Development communication for collaborative governance: Empowering women farmers in food independent villages

Food (in)security in relation to nutrition (in)security in a national cross-sectional sample of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants: considerations of an emerging construct

This chapter argues for the importance of considering gender as a central variable in food-based approaches to food and nutrition security, given women's key roles in household food preparation, allocation and distribution, timing, frequency and quantities, dietary choices, as well as in subsistence food production, which is the primary source of household access to food, especially among low-income populations with constrained access to market purchased food. The chapter discusses the importance of relying on the gender lens in designing food-based interventions for food and nutrition security because of the influence of gender in intergenerational and intra-generational nutritional outcomes. It illustrates the difference between food access and availability, and the greater vulnerability of women and children in extreme situations, such as seasonal food scarcity, food crises, climate change and complex emergencies. Concluding comments propose the integration of gender as crucial in food-based approaches to food and nutrition security, including two strengths of the Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division (ESW) of FAO in this regard - capacity development and enhancing the evidence base on women's key roles in household food security.

This study aims to explore the role of Indonesian language education as an agent of social change by adopting sociological and religious approaches. The research is conducted in Lombok Barat and Lombok Utara, Indonesia. The study employs a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data collection techniques involve in-depth interviews with educators, curriculum document analysis, and observation of the learning process. The collected data is analyzed using qualitative analysis techniques, including thematic and interpretative analysis. The results indicate that Indonesian language education holds significant potential as an agent of social change through the integration of sociological and religious approaches in the learning process. The sociological approach allows for a deeper understanding of the relationship between language, identity, and social structure, while the religious approach provides a strong moral and ethical foundation in shaping individual and societal character. The implications of this research underscore the need for further integration of sociological and religious approaches in the development of the Indonesian language curriculum to strengthen the role of education in facilitating positive and sustainable social change.

All government policies and programmes for food and nutrition security should include providing healthy food, as well as providing economic and social availability for all people. This study aimed to analyse the current situation of Iranian food and nutrition security and establish a road map towards 2021. The applied methods were situation analysis and a mixed qualitative-quantitative method. The conceptual method used for developing this national document encompassed three areas: sustainable food supply, food safety and nutrition. The outcomes of the Iranian food and nutrition security system in the past three decades include development of management infrastructure and improvement in food and nutrition security status. However, analysis of current programmes showed that there were some overlapping, intertwining and parallel works in the responsibilities of related organizations in the field of supervision of food safety (from production to supply). The national document produced as the outcome of this paper was communicated by the Iranian Ministry of Health in 2012 and has been running for 2 years. Selected ministries are responsible for implementation of 20 national programmes by the end of the 5th Economic, Social and Cultural Development Programme (2016-2011). The consensus of stakeholders by the end of the 6th Development Programme (2021) is to put all of the provinces in a safe or very safe situation in terms of food and nutrition security. The most important challenge in establishing national documents is to make them operational. This aim was achieved by an intersectoral nutrition and food security working group, which produced a general memorandum of understanding with the main organizations, the media, universities and private sector.

Introduction: Nutrition security is an emerging concept that expands upon the definition of food security – consistent access to sufficient quantity and quality of food – to include prevention, management, and treatment of disease. There is limited evidence on how nutrition security is related to heart health, specifically in populations disproportionately impacted by cardiovascular disease risk, such as Latina women. Hypothesis: Latina women experiencing food and/or nutrition insecurity will have poorer indicators of Life’s Essential 8 compared to those with food and/or nutrition security. Methods: Vida Sana y Completa is randomized controlled trial of a multi-component Food is Medicine (FIM) intervention for Latina women with obesity (BMI>30kg/m 2 ). This analysis uses survey data from baseline assessment (n=165). Food security status was assessed using the USDA 6-item screener and nutrition security status was assessed using the 4-item Nutrition Security Scale. Outcomes included vegetable and fruit intake, BMI, blood pressure (BP), and mental health. Within group differences by food and nutrition security status were performed using ANOVA with Fischer’s least significant difference and independent two-sample t-tests. Results: The majority (82%) reported food insecurity and approximately half (47%) reported nutrition insecurity. Women with very low or low food security consumed fewer vegetables compared to those with food security (1.7 vs. 2.1 vs. 3.0, respectively; p=0.02). Women with nutrition insecurity also consumed fewer servings of vegetables compared to participants with nutrition security (1.7 vs. 2.5; p=0.01). Systolic BP was higher among women with low food security, compared to participants with very low food security or participants with food security (p=0.01). Diastolic BP was higher for participants with low and very low food security compared to participants with food security (p=0.03). There was no difference in BP by nutrition security status. Participants with food and nutrition insecurity had more symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to participants with food and nutrition security(p<0.05). There were no differences in daily servings of fruit or BMI by food and/or nutrition security status. Conclusion: Latina women with food and/or nutrition insecurity are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. FIM interventions may effectively address food and/or nutrition insecurity, as well as Life’s Essential 8, to improve heart health.

Wild foods contribute to the food security of multiple communities in tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, wild foods are not regularly considered in the planning of strategies for food and nutrition security mainly due to the lack of technical and/or scientific knowledge so that they can be considered suitable for human consumption. This paper proposes a multidisciplinary method that estimates the potential of wild foods as alternative resources when planning interventions in favour of food and nutrition security in tropical forest territories. When designing the method, four dimensions were identified in science, technology and innovation (STI) that define this potential as well as ten assessment criteria. The wild foods chosen for applying the method were Alibertia patinoi (a fruit commonly known as Borojó) and Proechimys semispinosus (Mouse of thorns), which are two of the main wild foods traditionally used by human communities in a tropical forest territory in the northwest of Colombia. In both cases, although there are significant advances in STI, compliance with some criteria is still required to regard them as viable alternatives for nutrition and food security within this territory. This research is useful for promoting the inclusion of wild food in food security programmes for communities where this food is already included in their traditional pattern of consumption and identifies the progress needed in STI to achieve this purpose. It may also promote the early recognition of possible traditional and cultural practices with high risk of transmission of pathogenic elements by the handling and/or inadequate consumption of wild foods. This early recognition could contribute to the prevention of diseases of wild animal origin, including those of rapid global spread.

Background: Food security in communities can prevent health complications, so investigators have made efforts to find its related factors through various fields. This study aims to draw a road map for nutrition and food security research in Iran. Methods: Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Islamic World Citation Center were searched for eligible publications in nutrition and food security related to Iran for the two decades from 2001 to 2020. Content analysis was done by a co-word network technique using VOSviewer software. Results: Finally, 28,995 scientific publications among 50,444 search results were eligible to include in this study. The research map was drawn using 403,262 keywords obtained from the title and abstract of the papers. A 23.53% growth rate of publications was seen. Iranian articles were mainly published in scientific journals under 10 subject categories. The highly repeated keywords of "treatment", "plant", "age", "risk", and "consumption" were in publications. Moreover, the articles were categorized into thematic clusters of "environmental and climate change", "health ", "food industry and food safety", and "agriculture and water resources management" which were related to nutrition and food security. An increasing trend was observed in the number of publications during the past two decades in Iran. Conclusion: The relation of clinical nutrition, malnutrition, diet, and in recent years, food production and climate change with food security have been extensively studied by Iranian researchers. However, they have neglected studies on public health and policy in food and nutrition security, which reveals their dominant clinical or agricultural approach.

Economic Reforms and Food Security

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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.

The paper analyzes the relationship between socio-economic change and food and nutrition security in Nigeria. The process of achieving food and nutrition security is an important element in sustainable development as far as to end hunger, achieve better nutritional patterns, sustainable agriculture is concerned. Nigeria has a huge potential in agriculture and yet more than 40 percent of the population lives in poverty causing food insecurity and malnutrition. This would be coupled with gender inequality and large youth unemployment which continue to worsen the challenges. The weak productivity and access to inputs and good support services of smallholder farmers constitute structural barriers as they provide about 90 percent of agricultural production in the country. The relationship between food security and socio-economic change is never easy and influences over it depend on the quality of the prevailing governance, development of infrastructure, or even economic growth. The paper examines how selected socio-economic transformations especially those that enhance technological advancement, education, and fair resource allocation can increase food security prospects in Nigeria. It reiterates the necessity to make use of inclusive growth policies that address the structural inequalities and increase access to healthy, nutritious food to everyone. Dealing with these problems is inherent in Sustainable Development Goal 2 and a healthy, food-secure population

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most rapidly urbanising regions in the world. Achieving food and nutrition security is not only a rural challenge; the access to adequate (in terms of quantity and quality), healthy, nutritious and affordable food is also a growing concern for cities. The latest food crisis (2007/08) put food security back onto the political agenda as food prices increased significantly within just a few weeks and showed the world how vulnerable food systems are, particularly in cities. Food systems describe the ‘farm-to-fork’ processes, pathways and dynamics between interlinked actors and are embedded in a spatial context. The global discourse on food security happens without considering the urban context, just as the global discourse on the urban context happens without considering food security (Battersby 2016: 3). The controversial debate on the contribution of urban agriculture to food and nutrition security frames this study. Based on the perspective of a food systems approach this research seeks to understand the two case areas, City of Cape Town (South Africa) and City of Maputo (Mozambique), through local food production, pathways, dynamics and challenges. This paper shows early results of two baseline surveys amongst urban farmers in both cities, as well as in-depth interviews with urban farmers. Both case studies show similar challenges but different opportunities to increase the potential of urban agriculture to contribute towards a more sustainable food system.

The global food system depends on a limited number of plant species. Plants with unsatisfactory nutritional value are overproduced, whereas the wide variety of nutrient-rich plant species used in earlier times remains neglected. Basing our diet on a few crops has wide-ranging negative consequences on nutrition and food security. Although still under-researched, underutilized plants are slowly starting to receive increased recognition. These plants have superior nutritional content and immense potential to contribute to food and nutrition security and increased sustainability. This narrative review provides evidence to encourage the promotion, domestication, and commercialization of underutilized plants. The anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer effects of some of underutilized plants are presented in this review. The outstanding ability of forgotten plants to increase food and nutrition security, boost dietary diversity, reduce malnutrition, and enhance human health and well-being is demonstrated. The main barriers and obstacles to reintroducing underutilized foods are reviewed and recommendations for overcoming nutrition and dietary-related challenges for re-establishing underutilized plants into the global food system are presented. The expansion of underutilized plants for human use is of paramount importance. The exceptional nutritional properties, bioactive potential, and proven health benefits of underutilized plants indicate that increased promotion, domestication, and commercialization of these plants should be strongly supported. Besides health benefits, marginalized plants have the potential to enhance human well-being and improve people’s lives in many ways, retain biodiversity, and develop local economies. Therefore, underutilized plants should be used in the broader context of well-balanced and healthy diets.

There is a growing consensus that one of the key priorities to address food and nutrition security is to aim at the transformation of agriculture and food systems. The private sector can fulfil an important role in this. It is often argued that the success at low income markets (denoted here as Bottom of the Pyramid - BOP) requires innovative and inclusive business models. However, research findings on this have been quite descriptive and generic. The literature on private sector engagement and food and nutrition security has a strong focus on the participation of businesses in the value chain and the food system, but does generally not unravel the specific characteristics of the inclusive business model itself. This article aims to contribute to an improved understanding with regard to inclusive business model characteristics of private sector interventions aiming at food and nutrition security improvements, by scrutinizing 16 cases from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The study focuses on the internal fitness of the strategic business model by analysing the foundation level components of the inclusive business model. Important findings are the relevance of quality of product or service besides its affordability, marketing and distribution strategies to link the different actors in the value chain, and training as well as coalition building to overcome institutional and cultural gaps and increase the success of the inclusive business model for improved nutrition and food security. An important conclusion is that the business model and business ecosystem of BOP markets is crucial. Also, the findings indicate a need for intermediaries to overcome cultural and institutional gaps in implementing inclusive business models.

With the ever-increasing climate change, actions to reduce its negative impact while improving food and nutrition security are critical. This review is a retrospective analysis of climate adaptation strategies and implications for food and nutrition security among small-scale farmers in South Africa. The review used bibliometric analysis and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis to track research on implications of adaptation on food and nutrition security, identify adaptation strategies with implications on food and nutrition security and discuss the implications. The analysis shows a steady growth in the research field; however, whether the pace will accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 by 2030 is unknown. Institutional research collaboration is notable, although weak. The co-occurrence of keywords reflects Climate-Smart Agriculture and food and nutrition linkages, emphasizes the importance of farmers’ perceptions on adopting measures to enhance food and nutrition security and illustrates the risk-vulnerability-resilience nexus. Adaptation measures with implications on food and nutrition security are varied, ranging from individual efforts to government-led initiatives. We recommend strengthening institutional research collaboration to accelerate the pace towards achieving zero hunger, food security and nutrition by 2030. It is also important to have an inclusive policy framework that addresses farmers’ adaptation needs.