Famine Research Articles

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN BRICS AND G7 IN RESPONDING TO THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA CRISIS: G20 MULTILATERAL CRISIS?

Introduction/Main Objective: This research discusses the differences in BRICS and G7 responses to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, where these two groups consist of countries with different political interests. Following the results of the G7 and BRICS Summits, both responded differently to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Background Problem: Differences in response are proposed because the G20 has the vision to achieve the resolution of policy issues on problems that hinder world economic growth, one of which is the food crisis caused by the Uraina-Russia conflict. The selection of the G7 and BRICS's different responses is the right strategy to determine how much potential the G20 has. It is difficult to achieve its goal of providing solutions for the world economy thanks to the structure of its members, who have diverse interests and responses to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Novelty: This study uses interest-based theory to analyze the differences in the responses of the G7 and BRICS. This theory seeks to explain the formation of the G20's international regime by dismantling aspects of the fundamental interests behind the cognitive states that decided to establish the international regime of the G20. Method: The method used in this research is the discourse analysis method in a case set because this study wants to see changes in discourse related to the multilateral G20. Findings/Results: The complexity of trading, namely the BRICS and G7, with different responses and interests in responding to the Ukrainian crisis, can encourage a multilateralism crisis in the G20. The research results prove that the complexity of reporting generates different interests, so the response to the Ukrainian-Russian crisis tends to differ. Conclusion: The G20 has not been able to overcome the different interests of its members in solving the problem of the world food crisis because the discussion of the world food crisis is linked to the discussion of Ukrainian-Russian security politics.

Indonesian market demand patterns for food commodity sources of carbohydrates in facing the global food crisis

Global food consumption tends to rise more quickly than supply. This has to do with important global issues like population growth. Additionally, global conflicts are going to hinder the distribution of food. Indonesia has an enormous opportunity of anticipating these circumstances considering its promise as one of the largest supplies of food worldwide. Rice is still the staple food in Indonesia, but the dynamics of society are under threat from wheat food. It is possible to create strategy plans to deal with potential food scarcity by understanding the behavior of food demand trends for big carbohydrate sources like corn, cassava, sweet potatoes (as a substitution), and the development of wheat as a beneficial food. The results of the study indicate that rice, corn, cassava, and sweet potatoes—food commodities that are major sources of carbohydrates—are inelastic, which means that their prices are not affected by variations in demand. The community still relies on rice as the primary food source. Cross elasticity >0 in these non-wheat food commodities indicates mutually beneficial replacement among the foods that are sources of carbohydrates. That is, with the dynamics of an increase in income, for example, it will also increase consumption. The results of the study also demonstrate that wheat food items are only a complementary, not a staple food needed, thus concerns about wheat's dominance as a food component in industrial products actually have no impact on local food. The availability of high-yielding varieties of rice, corn, cassava, and sweet potatoes, the implementation of food reserves by the Indonesian National Logistics Agency (Bulog) from the government center to the regions, food diversification, changing preferences, and creating an awareness of local food pride with massive education are some of the anticipatory steps taken in response to the global food crisis.

Study of the effect of arginine glutamate on cognitive processes in food-deprived rats

Annotation. In 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the aggravation of the food crisis, as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the share of the world's starving population has increased to 9.8% of the world's population. According to the literature, metabolic and neuroendocrine disorders during starvation have a negative impact on cognitive processes and social behavior. The aim of the study was to justify experimentally the feasibility of using glutargin for the correction of cognitive disorders in rats with partial food deprivation. The work includes such research methods as modeling of food deprivation according to the patented method, assessment of behavioral reactions and emotional state of rats using the "Open field" method, and study of working memory functions by the method of recognizing new objects. Statistical processing of the obtained results was carried out using non-parametric methods of analysis (MANOVA-test) using Statistica 6.0 software. Differences at p < 0.05 were considered significant. Partial food deprivation led to a decrease in the body weight of rats (about 30%, p<0.05), and an increase in the level of anxiety, which is evidenced by an increase in the average indicators of grooming by 53.7% and the average value of vertical activity by almost three times compared to the control group, a decrease in horizontal activity by 64.07%, which may be the result of a decrease in research activity and a decrease in interest to the environment. In contrast, in rats treated with glutargin, scores of anxiety were almost constant throughout the experiment. The test of recognition of new objects conducted at the end of the treatment shows that glutargin statistically significantly increased the coefficient of discrimination (CD), which indicated the restoration of nonspatial memory disorders that occurred in rats with experimental food deprivation. The obtained results are an experimental basis for further clinical studies devoted to the possibility of the practical use of glutargin in the complex treatment of patients with nutritional deficiency.

Simple and universal function of acetic acid to overcome the drought crisis

Acetic acid is a simple and universal compound found in various organisms. Recently, acetic acid was found to play an essential role in conferring tolerance to water deficit stress in plants. This novel mechanism of drought stress tolerance mediated by acetic acid via networks involving phytohormones, genes, and chromatin regulation has great potential for solving the global food crisis and preventing desertification caused by global warming. We highlight the functions of acetic acid in conferring tolerance to water deficit stress.

“Human-like” is powerful: The effect of anthropomorphism on psychological closeness and purchase intention in insect food marketing

There is growing academic and practical interest in entomophagy as a viable and sustainable solution to the environmental problems of conventional livestock production and future food crises. Although researchers are examining how to effectively increase consumer acceptance of insect food, the existing findings of relevant studies are limited. This study examined whether and how anthropomorphism, one of the most widely used marketing tactics for product promotions, affects consumers’ purchase intentions for insect foods. The results of these two studies demonstrate that anthropomorphic packaging can increase consumers’ purchase intentions for insect foods. Moreover, the effect of anthropomorphism on purchase intention was mediated by perceived psychological closeness to insect food. Our study demonstrates the moderating effect of food neophobia. Specifically, when an individual has a high food neophobia score, the effect of psychological closeness on purchase intention is weakened. This study is the first to demonstrate that anthropomorphic packaging can be a desirable tactic to increase consumers’ purchase intentions for insect foods, and reveals how and when the tactic is effective in promoting these foods.

Understanding grain virtual water flux dynamics and drivers from a socio-ecohydrological perspective: A case study of landlocked developing countries of Africa

The virtual water (VW) approach offers a crucial heuristic tool to analyze water and food security by considering the water embedded in grain during the whole production process. African landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) continually suffer from an escalating food crisis and water resources and socioeconomic policy and water conservation strategy derived from the water-food nexus of virtual water trade (VWT) systems and resources may be the solution. Using a trade gravity model and multilateral data, this study evaluated grain VW flux patterns and 11 main drivers of VWT between 16 African LLDCs and their partners. Besides, the feedback path of VW flows corresponding to the socio-ecohydrological variability was studied using the impulse response function. The findings revealed that net virtual water import (VWI) varied across all 16 African LLDCs, ranging from 1.67 Bm3 to 10.28 Bm3 during 2000 and 2020, with an estimated yearly grain VWI of 105.61 Bm3. Green, blue, and grey water accounted for about 79.3%, 14.7%, and 5.98% of the total grain VWI, respectively. Ethiopia had the highest grain VWI among the African LLDCs. Grain VWI fluxes were significantly and positively driven by population growth and per capita GDP, which were expected to continue in the future. It was concluded that the quantitative analysis of grain VWT patterns and driving forces using the VW theory for LLDCs can be instrumental for guiding the socioeconomic policy and water conservation strategy. To effectively achieve sustainable water security and grain production, earmarked future VW strategy is required. Decision-makers should incorporate rational VW strategies and socio-ecohydrological factors into the monitoring system from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Analysis of China–Angola Agricultural Cooperation and Strategies Based on SWOT Framework

In the context of frequent food crises, Angola needs to improve the efficiency of agricultural production to meet the rigid domestic demand for food consumption. China has accumulated experience and technology in agricultural production over the years, it is a strategic partner for Angola, and Angola has a prominent place in the destination of Chinese investments. Therefore, agricultural cooperation between China and Angola based on mutual benefits will not only help Angola solve the problem of self-sufficiency in food but also provide a broad space for Chinese agricultural technology to “go global”, thereby providing reliable domestic food security solutions. Through the SWOT method, this study analysed Angola’s agricultural development prospects and the current situation of China and Angola’s agricultural cooperation to build a SWOT matrix and formulate reliable agricultural cooperation development strategies for promoting agricultural cooperation between China and Angola.

Stochastic properties of nonlinear locally-nonstationary filters

This article delivers conditions for the existence of a unique stationary, ergodic and φ-mixing invertible solution for nonlinear time-varying parameter models that are locally non-stationary or explosive. The assumptions are different from existing conditions as they do not impose Lipschitz, bounded growth or drift restrictions. Instead we require that the time series contains resetting dynamics. These dynamics are present in time series with sudden changes, such as stock prices with financial bubbles. We explain how our results can be applied to multiple models with time-varying conditional mean and time-varying conditional variance. Additionally, we show the empirical relevance of locally non-stationary models by developing a robust score-driven locally-nonstationary location model that allows us to identify price bubbles. In particular, we revisit the early warning system for Alert of Price Spikes (ALPS) developed by the World Food Programme (WFP, 2014). Our model is able to correctly identify price bubbles both in-sample and out-of-sample. We show that this information can be crucially relevant for the Global Information Early Warning System of the Food and Agriculture Organization (GIEWS) of the United Nations which identifies market bubbles in prices of grains and cereals in order to manage and prevent impending food crises in developing countries.

Universities, imperialism and the collective work ahead.

Universities, imperialism and the collective work ahead.

A Discussion on the Role of Financial Institutions in Fighting Climate Change

The climate change crisis is now a serious issue for the future of human life. This paper analyses the global food and energy crises from a green finance perspective. First, the author provides relevant research and evidence as a preliminary step and, based on relevant facts and reports, proposes adjustments to financial institutions and the distribution of financial resources, respectively, to achieve effective outcomes for future climate change crises.

Some aspects of returning radioactively contaminated lands in Polissіa region of Ukraine to agricultural use

The article highlights the natural-climatic and socio-economic retrospective prerequisites for the return of radioactively contaminated lands in Polissіa, Ukraine to agricultural use. The necessity of using modern methods and means of radioecological research to assess the radioecological state of land for the development of strategic management documents is demonstrated. The research carried out at the Institute of Agroecology and Environmental Management of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine during the period of 2020–2023 utilized interdisciplinary scientific methods including analysis and synthesis, retrospective and comparative analysis, analytical-synthetic (study of scientific and statistical data, legislative and founding documents, etc.), and mathematical-statistical methods. The analysis of the socio-economic situation was carried out based on official statistical data from the main statistical departments in Volyn, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Rivne, and Chernihiv regions. The estimated levels of radionuclide contamination of the territory were obtained based on official data from the State Enterprise «The Institute of Soil Protection of Ukraine». Radioecological-landscape mapping was carried out using the open-source software QGIS. The aim of the research was to substantiate the scientific basis for the rehabilitation and sustainable use of radioactively contaminated territories in Ukrainian Polissia region in the context of green economy to minimize the domestic food crisis. It has been demonstrated that the soil characteristics and vegetation cover of Ukrainian Polissia region contribute to the contamination of agricultural and forest products with radionuclides, which is a specific problem for the region. The most radiologically hazardous ecosystems for the release of radionuclides into the products are over-moistened meadows and pastures, forested areas, as well as agroecosystems on organogenic soils. Global climate change and the consequences of Russian military aggression are significant modifying factors for all previously existing environmental and socio-economic challenges. This necessitates the implementation of comprehensive measures for the rehabilitation of the region, preceded by monitoring studies and the development of appropriate strategic planning documents. Based on the results of a retrospective analysis and calculations, it has been established that, provided recommended agricultural measures are implemented, the restoration of effective agricultural production is possible throughout the territory of Ukrainian Polissia. It has been demonstrated that the comprehensive rehabilitation of Ukrainian Polissia depends primarily on the eco-economic efficiency of agricultural production, which requires a clear differentiation of agricultural activities in accordance with a range of ecological, economic, and social factors, as well as the improvement of agricultural production scenarios. A method for complex radioecological-landscape mapping of radioactively contaminated lands of Ukrainian Polissia has been developed. This method involves a landscape approach that integrates data from a series of thematic maps

Perovskite Solar Cells: Emerging Photovoltaic Technology for Achieving Net‐Zero Emission Agrivoltaics Ecosystem

The expected population growth and resulting increase in food and energy demands have become global concerns to be addressed with urgent and targeted actions. Agrivoltaics has recently emerged as the practice of co‐locating photovoltaic (PV) infrastructure and agriculture to alleviate land‐use competition between energy and agriculture production. However, PV and agriculture are highly dependent on the utilization of sunlight. Therefore, the design of a PV system is critical for maximizing electricity generation and plant biomass production. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs), as an emerging PV technology, attract intensive attention owing to low fabrication cost, high performance, and tunable transmission. Accordingly, PSCs show promising application in a net‐zero emission agrivoltaics ecosystem. In this perspective, the advantages of PSC‐integrated agrivoltaics are discussed by comparing with traditional PV technologies. Thereafter, the promising and sustainable way is proposed to employ PSCs for electricity generation, plant growth, and aquatic animal development in an agrivoltaics ecosystem. Lastly, a design principle is provided for tailoring PSCs for a sustainable agrivoltaics ecosystem to simultaneously solve the energy and food crises.

WHEAT PRODUCTION IN GREECE (1980 – 2020)

Wheat production is of strategic importance for every country. Until the 1970s, wheat self-sufficiency was one of the indicators of economic growth. Of course, no matter how much the characteristics of the society-economy change and no matter how much the consumer habits change, the need for consumption of wheat by the final consumer, as well as their use by the manufacturing industry, remains at high levels. This work presents the configuration of the following elements for soft and durum wheat: arable land, quantity produced, yield per acre, trade balance, consumption and degree of self-sufficiency. There are strongly different behaviors between the two products. Common wheat shows a decrease in production for the whole period considered, while durum wheat shows a continuous increase in production (quantities and areas) until 2005 and then a continuous decrease, where in 2022, it shows the magnitudes of 1980. The negative trade balance during the period considered – for common wheat – is deteriorating, while the positive trade balance for durum wheat is constantly declining. Finally, the degree of self-sufficiency from 146 for common wheat in 1981, was set at 26 in 2020 and for durum wheat from 234 to 160 respectively. It is interesting and important to highlight the causes that shaped the above figures over time. The causes, as well as the prevailing market conditions, are even more important during the impending – as it seems – food crisis, as a result of the severe reduction of production – after the war in Ukraine, but also the increase of export restrictions from a number of countries

War and conflict escalation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, food, and economic crises: A critical public health issue

Shockwaves have been felt all over the world as a result of war, inflation, food shortages, and the Coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic’s long tail. Financial markets have been extremely volatile since the start of the conflict, and commodity markets are in disarray. In the European Union, the United States, and many other nations, inflation has reached its highest level in decades, with global conflicts adding to the upward pressure on food and energy prices. However, the global economic slowdown, sharp decline in financial asset values, decline in imports and exports, contraction of industrial production, rise in inflation, decrease in wages, rise in unemployment, the collapse of social security, and numerous natural calamities tear down not only the economic sector but also the health sector, which has already been grossly mistreated by the pandemic.

Irrigation Optimization via Crop Water Use in Saline Coastal Areas-A Field Data Analysis in China's Yellow River Delta.

Freshwater resources are becoming increasingly scarce in coastal areas, limiting crop productivity in coastal farmlands. Although the characteristic of crop water use is an important factor for water conservation in coastal farmlands, it has not been studied extensively. This study aimed to depict the water use process of soil-plant systems under saline stress in coastal ecosystems and optimize water management. An intensive observation experiment was performed within China's Yellow River Delta to identify the water use processes and crop coefficients (KC) and also quantify the impacts of salt stress on crop water use. The results show that shallow groundwater did not contribute to soil water in the whole rotation; KC values for wheat-maize, wheat-sorghum, and wheat-soybean rotation systems were 45.0, 58.4, and 57% less, respectively, than the FAO values. The water use efficiency of the maize (8.70) and sorghum (9.00) in coastal farmlands was higher than that of the soybean (4.37). By identifying the critical periods of water and salt stress, this paper provides suggestions for water-saving and salinity control in coastal farmlands. Our findings can inform the sustainable development of coastal farmlands and provide new insights to cope with aspects of the global food crisis.

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON AGRI-FOOD ENTERPRISES IN THE PELOPONNESE REGION

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, it affected the economic and social life of people worldwide. This paper aims to investigate the problems arising from the pandemic in the production process of 405 agri-food enterprises including producers (farmers, livestock farmers, fishermen), processors/micro, small, and medium agri-food enterprises located in a predominantly rural area of Greece, the Peloponnese region. The data were obtained by a detailed online questionnaire survey (quantitative analysis). According to the analysis of the results, it was found that the responses regarding the distribution of products, were almost equally divided between low and high difficulty. Furthermore, despite the increased production costs by implementing sanitary protocols, the agri-food enterprises absorbed it internally and did not pass it through the price of the product. Both the quantity and the quality of produced foodstuffs were practically hardly affected. Also, agri-food enterprises have not been seriously affected by product loss and waste. Furthermore, lockdowns are contributing to labor shortages for agriculture enterprises, particularly those characterized by periods of peak seasonal labor demand. The usage of e-shops was limited and almost half of the enterprises were not satisfied with State funding. The uncertain economic environment creates insecurity among producers and agri-food entrepreneurs for sustainability and future investments. Local and regional authorities together with the State must take relief measures to provide financial support to producers and agri-food entrepreneurs, so that the food supply chain functions properly and we do not face a food crisis

Contract farming as an alternative to large‐scale land acquisition and promoting inclusive and responsible agricultural investment: Evidences from Ethiopia

AbstractThe acquisition of large tracts of land for agricultural investment from developing countries, including Ethiopia, by commercial firms has been aggravated after global food crisis in 2007–2008. Given the current attention to large‐scale land acquisition or land grabbing phenomenon, contract farming has been identified as a participatory and inclusive farming model which does not require agricultural firms to purchase or lease land in order to operate agricultural investments. Contract farming enables local smallholder farmers to produce agricultural products on their own land and ensure the benefits of land‐based agricultural investments remain with them. Unfortunately, the understanding and practice of contract farming as an alternative to large‐scale land acquisition to protect the land rights of the local people is underexplored in Ethiopia. This study, therefore, is aimed to examine the practice and conceptual understanding of contract farming in the context of agricultural investment in Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, mixed research approach was employed. Intensive document reviews, questionnaire, key informant interview and FGD were used as data collection tools. The results show that the practice of contract farming in Ethiopia is very insignificant and commercial farming is almost entirely relied on land acquisition. Moreover, gaps in policy and legal framework to guide contract farming has made difficult to effectively implement contract framing at national level. Finally, this study advised to introduce contract framing as a viable alternative to land acquisition for agricultural investment that fosters local smallholder farmers' participation in agricultural production and contributes to sustainable development.

Implications of war on the food, beverage, and tobacco industry in South Korea

The Food, Beverage & Tobacco (F&B) industry is an essential sector in the competitive economy. Procurement of production factors mainly depends on sales forecasting and the supply chain of raw materials. However, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has jeopardized the global supply chain. As the conflict worsened, the world faced a food crisis, which was already a significant challenge due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding how conflict-related disruptions in global food markets might affect the stock return of the F&B industry of South Korea, this study forecasts the stock returns on the KOSDAQ F&B sector. This paper highlights that the conflict resulted in immediate and far-reaching consequences on the global food supply chain and future crop harvesting in South Korea. As numerous algorithms have been widely used in predicting stock market returns, we use Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model for the prediction. Using daily returns from the KOSDAQ F&B industry from January 1999 to October 2022, the study proposes an ARIMA (2,2,3) model to forecast future movements of the stock returns. With an RMSE of 0.012, the prediction performance holds good using the ARIMA model. The results show a negative trend observed in the F&B sector returns for a few months, implying that sector stock returns decline as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine becomes more pronounced. This study also suggests that South Korea has massive scope to stabilize the demand for healthy, safe food, give more attention to domestic agribusiness, and make itself a self-sufficient agri-economy.

Manufactured regional crises: The Middle East and North Africa under global food regimes

AbstractThe current agrarian and food crisis in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been interpreted through a number of tropes. Within the dominant mainstream discourse, the MENA region is often depicted as a homogenous geographical area characterized by dryness, infertile lands and poor water resources. How did imperialism, colonialism and the Cold War influence the MENA food systems? What were the effects of trade liberalization and neoliberalism on the agricultural systems in the region? These are some questions that this paper will try to answer using a geographical and historical‐comparative analysis, through a food regimes lens. Understanding contemporary social relations dynamics cannot be limited to the recent period. Agriculture and food in the MENA region are anchored in the history of power relations ruled by flows of capital and the shaping of ecological transformations during the longue durée of capitalism and its corresponding modes of control and regulation.

Quantitative analysis of abandonment and grain production loss under armed conflict in Ukraine

The armed conflict in Ukraine has been ongoing, with firefights concentrated in Kherson, Zaporizhia, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv oblasts of eastern Ukraine. Armed conflicts have caused damage to valuable black land and agricultural infrastructure, resulting in reduced food production and greatly affecting the world food supply. Therefore, it is urgent and important to quantify the extent of the impact of armed conflicts on cropland. We applied the Sentinel dataset based on the GEE platform and used the time-weighted dynamic time warping (TWDTW) method to map abandonment in six eastern oblasts and propose a cumulative NDVI (cumNDVI) method to characterize food production loss. The accuracy of the 2022 cropland abandonment in Krain was excellent. The overall accuracy was 92.5%, with a kappa coefficient of 0.85. The area of abandoned cropland in southeastern Ukraine was 11,892.49 km2, which was 7.17% of the cropland. The most abandoned cropland in Kherson was 26,692.22 km2, with 3,661.12 km2 of abandoned and a 13.72% abandonment rate. Because of abandonment, the loss of grain production in the six oblasts was from 3.67% to 15.18% respectively. And the other loss of grain production of cultivated cropland was found to be 33.02%, with a general loss characteristic in all regions except Donetsk slightly increased. In 2022, the grain production loss was a totally 8.19 million tons. That means the grain production loss of the six eastern oblasts in 2022 was up to 31.5% compared to the average yield level in 2016–2020 and accounted for 6.76% compared to the national grain production. The study not only mapped the distribution of abandonment with high precision at a 10 m resolution in 2022 but also quantified the food production loss due to armed conflict. It reveals the severity of the food crisis and proposes measures for post-war replanting and restoration of agricultural economic activities.