to support long-term food security and livelihoods. We found that trade connected to the study community was market-based and fish were staple items in household diets. Although coral reefs are the main targets for marine conservation projects like the one occurring on-island, small pelagic (offshore) fish were the dominant fish type present in value chain and household surveys. Fish flows were maintained primarily by pelagic fishing crews, a hierarchical fishing format supported by debt-based ties between a patron (lender) and client (debtor). Debt mediated unequal trade relations, leading boat owners and middlemen to accumulate a majority of the wealth from fish trading. At the household level, access to fish and particular fish species was seasonally dependent: during the windy season, households had higher social and economic vulnerability because fish supplies were limited, fish buying increased, and households had to substitute their preferred wild-caught species with imported farmed fish. Strong associations between dietary diversity and purchased food groups, combined with a

Research by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) on global food and nutrition security focuses on the question how to achieve transitions to a food system that will be adequately equipped to nourish the growing world population. One of the challenges of this transition is to evolve to a food system that will be sustainable (resource-efficient and with minimal impact on climate change and global warming), yielding affordable, trustworthy (safe), high-quality food products. This particular report is part of a study on the redesign of food value chains from linear value chains into circular adaptive value chain networks for nutrition and food security (Redesign or Adaptive Value Chain Networks for food and nutrition security (AdVaNs)). In view of the global trends of world population growth, urbanization, the efficient use of natural resources, mitigation of the impact of food production on climate change and global warming, this research addresses global food and nutrition security by developing a forecast model for the content and composition of local food baskets. Enablers of changes in these future food baskets are the growing economic welfare, advancing information technologies and sustainability issues that affect regional and global value chains. Knowledge about these trends in this future demand on food is searched for by policy makers and governments that are in need of accurate and reliable quantitative information for strategic decision-making. By developing forecasting models that are dedicated to human nutritional needs and consumption patterns, historic quantitative data can be transferred into future trends and predictions regarding food demand in specific regions. A methodology, using autonomous time based linear regression, was developed by the authors to predict a future food basket in terms of energy, composition and products for the near future in 2030 based on available historical data. The methodology was used for 4 regions in Mexico (Mexico City, North-, South- and Central Mexico). Also the amount of micro-nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, in the food was estimated. The forecasted results were also categorised by two demographic characteristics: income class (low income vs. high income) and the residential environment (urban vs. rural environment). The forecasting is based on FAO data in combination with national data for the prediction of the specific regional food baskets in Mexico. The results show that the urban region obtains more energy and vegetables, fruit and meat, having also the more wealthy class of the population. Also in Mexico most proteins and carbohydrates are consumed as part of staple foods. In this research validation of the methodology was carried out by using data from the past to predict the situation in 2011 of the composition of the food basket. This comparison of the present data with the forecasted data shows that this linear regression method can be used to forecast the food basket in 2030 for a majority of product groups, but to a smaller extent for milk and pulses in particular.

Food security in Africa was impacted as a result of supply chain disruptions and government lockdowns brought on by the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. With participation from important actors in the agricultural value chain, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) assessed the effect of COVID-19 on agri-food system in Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda. Farmers, agro-processors, private service providers, off-takers and merchants, input dealers, and Ministry of Agriculture Extension service personnel are among the value chain actors that took part in the study. The survey, which was held from April 13 to April 16, 2020, used semi-structured tools and questionnaires aimed at the different stakeholders. The study used a cluster sample technique. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, which included frequency counts, percentages, rank correlation, and categorical regression. Based on the severity of the lockdowns associated to COVID-19, the survey found that the outcomes differed by country. The analysis shows a negative association between e-extension and education during the COVID-19 epidemic, but a high and positive correlation (p < 0.01) between extension services and postharvest services, as well as credit availability. Factors such as transportation, labor availability, price fluctuations, output market activity, loan availability, and food and nutrition security were significantly and positively correlated with COVID-19 awareness. Additionally, the respondents indicated that price changes were favourably correlated with labour availability and transportation, and that farming activities were significantly and positively correlated with food and nutrition security, labour availability, and the output market. According to the perspective data collected in every country during the COVID-19 epidemic, postharvest services, agricultural input activities, and food and nutrition security all heavily relied on extension services, with postharvest services having a negative correlation with extension services. The results of the analysis show that COVID-19 impacted several variables that are associated with extension services across the four countries. For instance, the R2 value of the relationship between value chain variables and extension service delivery across Mali (0.485), Nigeria (0.621), Ethiopia (0.426), Uganda (0.529), and the combined countries (0.511) indicates that the variation of the dependent variables can account for 48.5% of the variation in the values of the independent variable (extension service delivery) in Mali, 62.1% in Nigeria, 42.6% in Ethiopia, 52.9% in Uganda, and 51.1% in the combined countries. Farmers' access to agricultural labour, credit services, inputs for agriculture, and output markets was restricted by the ban on travel and social gatherings. Smallholder farmers should employ digital solutions more to strengthen the agricultural value chain's actors' resilience against potential pandemics or conflicts, according to the study's implications for extension services. This will reduce the requirement for extensive personal touch and travel in the delivery of extension services. The study also highlights how crucial it is for extension services to show tangible outcomes and benefits in order to increase farming communities' and value chain actors' resilience in any difficult circumstances. Key words: COVID-19, food systems, extension services, value chain actors, output markets

Smallholder farmers and pastoralists produce the largest proportion of food consumed in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they remain among the food insecure populations. This paper explores the food (in)security among smallholder farmers and pastoralists using a sample of 175 households in three agro-food value chains of wheat, dairy, and beef in the north-west Mt. Kenya region. The study seeks to answer if a farmer’s participation in a particular agro-food value chain determines his/her food security situation. We use the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and two Poisson regression models, parsimonious and full, to assess the household food security status and determinants of food security among the smallholder farmers and pastoralists. The results show that 61% of the households were either mildly, moderately, or severely food insecure. Households in the beef value chain experienced relatively higher incidences of food insecurity compared to households in the wheat and dairy value chains. The HFIAS scores revealed a wide gap between households with minimum and maximum score. Household size, income and income-related variables (ability to save and borrow to meet family needs), transport assets, membership in farmers’ associations, and household energy were significant in determining household food security, while access to credit and to extension services was not. Strategies that focus on boosting smallholder farmers’ incomes, building strong and resilient farmers associations to improve inclusive and equitable value chains have the potential to get smallholder farmers out of recurrent food insecurity.

ABSTRACTThis review argues that nutrition is an integral component of food security, and should be embedded within all four of its dimensions – availability, access, utilization, and stability. The review highlights current food insecurity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as exacerbated by the triple burden of malnutrition, where undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight/obesity coexist. Previous efforts to address food security in MENA have focused on food availability, overlooking the other three dimensions and leaving nutrition considerations aside. Meanwhile, the literature has recognized the need to highlight nutrition as fundamental, and opted for the term ‘food and nutrition security’. To achieve food and nutrition security in MENA, a nutrition lens must be applied across all four dimensions – from assessment, to policy and programming, to capacity building. For example, MENA countries can adopt policies and programs including well-structured food subsidies, dietary guidelines, public awareness, and education campaigns to increase availability and accessibility of nutritious and safe foods, and stimulate consumer demand for those. To accomplish this, MENA needs to build stakeholders' capacity and equip them to address the challenges that are hindering the achievement of food and nutrition security now and into the future.

Climate change presents a significant threat to humanity. It affects agriculture, food supply, and economic development. Urban agriculture (UA) is an alternate climate-smart approach to enhancing food and income security. The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept promises to lessen the effects of climate change. Nuanced research is critical to warrant food and income security. This review paper synthesises evidence through a systematic literature search to analyse the implications of CSA practices and climate adaptation strategies for food and income prospects. We also employed bibliometric analysis to show emerging trends and identify knowledge gaps in the ongoing topical discourse. The review elucidates insights into how CSA practices boost urban food production, accessibility, and dietary diversity, ultimately enhancing urban farmers’ food security. The economic benefits of CSA and climate adaptation strategies highlight that UA is vital for improving urban farmers’ income. Despite the opportunities created by UA, the review recognises the critical challenges and trade-offs that call for transforming UA to safeguard food and income security in the face of increasing climate change. The review calls for an all-round UA transformation encompassing urban community-based efforts, capacity building, and policy support mechanisms aimed at advancing climate-resilient UA and ensuring food and income security in an ever-changing environment.

This paper reviews various studies which have provided a description and possible explanation to patterns of innovation adoption in the agricultural sector. The survey points out that the tendency of many studies to consider innovation adoption in dichotomous terms (adoption/nonadoption) may not be appropriate in many cases where the actual decisions are defined over a more continuous range. More attention needs to be given to the socio-cultural and institutional environment in area studies so that their interrelation with economic factors affecting adoption can be inferred. The presence of several interrelated innovations is another aspect that needs to be considered more carefully in future research, since a number of simultaneous decisions may be involved. Furthermore, the possibility of regular sequential patterns in adopting components of a new technological package should be specifically addressed in future studies. Finally, the impact of differential adoption rates on land holding distribution merits attention in future research.

The quest for transparency spans countries, policymakers, NGOs, and industries.Transparency can be defined as disclosing to the public, in a timely and reliable manner, information that governments and/or corporations previously con-sidered confidential. Recent examples include the Carbon Disclosure Project,the Aarhus convention on access to environmental information, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and its provisions on global genetically modified organism flows, and a wide array of financial information (e.g., in the G8 declaration of Lough Erne in 2013). Stemming from the “right to know,”advocates from NGOs and development organizations view transparency as a cure for corruption and a benefit for democratic accountability; transparency should lead to stakeholder empowerment and improve legitimacy, learning, investment certainty, and better governance. In this article I look at the efforts to establish financial transparency as a norm for the extractive sector. This sector is important because its activities are accompanied by a high level of corruption, especially in resource-rich developing countries. I show that those efforts are not enough and there is good evidence to demand more. I argue that such transparency norms should be extended to environmental pressures in order to facilitate progress on the circular economy and resource efficiency. My conclusions point at synergies between knowledge generation across financial and environmental information.

Value chains are conduits that play an important role in global food security. The purpose of the study was to analyze the increasing impact of global value chains on national food security and develop proposals for improving the level of food security in Russia.
 The research featured the impact of value chains on food security. The study was based on a systematic analysis of data obtained from national statistical services, information and rating agencies, international organizations, etc. 
 The impact of value chains on food security proved to be complex. On the one hand, they combine disparate links into a single system and allow for the rapid delivery of food to the end consumer. On the other hand, they increase the monopolization of the control links. The article introduces key features of the transformation of food value chains in recent decades. First, the list of participants often changes due to the growing contradictions between different countries and unpredictable foreign policy. Second, processing, logistics, and trade chains often get monopolized. Third, companies from other industries enter value chains from outside. Fourth, the distribution of income among chain participants becomes more uneven. Fifth, the influence methods of control links get more elaborate, etc. In general, companies tend to globalize their value chains while national governments strive to keep the chains within the country.
 The results of the study can improve value chains and food security in the country, while taking into account the interests of both chain participants and society, as well as the principles of sustainable development.

Food security has been a major concern in India. Despite of the rapid economic growth and improvements in the productivity of major crops, food security for the bottom 30 percent of the population of India is an important challenge. Hunger, malnutrition, under nutrition are the main problems of the country. Food security and nutritional status of Indian population reveal that 7 million people are undernourished in India i.e. 14.5% of the world population, 4% of women in reproductive age between 15 to 49 years are anaemic, 4% of the children aged under five in India are stunted and 21% suffer from wasting. The Global Hunger Index 2016 ranks India at 97 out of 118 countries. India lag far behind in providing food security and in improving the nutritional status of people with low socio-economic status across the regions. One of the major issue in food security is the impact of climate change on agriculture. Crop production, horticulture, livestock, poultry, fisheries are likely to be affected by global warming, heat stress, cold, waves, water availability and monsoon variability. Thus, climate change can increase the prices of major staple crops in some regions of India and thus affecting availability and accessibility of food to people with low income. Changing climatic conditions could also create a vicious cycle of disease and hunger. In order to achieve food security, it is important that the poor have sufficient means to purchase food. About 60% of population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Creating alternate livelihood options and reducing dependence on agriculture can support them. An integrated approach to meet food security is the need of the hour which should be both horizontal approach i.e. moving side-by-side focusing on promoting sustainability and resilience through management of natural resources-land, water, soils, trees and genetic resources, protection of land degradation, combating natural disasters, bio-diversity conservation along with vertical approach i.e. top-down and bottom-up strategies focusing on government interventions, opportunities for livelihood income generation, food value and supply chain, capacity building, knowledge services and coordination. Besides climate-resilient agricultural technologies, proper policy interventions, improved health of population can bring a change in the food security scenario of India.