Impacts of COVID-19 on Trade and Economic Aspects of Food Security: Evidence from 45 Developing Countries

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

Who Eats, Where, What, and How? COVID-19, Food Security, and Canadian Foodscapes

Comparing Food Security Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations When Choosing Measures

Food security in a just energy transition is a growing debate about designing sustainable food secure networks worldwide. Energy transition, land-use change, and food security are crucial factors for food security and provision. The increased demand for food products and customer preferences regarding food safety provide various issues for the current agriculture food supply chain (AFSC). Along with rising sustainability concerns, strict government regulation, food security, and traceability concerns compel managers, business houses, and practitioners working in AFSC to adopt new tools, techniques, and methodologies to model current food supply chain problems. Thus, in turn, design the food logistics network for food security. Hence, this study investigates the core determinants of food security and supply in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon over the period of 2010–2019. In order to estimate the objectives of the study, we employ the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares estimators (DOLS) to draw the study findings. However, the estimated results show a negative association of land use with food security and supply. Likewise, energy transition, gross domestic product, and agricultural value added (AVA) contribute to the food security supply. In contrast, urbanization's negative but insignificant contribution to the food supply in selected economies exists. Besides, another core objective of the study is to investigate the moderate role of the energy transition on the gross domestic product, agriculture sector, and land use and find the significant contribution to the food supply. However, the current study also tries forecasting for the next 10 years and employs the impulse response function (IRF) and variance decomposition analysis (VDA). Congruently, this study uses the pairwise panel causality test and finds exciting outcomes. The COVID-19 crisis has posed challenges such as energy consumption and food security issues. On behalf of the results, the current study proposes imperative policies to investigate the desired level of food supply. The findings provide valuable insights for experts, policymakers, and officials to take practical measures for energy use and food security challenges.

Food insecurity is a major public health concern in the United States, particularly for pregnant and postpartum individuals. In 2020, ∼13.8 million (10.5%) U.S. households experienced food insecurity. However, the association between food security and pregnancy outcomes in the United States is poorly understood. The purpose of this review was to critically appraise the state of the evidence related to food insecurity as a determinant of health within the context of pregnancy in the United States. We also explored the relationship between food insecurity and pregnancy outcomes. PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Food and Nutrition Science databases were used. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed studies about food (in)security, position articles from professional organizations, and policy articles about pregnancy outcomes and breastfeeding practices. Studies conducted outside of the United States and those without an adequate definition of food (in)security were excluded. Neonatal health outcomes were also excluded. Included articles were critically appraised with the STROBE and Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklists. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Inconsistencies exist in defining and measuring household food (in)security. Pregnant and postpartum people experienced several adverse physiological and psychological outcomes that impact pregnancy compared with those who do not. Intersections between neighborhood conditions and other economic hardships were identified. Findings regarding the impact of food insecurity on breastfeeding behaviors were mixed, but generally food insecurity was not associated with poor breastfeeding outcomes in adjusted models. Inconsistencies in definitions and measures of food security limit definitive conclusions. There is a need for standardizing definitions and measures of food insecurity, as well as a heightened awareness and policy change to alleviate experiences of food insecurity.

Economic Reforms and Food Security

Food insecurity is a global issue, with higher prevalence of hunger in developing countries. Low crop yield and food production - due to difficult topography and traditional farming methods - combined with lower income; fluctuations in prices and supply, and low quality of food have been causing food insecurity in Nepal. This research examines food (in)security situation in Upper-Mustang, Nepal. The results are derived from the data collected through face–to-face interviews with the heads of 66 households, in-depth interviews conducted with 22 key informants, and discussions with the group of local people in different (6) places. The household food system was studied from livelihood perspectives and food (in)security was assessed in relation to self-sufficiency or production sufficiency, access, utilization, and stability of food. Households in the Trans-Himalaya acquire food from multiple sources such as farming and livestock ranching, buy food from the market, and also receive food aid for the sake of survival during the food crisis. Food security situation in terms of self-production in Upper-Mustang is at worst stage that many households are facing severe to chronic food insecurity. Studied households access marketed food, though the price they pay is very high. The worrisome issue is that there is no significant improvement in food security situation over time in the Trans-Himalaya. Study found that not the household size but dependency ratio in the household increases food insecurity. On the other hand, quality of farmland in terms of cropping intensity and availability of irrigation rather than the farm-plot size contribute for food security. The issue of food security is still a valid development policy goal for Nepal in general and for the Trans-Himalaya in particular. Accordingly, food security interventions are important. Yet, policy for interventions should look into all components of food systems, particularly providing irrigation, promoting local food varieties, and provisioning for food subsidies and food aid together with subsidies in food transport.

The Need for Investment in Rigorous Interventions to Improve Child Food Security

Assessing Food and Nutrition Security in Patients Undergoing Total Joint Arthroplasty.

IntroductionLittle is known about the relationship between food security status and predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between food security status and cardiovascular disease risk factors and predicted 10-year risk in a national sample of US adults.MethodsA cross-sectional analysis using data from 10,455 adults aged 20 years or older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2008 was conducted. Four levels of food security status were defined by using 10 questions.ResultsAmong all participants, 83.9% had full food security, 6.7% had marginal food security, 5.8% had low food security, and 3.6% had very low food security. After adjustment, mean hemoglobin A1c was 0.15% greater and mean concentration of C-reactive protein was 0.8 mg/L greater among participants with very low food security than among those with full food security. The adjusted mean concentration of cotinine among participants with very low food security was almost double that of participants with full food security (112.8 vs 62.0 ng/mL, P < .001). No significant associations between food security status and systolic blood pressure or concentrations of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were observed. Participants aged 30 to 59 years with very low food security were more likely to have a predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk greater than 20% than fully food secure participants (adjusted prevalence ratio, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.31–4.31).ConclusionAdults aged 30 to 59 years with very low food security showed evidence of increased predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk.

This study focuses on COVID-19 and food security risk, capturing perceptions, drivers and household response measures. Using a mixed research design, the researchers investigated food security risk in Nkambe Cameroon during peak periods of COVID-19. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to 400 respondents and key informant interviews, and it was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed significant differences in the food security dynamics among COVID-19-infected and non-infected households (19% and 33%, respectively, p = 0.002), with non-infected households being more food secure than COVID-19-infected ones. Significant positive effects between variables, like age of respondent, household size, level of education and food security of affected households were identified. The regression model explains 82.8% of the food security determinants in the midst of COVID-19's peak period. Both COVID-19-infected and non-infected households responded to food insecurity through food rationing and consumption frequency rationing, instead of reducing food consumption frequency. The researchers recommend increasing the efficacy of safety nets and other social assistance programmes in the face of shocks by targeting households most vulnerable to COVID-19-induced food insecurity. Expanding this research agenda to other study sites with a gender lense can provide insights for food security policies post COVID-19.

ABSTRACTUsing a discursive-material framework, this study explored the complex ways in which food security and food insecurity are expressed and experienced by people who are unemployed. A Photovoice study of 21 individuals from across the social class spectrum revealed the way jobless individuals navigate the discursive-material dialectic regarding their food (in)security. In the first theme, food insecurity as figure, resource-deprived participants had a tendency to focus on the materiality of food with regard to survival. In the second theme, the blurring of figure/ground in the midst of food (in)security, participants with tenuous resources blurred the materiality of food through discourse that obscured their needs. In the third theme, food security as ground, resource secure participants discursively relegated the materiality of food to the background. Implications are discussed.

Feeding the City, Pandemic and Beyond

Understanding the association of food insecurity and nutrition insecurity with diet quality: A cross-sectional analysis of two national samples

Food and nutrition insecurity continues to be one of the major development challenges in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions of the world. Karamoja sub-region, located in northern Uganda, is one of the poorest and most food insecure part of Eastern Africa. Previous studies have generalized the sub-region as food insecure. However, limited attention has been paid to locational differences in the food and nutrition security situation within this culturally and ecologically diverse part of the country. A crosssectional study design was used to examine at a community level, disparity in food and nutrition security situation among communities in Kotido and Moroto districts of the Karamoja sub-region. The study investigated the status of agricultural production, dietary habits and food security situation using individual household survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) and food insecurity coping strategy index (CSI). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and correlation and regression methods, at 5 % level of significance. The results showed that irrespective of ethnic differences, majority of households (78.8%) consumed less than 3 meals 24 hours preceding the interview. Generally, agricultural production was inadequate to support household food security and less than 30% of the households had adequate calorie intake. However, calorie intake adequacy was at least three (3) times higher in Kotido than in Moroto district. Plant foods were more frequently consumed than animal-source foods. At least 57% and 73% of households in Kotido and Moroto districts, respectively, never consumed fish. Food security was generally predicted by household size, ownership of food stores, occupation of household caregivers, number of livestock (especially goats) owned by households, time taken to fetch water (related to distance to water source) and sorghum production. Whereas it is generally known that Karamoja sub-region is highly food insecure, this study has demonstrated that communities in Moroto district are worse-off than those in Kotido district. Therefore, community-level characteristics ought to be an essential baseline consideration in designing food and nutrition interventions in Karamoja, and indeed in food insecure localities in general. Keywords: Karamoja, Eastern Africa, dietary practices, coping strategies, animal source foods