Showing papers in "Global Food Security in 2017"

TL;DR: Given the strength of the evidence, attention should now shift to an action-oriented agenda for scaling biofortification to improve nutrition globally and to reach one billion people by 2030.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed global livestock feed rations and feed conversion ratios, with specific insight on the diversity in production systems and feed materials, and found that livestock consume 6 billion tonnes of feed (dry matter) annually, including one third of global cereal production.

TL;DR: A strengthened breeding system is needed, with freer international exchange of elite varieties, short breeding cycles, high selection intensity, wide-scale phenotyping, and accurate selection supported by genomic technology.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the potential change in global agricultural land requirements associated with each alternative and conclude that a diet with lower rates of animal product consumption is likely to create the greatest reduction in agricultural land, a mix of smaller changes in consumer behaviour, such as replacing beef with chicken, reducing food waste and potentially introducing insects more commonly into diets, would also achieve land savings and a more sustainable food system.

TL;DR: Micronutrient fertilization is most effective in combination with NPK, organic fertilizers and improved crop varieties, highlighting the importance of integrated soil fertility management.

TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors reviewed China's agricultural and food policy with specific focus on recent challenges, initial policy responses and their consequences, and re-adjusting in policies, and concluded that the previous experiences on agricultural development through institutional reform, technology change, market reform, and investment in agriculture should still be the keys for successfully ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture for China in the future.

TL;DR: This review summarizes the effort to build the evidence base and breed 42 OFSP varieties to address widespread vitamin A deficiency in SSA using an integrated agriculture-nutrition approach and describes how the changing policy environment influenced the process.

TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic, qualitative review of the literature identified sustainable intensification indicators, with a primary focus on African smallholder farming systems, and concluded that, while numerous metrics for evaluating SI systems exist, many often-cited indicators lack strong sets of associated metrics.

TL;DR: In fact, farmed fish is produced predominantly by a missing middle segment of commercial and increasingly intensive farms, and overwhelmingly remains in Southern domestic markets for consumption by poor and middle income consumers in both urban and rural areas, making an important but underappreciated contribution to global food security as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: To fully tap the economic and nutritional power of vegetables, governments and donors will need to give vegetables much greater priority than they currently receive.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the inconsistencies in how the problem of food losses and waste has been presented and analysed and identify the areas of research that could contribute to a more effective handling of FLW issues.

TL;DR: In this article, small-scale poultry production systems are mostly found in rural, resource-poor areas that often also experience food insecurity, and they are accessible to vulnerable groups of society, and provide households with income and nutritionally-rich food sources.

TL;DR: In this paper, the economic impacts of IAS that threaten small-holder mixed maize farming in eastern Africa are presented, and the economic impact of five major IAS: Chilo partellus, Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease, Parthenium hysterophorus, Liriomyza spp. and Tuta absoluta on mixed maize smallholders in six countries gave current combined annual losses of US$0.9-1.1 billion; and future annual losses (next 5-10 years) of US $1.0-1 billion.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose to recover consumption-stage food waste for animal feeding, which is a viable solution that simultaneously addresses the issues of waste management, food security, resource conservation, and pollution and climate change mitigation.

TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper studied the changing trends in water supply and demand balance, their impacts on food production, and government policy responses, and showed that water scarcity in China is a regional issue, mainly in northern areas.

TL;DR: Analytical advances, including the use of stable isotopes of Zn and Fe, can play an increasing role in improving understanding of the movement of micronutrients in food systems, and thereby help to reduce the immense human cost of ‘hidden hunger’.

TL;DR: A consensus survey tool to assign SMART scores (i.e., utility) for each of 12 FI indicators examined for 5 alternative scenarios indicated strong agreement across 4 raters for the top FI indicator choice for each scenario and suggested that the evidence-based decision making methodology developed was helpful to eliminate FI indicators for further consideration.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors connect the discussion on the trade-offs between agricultural production and environmental concerns, including the asserted need for global land use expansion, and the issues of rural livelihoods and food security.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed literature on trends, constraints and opportunities of small-holder irrigation in four East African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and found that despite these challenges, opportunities exist for small-scale irrigation expansion in East Africa, such as: high untapped irrigation potential; rainwater harvesting to improve water availability; high commitment of national governments, NGOs and donors to smallholder irrigation expansion; low cost irrigation technologies adaptable to local conditions; traditional schemes rehabilitation; growing urbanization; and increased use of mobile phones that can be used to disseminate

TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on describing global trends as well as trends by agro-ecological, socio-economic and political contexts, and highlight some priority research areas and issues for policy makers to consider to help the movement towards more sustainable systems.

TL;DR: This article reviewed evidence on the impact of EU policies on global food security, focusing on several EU policy areas: agricultural policy, bioenergy policy, food standards, trade policy, and development (food aid) policy.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors bring together existing literature on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNRGEA) and the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India, offering a narrative review of the evidence on impacts on food security, health and nutrition of beneficiaries.

TL;DR: A detailed review of the evolution of food policy in India and a way forward in the transition towards nutrition security is presented in this paper, where the authors provide a detailed overview of the food policy evolution in India.

TL;DR: A consumer focus on the value chains is taken to consider the types of interventions that could lead to improved intakes of micronutrient-rich foods, and the present literature on thetypes of value chain assessments, interventions, and initiatives that are attempting to improve nutrition as well as potential future directions are reviewed.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed interdisciplinary literature and empirical evidence, predictions of production potential and impacts of climate change; and discuss the potential of the region to become a reliable breadbasket of the world.

TL;DR: The authors explored potential explanations of this success by applying consistent statistical methods to multiple rounds of Demographic Health Surveys for Bangladesh, Nepal, Ethiopia, Odisha, Senegal, and Zambia and found that changes in household wealth, mother's education and access to antenatal care are the largest drivers of nutritional improvement.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the recent literature on China's virtual water and land trade through food trade, and presented updated results for 2000-2015, and made projections for 2030.

TL;DR: Improvements in four key drivers of nutritional change emerged in Nepal: health services, sanitation, education, and wealth, however, the relative contributions of each factor varied by indicator.