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The idea that hunter-gatherer societies experience more frequent famine than societies with other modes of subsistence is pervasive in the literature on human evolution. This idea underpins, for example, the 'thrifty genotype hypothesis'. This hypothesis proposes that our hunter-gatherer ancestors were adapted to frequent famines, and that these once adaptive 'thrifty genotypes' are now responsible for the current obesity epidemic. The suggestion that hunter-gatherers are more prone to famine also underlies the widespread assumption that these societies live in marginal habitats. Despite the ubiquity of references to 'feast and famine' in the literature describing our hunter-gatherer ancestors, it has rarely been tested whether hunter-gatherers suffer from more famine than other societies. Here, we analyse famine frequency and severity in a large cross-cultural database, in order to explore relationships between subsistence and famine risk. This is the first study to report that, if we control for habitat quality, hunter-gatherers actually had significantly less--not more--famine than other subsistence modes. This finding challenges some of the assumptions underlying for models of the evolution of the human diet, as well as our understanding of the recent epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The study addresses the capture of Hungarian civilians by Soviet troops in Northern Transylvania during September-November 1944. Approximately 20,000 Hungarian men and boys were forcibly taken. The ages of those captured ranged from 14 to 70 years. They were deported to several forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The duration of captivity was typically four years, but in some cases, it extended to 8-9 years. The prisoners were compelled to work under harsh conditions in various mines or logging operations. During the summer, they participated in agricultural work on nearby Soviet kolkhozes. Due to the severe working conditions, acute food shortages, and lack of medical care, the prisoners became extremely debilitated. Onethird of them died in captivity. This aspect of our contemporary history was a taboo subject during the Communist era. Only the 1989 Revolution brought about significant change in this regard. This study aims to provide an overview of this tragic event, based on the author’s two decades of research. The source material for the study includes archival data, specialist books, studies, memoirs, data and articles published in contemporary press, as well as interviews with survivors, most of which were conducted by the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive studies have been conducted on the link between armed conflict and agricultural production. However, the underlying mechanisms remain underexplored. A better understanding of these mechanisms could unpack the subsequent effects of conflict‐induced food and welfare shortages, as well as identify promising policy interventions. We study the effects of terrorist violence on household agricultural production in Burkina Faso and explore the underlying mechanisms. To achieve this, we combine nationally representative five‐year panel data on plots and households with spatial conflict data. Our analysis reveals negative and significant effects of terrorist violence on agricultural productivity and total output. Despite reducing cereal crop output, increased intensity of terrorist violence is significantly associated with higher production of cash crops, which require fewer inputs in Burkina Faso. Further investigations uncover that the decline in household agricultural productivity results from a significant decrease in the number of farming plots, land size, and short‐term production investments, including chemical fertilisers and pesticides. These findings remain robust across various alternative empirical specifications and measures of violence, offering insights that can help policymakers faced with similarly scaled armed conflict. For instance, ensuring a secure environment and providing reliable access to essential production inputs, such as chemical fertilisers and pesticides, can help support conflict‐affected household agricultural production during and after the violence periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring food security and increasing crop production in the face of climate change and environmental obstacles pose a pressing concern for smallholder farmers in the southern highlands of Tanzania. Through a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods-which includes key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and household surveys—this paper examines the methods employed by smallholder farmers to bolster resilience and reduce vulnerability to environmental shifts. The results suggest that climate change exerts effects on both the village farming system and households by the following percentages of impact: food shortages (38.7% village/farming system, 29.0% household); infestation of uncommon pests (30.6% village/farming system, 27.4% household); diminishing rainfall/drought (22.6% village/farming system, 17.7% household); and crop failure (24.2% village/farming system, 29.0% household). The household farming methods practised by farmers encompass a range of strategies that include: agroforestry (37.1% adoption rate), which promotes the interspersing of trees with crops to enhance biodiversity and provide ecosystem services; and zero/minimum tillage (9.7%) practices, which reduce soil erosion and improve soil health. The challenges smallholder farmers face in adapting to climate change include the lack of appropriate tools, unfamiliarity with techniques, and inadequate support: all of which exacerbate the uncertainty surrounding the future of farmers and agriculture. By building adaptive capacity and promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, the region can improve food security, reduce vulnerability, and enhance the livelihoods of farming communities. Sustained efforts should prioritize smallholder farmers’ active participation and empowerment in climate change adaptation initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health of farm owners and farmworkers has significant impacts on farm businesses, farming families, and local rural communities where agriculture is an important driver of social and economic activity. Rural residents and farmworkers have higher rates of food insecurity, but little is known about food insecurity among farm owners and the collective experiences of farm owners and farmworkers. Researchers and public health practitioners have stressed the need for policies that target the health and well-being of farm owners and farmworkers while remaining sensitive to the nature of life on the farm, yet farm owner and farmworker lived experiences have been understudied, especially in relation to one another. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 farm owners and 18 farmworkers in Oregon. Modified grounded theory was used to analyze interview data. Data were coded using a three-stage process to identify salient core characteristics of food insecurity. Farm owner and farmworker meanings and interpretations of their food insecurity were often contradicted by evaluated food security scores using validated quantitative measures. According to such measures, 17 experienced high food security, 3 had marginal food security, and 11 had low food security, but narrative experiences suggested higher rates. Narrative experiences were categorized by core characteristics of food insecurity, including seasonal food shortages, resource stretching, working extended hours most days of the week, limited use of food assistance, and the tendency to downplay hardship. These unique factors have important implications for developing responsive policies and programs to support the health and well-being of farm livelihoods whose work enables health and well-being among consumers. Future studies to test the relationships between the core characteristics of food insecurity identified in this study and farm owner and farmworker meanings and interpretations of food insecurity, hunger, and nourishment are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The erosion of riverbanks has a negative impact on many nations across the world, costing them land, buildings, food, fish, and other living things, which forces people to relocate. Both the frequency and severity of riverbank erosion are alarming in Bangladesh. In Zajira Upazila, a baseline investigation was carried out to evaluate the effects of river erosion on the local availability of food. The results show how erosion threatens the majority of residents in the research territory. Additionally, as a consequence of the depletion of farmland brought on by the disaster and its effects, crop production is steadily dropping. Occasionally, people lose whole properties, leaving them with few employment options and little spending power. As a result, they are always in danger of experiencing a shortage of food. The suffering people use various coping strategies to deal with these challenging circumstances, such as shifting to cheaper or less appealing eating options. Despite the fact that local governing bodies have put in place various programs to help them, including food assistance and social protection programs, these are inadequate because of the government's constrained organizational assets and competence The study's findings will aid scientists and decision-makers in Bangladesh and abroad in better comprehending the requirements of vulnerable riverine populations and in designing programs that would increase those societies' food safety Therefore, these results imply that developing and implementing efficient rural development strategies could increase the food security of those residing in Bangladeshi regions threatened by riverbank erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The phenomenon of food shortage is widespread in spider populations, but the response of Pardosa pseudoannulata to dietary restriction remains unclear. The study aimed to determine (1) whether energy allocation occurs in P. pseudoannulata under dietary restriction by analysing its development and longevity; (2) if there is a trade-off between development, longevity, and nutrient content indicating a trend to energy allocation; (3) how different levels and periods of dietary restriction affect the predatory ability of P. pseudoannulata. The results showed that the continuous dietary restriction has negative impacts on the growth of P. pseudoannulata, and positive impacts on its longevity. When food was severely restricted in the juvenile stage, nutrient contents of the adult spider could return to the same level as the control group, but the predatory ability decreased. These findings suggest a trade-off between growth, longevity, and predatory ability of the P. pseudoannulata under dietary restriction conditions. The phenomenon of food shortage is widespread in spider populations, which has a great impact on their growth, development, and survival. Pardosa pseudoannulata is a dominant spider species in rice fields and has an important controlling effect on rice pests. In this study, three feeding levels were tested at the juvenile stage (H, high feeding; M, medium dietary restriction; L, severe dietary restriction) and two at the adult stage (H and L). A total of six feeding levels were tested to explore the effects of dietary restriction on the development, longevity, nutrient content, and predation by P. pseudoannulata [HH (control group), HL, MH, ML, LH, LL]. The results showed that continuous dietary restriction (ML and LL groups) had negative impacts on the growth of P. pseudoannulata and positive impacts on longevity. Spiderlings suffered from dietary restrictions during the juvenile period, and when the restrictions were removed upon reaching adulthood (MH and LH groups), their lifespan started decreasing whilst their weight began returning to normal. This suggested that there might be a trade-off between the growth and longevity of the spider under dietary restrictions. The study also found that when food was severely restricted in the juvenile stage (LH and LL groups), the nutrient contents of the adult spider could return to the same level as the control group, but the predatory ability decreased. When food was moderately restricted in the juvenile stage (MH and ML groups), the predatory ability of the adult spiders improved, while nutrients of the adult spiders declined. Our results will provide an empirical basis for the protection and effective use of dominant spider species in agricultural fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global crisis and climate change have resulted in severe food shortages worldwide. One of the solutions is self-farming by using smart farming technology. Smart and efficient agricultural production or smart farming using IoT sensors, big data, and cloud service has proven its value for a decade, but the effect depends on the agricultural environment of the country or society. Hence self-farming is likely the most feasible solution to avoid food scarcity. The smart farming system monitors and maintains essential growth parameters like light, temperature, and humidity to ensure maximum yield. In this paper, we propose a Smart Portable Farming Kit design, which is simple, lightweight, and durable to be placed indoors in an urban area. This prototype design uses the Internet of Things (IoT) based system for cultivating short-duration vegetables and mushrooms in an urban area with minimal user attention. The proposed design proved better than the traditional setup by increasing the mushroom yield. With Smart Portable Farming Kit, urban farming becomes a more viable alternative to increase food security, making oyster mushroom cultivation in the urban area easier and more profitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the research has been substantiated. Russia is under unprecedented external pressure from a wide range of economic sanctions. The agricultural sector is particularly vulnerable in such conditions. In this connection, there is an objective need for a systematic analysis and forecasting of measures taken to protect the domestic food market.The article outlines the main directions of the state economic policy of the Russian Federation. The main factors influencing the rise in food prices have been identified. These factors include an increase in the cost of the production cycle of crops and livestock due to import dependence, disruption of supply chains, mandatory labeling of certain goods, an increase in the price of mineral fertilizers, an increase in electricity tariffs and packaging costs, the exhaustion of limits on preferential loans to agricultural producers, an increase in world prices for food products deterioration of natural and climatic conditions.The level of self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs and the main factors of growth in food prices have been considered. In addition, food inflation in the Russian Federation has been studied.Particular attention is paid to the measures taken by the Government that will help stabilize prices for important agricultural products and thereby ensure the country's food security: a temporary ban on the export of sunflower and rapeseed seeds; a quota for deliveries abroad of sunflower oil and cake, as well as solid residues from sunflower seeds; limiting the number of checkpoints for the export of soybeans and soybean meal from Russia; introduction of duties on the export of sunflower meal and oilseed flax.The purpose of the research is to study the measures taken by the Government to protect the domestic food market and stabilize prices for important agricultural products, as well as to identify the main factors affecting the rise in food prices.This study was conducted using the methods of statistical analysis, synthesis, comparison and deductive method.

Rapid global urbanisation has seen a growing number of urban poor who lack natural endowments to cope with food shortages. Broadening their safety nets merits urgent political attention but requires understanding their profiles. A survey among 88 urban poor in Benin found that they had low educational and income levels, overcrowded and unsanitary housing conditions, and limited access to social services and health facilities; 76 per cent of them were food insecure, influenced by city, gender, ownership of a motorbike, and access to health facilities. Engaging them in allotment gardens requires farming skills, financial capital, and safety issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Human Review is the property of Eagora Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Agriculture is a leading sector that provides capital accumulation to sustain the economic development processes of developing countries' economies. The low supply and demand elasticity of agricultural products cause fluctuations in agricultural product prices and producer income. Therefore, the first negative reflection of price instability that may arise from fluctuations is generally observed in farmers. Hence, policymakers intervene in the agricultural sector to reduce the instability in agricultural product prices and protect agricultural producers against these effects, as well as the capital accumulation needed for growth and development. Based on this background, this study analyzes the causality relationship between agricultural producer protection (PP) and the macroeconomic variables of Brazil, Indonesia, India, Türkiye, and South Africa, which are referred to as the Fragile Five countries, using the panel bootstrap panel causality test developed by Kónya (2006) with the data between 2000 and 2020. The study findings differ among the countries in the sample. It was determined that there are causality relationships between agricultural PP and economic growth, economic development and inflation variables in all countries involved in this study. Although it is difficult to generalize the main findings of the study to all countries in the sample, it can be concluded that economic growth, economic development and inflation, and agricultural PP variables interact with one another. The study also concludes that the protective and supportive measures for agriculture, a significant sector for the macroeconomic performance indicators of the country's economies, are too important to be neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary emphasis of the study is to evaluate that Pakistan is using peaceful nuclear technology to fulfil its domestic needs of agriculture and food. This study also evaluates that Pakistan has vast experience using peaceful nuclear technology. Pakistan can advance in food production and quality products if the international community opens its door to Pakistan. Pakistan believes sharing peaceful nuclear technology can overcome food shortages by improving the agricultural and industrial sectors. Four Nuclear Agriculture Institutes are working under the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) umbrella. Pakistan is moving forward to introduce and modernise drone technology in the agriculture sector to save crops from insects and pesticides as a part of food security. PAEC is playing a vital role in transferring nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a phenomenon associated with a deficiency in precipitation for a long period of time, usually a season or more. It is a prolonged abnormality of the natural climatic pattern. It may also differ greatly from one area to another. The study employed a systematic literature review involving the Preferred Reporting Items and Meta-Analysis (PRIMA) guidelines for review and analysis. Relevant literature was sought using a systematic document search procedure from a sophisticated database using the search string "drought impacts" OR "drought environment" OR "drought risk" OR "drought mitigation" OR "adaptation risk" OR "drought adaptation" OR "climate impacts" OR "drought smallholder OR "drought Sahel" OR "Adaptation ability". Keywords were searched in the title and abstract, including where otherwise indicated in the supplementary files. They include documents that were written in English and span the period from 1970-2020. The findings indicate that droughts, particularly in the 70s and 80s, have ravaged the Sahel region, and the Niger Republic in particular, resulting in socio-economic, physical, and ecological degradation, loss of biodiversity and loss of ecological stability, decline in surface water, reduction in water availability for irrigation, severe malnutrition, loss of livestock, decline in agricultural production, increased rate of unemployment, and severe food shortages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural sector is currently facing many global challenges, such as climate change, and environmental problems such as the release of pesticides and fertilizers, which will be exacerbated in the face of population growth and food shortages. Therefore, the need to change traditional farming methods and replace them with new technologies is essential, and the application of nanotechnology, especially green technology offers considerable promise in alleviating these problems. Nanotechnology has led to changes and advances in many technologies and has the potential to transform various fields of the agricultural sector, including biosensors, pesticides, fertilizers, food packaging and other areas of the agricultural industry. Due to their unique properties, nanomaterials are considered as suitable carriers for stabilizing fertilizers and pesticides, as well as facilitating controlled nutrient transfer and increasing crop protection. The production of nanoparticles by physical and chemical methods requires the use of hazardous materials, advanced equipment, and has a negative impact on the environment. Thus, over the last decade, research activities in the context of nanotechnology have shifted towards environmentally friendly and economically viable 'green' synthesis to support the increasing use of nanoparticles in various industries. Green synthesis, as part of bio-inspired protocols, provides reliable and sustainable methods for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles by a wide range of microorganisms rather than current synthetic processes. Therefore, this field is developing rapidly and new methods in this field are constantly being invented to improve the properties of nanoparticles. In this review, we consider the latest advances and innovations in the production of metal nanoparticles using green synthesis by different groups of microorganisms and the application of these nanoparticles in various agricultural sectors to achieve food security, improve crop production and reduce the use of pesticides. In addition, the mechanism of synthesis of metal nanoparticles by different microorganisms and their advantages and disadvantages compared to other common methods are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of PRAKSIS is the property of PRAKSIS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although substantive agreement exists on the role of climate variability and food scarcity in increasing violence, a limited number of studies have investigated how food resources affect violent conflict. This article explores the complex linkages between climate variability, agricultural production and conflict onset, by focusing on the spatial distribution of crop production in a cross-country setting. We hypothesize that spatial differences in crop production within countries are a relevant factor in shaping the impact of climate variability on conflict in agriculturally -dependent countries. To test this hypothesis, we rely on high-resolution global gridded data on the local yield of four main crops for the period 1982–2015 and aggregate the grid-cell information on crop production to compute an empirical indicator of the spatial concentration of agricultural production within countries. Our results show that the negative impacts of climate variability lead to an increase in the spatial concentration of agricultural production within countries. In turn, the combined effect of climate extremes and crop production concentration increases the predicted probability of conflict onset by up to 14% in agriculturally dependent countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the year 2050, it is expected that the global human population will outgrow the current food supply. It is a year of concern for those in the agricultural sciences, and many projects and initiatives are designed around solving this problem [1], [3], [5], [6]. From genetically modified foods, stronger antibiotics and fungicides, to upgraded crop models, everyone in this area is hard at work finding the best solution to the impeding food shortage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African Oryza glaberrima and Oryza sativa landraces are considered valuable resources for breeding traits due to their adaptation to local environmental and soil conditions. They often possess superior resistance to endemic pests and tolerance to drought and nutrient deficiencies when compared to the "imported" high production Asian rice varieties. In contrast, "domestication traits" such as seed shattering, lodging, and seed yield are not well established in these African landraces. Therefore, the use of these African varieties for high production agriculture is limited by unpredictable yield and grain quality. We are addressing this shortcoming by developing protocols for genetically transforming African landraces to allow the use of CRISPR-Cas mediated breeding approaches. Here we use as proof of concept the cultivated African landrace Kabre to target selected known "domestication loci" and improve the agronomic potential of Kabre rice. Stable genetic transformation with CRISPR-Cas9-based vectors generated single and simultaneous multiple gene knockouts. Plants with reduced stature to diminish lodging were generated by disrupting the HTD1 gene. Furthermore, three loci shown to control seed size and/or yield (GS3, GW2 and GN1A) were targeted using a multiplex CRISPR-Cas9 construct. This resulted in mutants with significantly improved seed yield. Our study provides an example of how new breeding technologies can accelerate the development of highly productive African landrace rice varieties, an important advancement considering that Africa is a hotspot for worldwide population growth and therefore prone to food shortage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gunungkidul was being as an extreme nature and categorized as marginal land which was cause food shortages in some districts. One of the district experienced food shortages in 2013 was Purwosari. This research aimed to find out the food consumption patterns and relation among land area, income and educational levels of the dry land farmers toward the food shortages level. The research method used in this study was descriptive technique by giving explanation from statistic data (percentage, mean, data range, frequency distribution, cross tabulation). Moreover, in order to measure the food shortages leve this study used the comparison formula between the number of poor people consuming food with the nutrition daily value as much as 2,150 calories. The research findings show that the average daily individual consumption was 1274.25 Kkal, and categorized as people who are extremely food shortages. The calories are mostly gained from consuming rice, corn and tempe, as daily consumption patterns. The levels of farmers’ income, farming land areas, and level of education are not related to the food shortages level.

• Challenges related to natural capital were the most commonly mentioned challenges. • Capital asset substitution using social and human capitals maintained asset base. • Substitution by economic and physical capitals tended to erode capital asset base. • Erosion of capital assets undermined resilience and food security. We investigated how smallholder farming households in southwestern Ethiopia coped with challenges related to lack in capital assets and food shortage. We focused on interactions between capital assets using, in particular, capital asset substitution as an analytical lens to classify and unpack the interactions. The most commonly mentioned challenges were related to natural and economic capitals, and these frequently caused seasonal food shortages. Households responded to the lack in capital assets or food through processes that drew on more readily available capital assets. Common ways in which households coped involved drawing on social and human capitals (i.e. increasing labor input) to address lack in other types of capital assets and lack in food. These types of asset substitution tended to facilitate the maintenance of a household's capital asset base. In contrast, some households liquidated physical and economic capital assets to cope, but these types of substitution tended to erode their capital asset base. In sum, our findings highlight the natural environment as well as social and human capitals as foundational to smallholder livelihoods and food security. In practical terms, the study provides information on coping strategies that should be avoided or modified to prevent capital asset erosion, and highlights those that should be supported and strengthened to enable the maintenance (and eventual growth) of households' capital assets. Conceptually, the study contributes to livelihoods research by highlighting the usefulness of capital asset substitution for investigating interactions between different capital assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rockefeller Foundation shipped two Apple II computers with VisiCalc to the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture to address a grain shortage in the early 1980s. The foundation believed that VisiCalc would enable the speedy and complex analytical modeling necessary to improve the management and, consequently, the production of grain resources. The foundation also argued that VisiCalc would empower individuals in the Ministry of Agriculture, improving their own analytical thinking as they became more familiar with the modeling capabilities of the software. Even with the use of VisiCalc, Tunisia experienced violent riots due to high bread prices after the government's removal of grain subsidies. This paper explores the narratives and uses of VisiCalc in the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture in addressing this food crisis both before and after the riots. The work here contributes to computing history through an analysis of the historical relationships among governing bodies, nongovernment organizations, technology, and the global financial economy. It argues that the uses of VisiCalc in Tunisia were connected with financial austerity firmly aligned with Western interests. In doing so, this paper shows how a focus on postcolonial Africa can enrich the international history of computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs that COVID-19 pandemic have laid risks to global food security. It mentions that major food shortages have emerged as yet, agricultural and food markets are facing disruptions because of labor shortages created by restrictions on movements of people and shifts in food demand resulting from closures of restaurants and schools as well as from income losses. It also mentions that economic fallout and food supply chain disruptions require attention from policy-makers.

The foreigner colonies formation in Paraná, during the XIX century, was explained by local historiography as motivated by the necessity of a supply agriculture and by one supposed food shortage. In order to support that argument, it was referenced the manifestation of a colonial enterprising: the Swiss Carlos Perret Gentil, founder of Superagui's Colony. The aim of this work is to run through his ideas about the European colonization and the Paraná's farming during the XIXth century, and the after appropriation of those accounts by Paraná's historiography, with the purpose of explaining and forming historical sense of the mentioned events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the effect of women’s empowerment in agriculture on household nutrition—i.e. the availability of carbohydrates, protein, and fat—and household food poverty measured by monetary food shortfall. The analysis is done by applying instrumental variable estimation to a sample of 2642 households from a 2012 population-based survey conducted in northern Ghana. Overall, the results indicate that women’s empowerment positively influences nutrient availability and negatively influences monetary food shortfall. By decomposing women’s empowerment into its component domains, this study identified that the domains of Income, Production, and Leadership are areas for intervention to influence households’ nutrient availability and monetary food shortfall outcomes. The effect of the Time and Resources domains reveal that some intra-household trade-offs may exist. Thus, policies aimed at empowering women to ultimately improve household nutrition and food poverty need to be based on the understanding of these specific interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2012, insurgent groups in northern Mali began a violent campaign against the central government. By March 2012, then-President Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT) was ousted in a successful coup. The ongoing unrest has drastically shifted the strategies foreign donors are using to allocate aid, particularly to northern Mali. While bilateral donors have drastically scaled back all programmatic aid, NGOs including Oxfam International and the Red Cross have stepped in to provide humanitarian aid. This shift from programmatic to humanitarian aid has left the agricultural sector particularly vulnerable. Since most of the food grown in Mali is grown in the northern region, such a drastic decrease in agricultural aid will have catastrophic effects in terms of projected food shortages. Furthermore, using evidence from new World Bank survey data gathered in northern Mali in 2015, we find that the agricultural aid being distributed by NGOs is not targeting those most in need. We find that French-speaking villages are more likely to be targeted for aid compared to non-French-speaking villages. We argue that in northern Mali, under the current sociopolitical conditions, speaking French makes these villages more attractive to aid organizations, regardless of their actual need for assistance. This appropriation principle means that aid is not going to the most vulnerable, but to the most politically or socially connected. We also find proof of a second layer of aid misappropriation. While Sonrai and Tamasheq-speaking villages receive less agricultural aid than French-speaking villages, the aid they do receive goes to those households most vulnerable to exogenous shocks. However, in French-speaking villages, the most vulnerable households are not guaranteed to receive agricultural aid. If desperately needed agricultural aid continues to be misappropriated, it could lead countries like Mali to become even more unstable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the impact of natural disasters on the degree of agricultural protection using data from 76 countries thereby covering more than 70 of the most traded agricultural commodities. Theoretically, the direction of this effect is not a priori directly clear as it balances the trade-off between protecting the economic interests of the domestic agricultural sector on the one hand and ensuring food availability for the society at large on the other. Our most important findings suggest that natural disasters generally raise agricultural trade controls to favor domestic farmers. These barriers are mainly provided by limiting imports in the aftermath of a natural event. However, the protection pattern differs among countries. To be more specific, floods and storms increase agricultural protection in high-income countries, while trade barriers in many LDCs are reduced during periods of extreme drought in an attempt to diminish food scarcity. Finally, it turns out that a large part of the change in agricultural protection caused by a natural disaster is explained by a number of commodity specific particularities (i.e., food vs. cash crops). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, the number of certified organic farms have increased significantly in Uganda. One assumption is that certified organic agriculture contributes to economic, social and ecological health of agroecosystems. In the literature, however, there is thin empirical evidence to support such claims. We therefore developed health indicators and contrasted data from four Ugandan farming systems with principles and objectives of organic agriculture. We identified four health patterns (ecology-driven, economically struggling, socially-driven, and hanging in) demonstrating the impact of farm management on agroecosystem health and trade-offs between health domains. Ecological farm health is strengthened only if the conversion goes beyond ‘organic by default’. Market-oriented specialization can create lock-in situations if production strategies cannot be changed easily. Food shortages occur when additional income from certified production does not compensate for the reduced area and effort devoted to food crops. We conclude that the positive effects of organic certification on agroecosystem health cannot be taken for granted. Interventions promoting organic agriculture should acknowledge risks smallholder farmers take by converting to cash crop-oriented certified organic farming. A challenging question will be how aspects of wellbeing and social health can be translated into certification standards and thus product attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, edible insect species have been heralded as an environmentally sustainable solution to current and future food crises. However, the few existing studies that aim to evaluate the environmental performance of insect farming systems are extremely limited in scope. This paper presents the first case of a life cycle assessment (LCA) performed on an existing production system of Gryllus bimaculatus De Geer (field cricket) and Acheta domesticus (house cricket) production in north-eastern Thailand and compares it with broiler production in the same region. The system boundaries of the production system considered the entire production cycle of edible crickets as well as processing. The study included two functional units (1 kg of edible mass and 1 kg of protein in edible mass). Irrespective of the functional unit, larger impacts were associated with broiler production. Major hotspots for cricket and broiler production were related to the production soybean meal and maize grain for feed. A scaled-up cricket farming system which was considered as a possible 'future' scenario demonstrated a reduction in overall environmental impacts when compared to current cricket production and industrial broiler production. While scaled-up cricket farming showed fewer overall environmental impacts, intensified systems could potentially have reduced socioeconomic impacts on rural areas in Thailand. Improvement options could be adopted by undertaking further research into the formulation of local feeds and acquiring improved knowledge about cricket nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why should a parcel of agricultural land be abandoned when there is a scarcity of food? In this paper, we address this question in relation to the hills of Nepal, where agricultural land is being abandoned at an unprecedented rate, despite looming food scarcity. Responding to studies that have highlighted land abandonment trends, we conducted in-depth case studies in two of Nepal's hill districts to understand how land abandonment is taking place, and under what circumstances. Using an interdisciplinary lens and transcending linear models of agrarian change which attribute land abandonment to one or more prominent factors, our study unravels complex, cross-scalar processes, involving the interaction among social forces and environmental factors which lead to land underutilisation. The paper shows that land underutilisation happens through what we term ‘socio-environmental pathways’, which operate across scales, yet are deeply rooted in local dynamics of agrarian change. These pathways are triggered by, and embroiled within, three wider socio-economic and political dynamics in contemporary Nepal, namely: socio-cultural changes that favour out-migration; evolving economic opportunities that make farming less profitable; and a policy context in which the gravity of the land abandonment challenge goes unrecognised. The framework of ‘socio-environmental pathways’ applied here also advances a theoretical lens to explain agrarian change in a way that integrates multiple scales and multiple sectors, emphasising a thoroughly empirical approach. Finally, we identify key policy implications of this research on livelihoods and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Index-based weather insurance is increasingly used to manage weather-related risks in smallholder agriculture. However, cash-constrained smallholders often lack the resources to pay an insurance premium, which may undermine its wider adoption. This article investigates alternative insurance payment methods that may help to enhance the adoption of index-based weather insurance. We use a choice experiment to elicit smallholders' willingness to pay in cash or labor for index-based weather insurance in four districts in the south-central highlands of Ethiopia. The insurance schemes were created using a fractional factorial design with three factors: work, cash, and payout rate. We analyze the choice data using a random parameter mixed logit model. We find that the average participants need a subsidy to pay cash for insurance because their willingness to pay is less than the expected cost of the insurance. On average, they are willing to pay only 0.81 ETB (Ethiopian currency) to get an expected yearly payout of 1 ETB. However, most are willing to participate in work-for-insurance programs at lower daily wage rates than is common for other work programs in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two historiographic currents have debated whether early modern Portugal was cursed by an excessive dependence on agricultural imports due to being unable to feed its population. In this short paper, the first long-run systematic quantitative study of this question, we show that the former view is a myth and therefore could not be a curse. Throughout the entire period, a certain amount of grain was in fact imported but cereal purchases abroad never represented more than a diminutive percentage of total food consumption. More importantly, the country carried out a diversified trade in foodstuffs which was seldom seriously out of balance. Portuguese agriculture showed itself consistently capable of specializing in different foodstuffs for export. It was thus not hopelessly inefficient and succeeded reasonably well in meeting the basic nutritional needs of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In 1867 Finland was faced with a serious crop failure. An insufficient amount of food was imported and when the winter came, there was not enough grain to feed the hungry. Traditionally this event in Finnish history has been explained as a crisis of outdated agriculture and an inescapable natural and economic catastrophe. When examining the political aspects of the crisis, it is noticeable that the failure to import a sufficient amount of food was based not only on a lack of resources, but also on inefficient transfer and use of information and, indeed, a lack of will to help the hungry. In the 1860s the Grand Duchy of Finland was a part of the Russian Empire. Finland formed a separate financial state from the Russian Empire that had to take care of its own financial operations. The department for financial affairs of the Senate of Finland, and its head, Johan Vilhelm Snellman, were responsible for finances and poor relief in Finland. The harvest reports, letters and telegrams of governors as well as the reports of the rapidly-developing local press provided Snellman with the possibility of staying informed on the food stocks and crop forecasts. Snellman's political views are visible in his public writings and letters to the governors. All of the above are used as central source material in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feeding wildlife is a very popular tourist activity, largely because it facilitates the close observation of animals in their natural habitat. Such provisioning may benefit animals by improving their survival and reproductive success, especially during periods of natural food shortage. However, provisioning by tourists may also have negative impacts on the health of the animals involved; to date such impacts are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of tourist provisioning on the health of wild adult Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, in Morocco. We compared health measures between a heavily provisioned group and a group that received negligible food from tourists and, in the former group, we also assessed health measures in relation to the intensity of provisioning. We used a broad range of non-invasive health measures relating to birth rate and survival, disease and injury risk, body size and condition, and physiological stress. Our findings indicate that feeding by tourists may overall have negative impacts on the health of Barbary macaques, being linked in particular to larger body size, elevated stress levels and more alopecia. Finally, we propose a framework to help consider the potential costs and benefits of provisioning, which may facilitate future research and management decisions on whether—and how much—provisioning is acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many West African cocoa households experience a ‘lean season’ before the cocoa harvest, leaving them vulnerable to various events and issues which potentially cause stress – most notably food insecurity. This study, relying primarily on qualitative data from Côte d'Ivoire, examines how income allocation and intra-household dynamics affect household resilience during the lean season. Its findings indicate that in contexts in which women and men's income are separate and destined for different purposes in the household, the fact that men's income is often earmarked for individual spending creates particular problems for households in the lean season. Women's empowerment within the household is essential to improving intra-household resource allocation for resilience. In many contexts, this translates into development programmes supporting women to increase their production and ability to control income independently of men. However, a context of individual gendered agricultural production, and gendered spending obligations, such as West Africa, calls for a slightly different approach. Enhancing agricultural productivity is critical, but in addition it is important to encourage co-operation between women and men in households to result in joint decision-making in the interests of the household. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]