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Glossonema varians is a medicinally important, rare, endemic and edible plant species of Thar Desert. Glossonema varians is a perennial herb and well adapted to the arid and semi arid region of the Indian Desert. The plant is used as famine food at the time of food scarcity and local people also used it as fodder. The plant is under rare category due to its large scale harvesting from wild as it is used extensively by the industries and the local population as energy tonic and other medicinal uses. Due to habitat destruction and increased anthropogenic activities, the natural propagation of plant is limited and now found only in the some pockets of Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan. Biotechnological tools can play important role in conservation, propagation and improvement of plant genetic resources of this rare plant species. Present manuscript has summarized the information regarding the occurrence, botanical description, medicinal uses, conservation strategies and scope of research in G. varians.

In family farming, there are still barriers that prevent the producer from making a punctual disposal, we can mention: the lack of zootechnical knowledge; low capital available for replacement of bovine females and maintenance of farms. Thus, the objective of this study was to study and survey the main causes of discarding of dairy cattle females from the family farming herd of Jacaré dos Homens-AL. A quantitative exploratory research was conducted in the rural area of ​​the municipality, applying 40 questionnaires to characterize the dairy producer. The questionnaires contained information related to zootechnical indexes, among which, the cause of discard of dairy cows and heifers, forms of replacement, among other aspects correlated to dairy activity. The main causes of discard reported by the producers were: reproductive problems, present in 37.5% of the properties, drought and food scarcity that prevailed in 27.5% of the cases, mastitis and other causes that include low milk production, advanced age and income increment, affecting 10% each, respectively. KEYWORDS: Females, cattle, milk En la agricultura familiar, todavía existen barreras que impiden que el productor haga una disposición puntual, podemos mencionar: la falta de conocimiento zootécnico; bajo capital disponible para reemplazo de hembras bovinas y mantenimiento de granjas. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de este estudio fue estudiar y estudiar las principales causas del descarte de las hembras de ganado lechero del hato agrícola familiar de Jacaré dos Homem-AL. Se realizó una investigación exploratoria cuantitativa en el área rural del municipio, aplicando 40 cuestionarios para caracterizar al productor de lácteos. Los cuestionarios contenían información relacionada con índices zootécnicos, entre los cuales, la causa del descarte de vacas lecheras y vaquillas, formas de reemplazo, entre otros aspectos relacionados con la actividad lechera. Las principales causas de descarte reportadas por los productores fueron: problemas reproductivos, presentes en el 37.5% de las propiedades, sequía y escasez de alimentos que prevalecieron en el 27.5% de los casos, mastitis y otras causas que incluyen baja producción de leche, edad avanzada e incremento de ingresos, que afectan al 10% cada uno, respectivamente. RESUMO: Na agricultura familiar, ainda existe barreiras que impedem que o produtor faça um descarte pontual, podemos citar: a falta de conhecimentos zootécnicos; baixo capital disponível para reposição das fêmeas bovinas e manutenção das recrias. Assim sendo, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar e levantar as principais causas de descarte de fêmeas bovinas leiteiras do rebanho da agricultura familiar do município de Jacaré dos Homens- AL. Foi realizado uma pesquisa quantitativa de caráter exploratório na zona rural do município, aplicando-se 40 questionários para caracterização do produtor de leite. Os questionários continham informações relacionadas à índices zootécnicos, dentre os quais, a causa de descarte de vacas e novilhas leiteiras, formas de reposição, dentre outros aspectos correlacionados a atividade leiteira. As maiores causas de descarte relatadas pelos produtores foram: problemas reprodutivos, presente em 37,5% das propriedades, seca e escassez de alimentos que obteve prevalência em 27,5% dos casos, mastite e outras causas que incluem baixa na produção de leite, idade avançada e incrementação de renda, incidindo em 10% cada, respectivamente. PALAVRAS - CHAVE: Fêmeas, bovinas, leite.

The village of Minawao in the Far North of Cameroon is located in the Sudano-Sahelian zone where the population lives mainly from agriculture. Since the installation of refugees from the Boko Haram conflicts, the village of Minawao and its neighbouring villages have experienced a decline in their agricultural yields. In order to know the different impacts of refugees and climate change on agricultural yields, a survey was conducted among the heads of households of refugees and natives; and another was carried out in the transport and agriculture delegations of Mayo-Tsanaga. The data was analysed using XLSTAT software. The result shows that agricultural yield loss was highly reported by refugees in Minawao village (55.45%) and about 570 t/ha of agricultural production is lost annually. Agricultural losses observed in Gawar (530 t/ha) and Zamay (510 t/ha) are also considerable. High temperatures were reported by people in Minawao (98.59%), Sabongari (99.62%) and Zamay (99.62%). The highest rainfall peaks are recorded in 2015 (1236 mm), 2000 (1281 mm) and 2019 (1370 mm). For temperatures, high values were observed in 1989 (28.4°C), 1990 (27°C), 2001 (27.7°C), 2011 (28.8°C) and 2018 (27.4°C). The variations in precipitation and temperature are not proportional. This climate change, combined with the settlement of refugees, is causing the greatest disruption to the agricultural activities of the people of Minawao and its surroundings. The main impact observed is the decrease in agricultural production. This impact causes food scarcity in these villages whose populations live mainly from agriculture. Therefore, participatory management is urgently needed to restore the soil around the refugee camp.

Addressing the problem of sudden food scarcity in US cities, and the up-and-coming field of computational social science. Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 07 July 2021

This article demonstrates how early modern English poet-priest Robert Herrick uses verse form to examine tensions arising from food scarcity. I uncover Herrick’s creation of the “parsonage poem,” a subcategory of the country house poem through which he examines the impossible demands parsons faced in times of dearth. Living on agricultural tithes yet expected to redistribute food to feed their parishes, parsons struggled to measure resources and restrict consumption to make insufficient stores stretch further. Through careful manipulations of meter, rhyme, syntax, and syllable, Herrick articulates the unsustainability of the parson’s position and explores its relationship to declining rural communities.

Nowadays, wasting food is common among the students in colleges, hostels, and workplaces. This results in a great demand for food products in the future, which may lead to food scarcity for future generations. As food waste management is tedious process. In this paper we have mainly focused on measuring the food waste and providing rewards for the users, where it shows the real-time food wastage of every individual on a screen and in a website for future reference. This research mainly focuses on monitoring the food wastage of everyone. Our model proposed over and create a parallel result to give a detailed report to the managing and the user about their amount of food excess each time. This helps to analyze and generate the list of user falls under the non-food wasting criteria and reward them for their noble act. We can do this either manually or automating the process using Internet of Things as a key tool. We use an RFID sensor to monitor the wastage of individuals. They can be opened only by using the RFID card provided by the management. Basically, we are automating the method of identifying the amount of food wastage in the areas, where we are sure that the amount of food waste can be decreased by the analysis of food wastage by every individual and awarding them with rewards and prices by the reports generated by the system.

Consumer interest in novel food with high nutritional value has increased. O. ficus-indica is a plant that grows wild in the semi-arid and arid regions. The nutritional value and bioactive potential of O. ficus-indica fruit, fruit by-products (peel and seeds), and cladode and their use in the production of novel food products are promising. Owing to O. ficus-india’s nutritional traits, the fruits and fruit by-products gain popularity as a gourmet diet. With high vitamin C, tocols, betalains, readily absorbable sugars, high mineral content, and essential amino acids, O. ficus-indica is tailor-made for novel food formulations. O. ficus-indica is usually consumed fresh, while peel and seeds are discarded as bio-wastes. O. ficus-indica by-products (peel, and seeds) and cladode contain phenolics, minerals, and dietary fiber, which could be used as functional ingredients. Rich in bioactive ingredients, O. ficus-indica, and plant by-products are anticipated to revolutionize the food production and solve food scarcity. The current chapter summarizes the scientific literature on the composition, nutritional value, and active constituents of O. ficus-indica fruit, fruit by-products (peel and seeds), and cladode.

Healthy seed plays an important role in ensuring productivity and profitability of crops. Contamination of seed with various toxins adversely impacts human and animal health. Fungal species produce toxic metabolites called mycotoxins that contaminate staple foods and feeds. They represent an unavoidable problem due to their presence in globally consumed cereals. Mycotoxin may be hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins, and neurotoxins. Majority of mycotoxins cause suppression of the immune system, and some are carcinogenic in nature and adversely affect human and animal health and reduce livestock production. Stricter control of mycotoxins has been envisioned worldwide. While human beings are adapting to cope with environmental changes, such as food scarcity, decreased food quality, mycotoxin regulations, crop production, and climate change, fungal species are also adapting, and increased cases of mycotoxins-induced adverse health are likely to occur in the future. It is of vital importance for different countries to set mycotoxin limits and regulations taking into account both scientific and socioeconomic factors. The first limits for mycotoxins were set in the late 1960s for the aflatoxins, and by the end of 2003, several countries had developed specific limits for mycotoxins in foodstuffs and feedstuffs, and the number continues to grow. To ensure food security, we need a way to balance global mycotoxin standards which are realizable, considering limitations of producers and designing strategies to reduce mycotoxin exposure based on sound research.

We have examined the land surface changes in the Lidder Valley of Kashmir in the context of socio-economy, climate and environmental aspect using geoscience technology. It was found that there are ...

There is growing empirical support that poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy can lead to permanent fetal adaptations that affect health throughout a child’s life. Most of the evidence stems from evaluating the impact of extreme prenatal deprivations due to atypical events such as droughts or floods. However, less is known about the magnitude of effects due to more normal variations in food availability. This study estimates the impact of prenatal exposure to seasonal food scarcity on the evolution of childhood health for a cohort of Ethiopian children born in 2001–02. A novel measure of seasonal exposure was constructed based on reported months of relative food scarcity in the local community collected shortly after birth. While exposure was found to have little effect on child height at age one, a larger and statistically significant negative impact emerges by age eight and strengthens by age twelve. Effects in early childhood also appear to be latent from the view of parents with little evidence of remedial investments in exposed children after birth. We conclude that mild prenatal nutritional deprivations could have significant impacts on long-term health and well-being even if effects are small or unobserved in early childhood. This implies caution against the common use of birth and early-life outcomes as the sole evaluation tools for mild prenatal insults or interventions. Overall, results highlight that in addition to the effects of severe famine conditions identified in many studies, more typical variation in prenatal food availability can have lasting impacts on health in the developing world.

In the last common ancestor of modern humans and the three living African ape species a genetic mutation occurred that increased the rate that alcohol was metabolized. This fact initially supports the "drunken monkey hypothesis" which states that natural selection should have favoured individuals that routinely incorporated alcohol- and thus energy-rich fruits into their diet. However, random observations from apes living in the wild do not provide evidence for such kind of choosey feeding behaviours. To investigate whether or not the living great apes have evolved a preference of alcohol-rich fruits over normal ripe fruits we performed a bioassay with captive chimpanzees offering them apple puree with and without rum flavour. Initially, the chimpanzees were curious about the alcohol-flavoured apple puree and feed on it when it was presented to them for the very first time. Once tasted, however, they lost interest in it indicating that chimpanzees are able to perceive, but do not prefer alcohol-rich fruits more than non-alcoholic fruits. Thus, we think that for our hominoid ancestors from the late Miocene the possibility to consume alcohol-rich fruits was helpful to survive periods of food scarcity, but did not lead to a genetic predisposition for alcohol.

Wild populations of Humboldt penguins ( Spheniscus humboldti) on the coasts of Chile and Peru have been declining because of food scarcity caused by the El Niño Southern Oscillation and human interference. Part of conserving this vulnerable and threatened species is maintaining the health of penguins within zoo collections. A variety of cardiovascular diseases has been reported in individuals from the Spheniscidae family including ventricular septal defects, Dirofilaria immitis infection, pulmonary hypertension, and valvular dysplasia, ultimately resulting in congestive heart failure. An accurate clinical picture of cardiovascular disease in Humboldt penguins requires diagnostics tailored to this specific species. The aim of this study was to establish a routine methodology for evaluating the cardiac silhouette of clinically healthy Humboldt penguins using vertebral heart scale (VHS), cardiocoelomic width ratio (CCWR), and a novel cardiac silhouette-to-keel ratio (CKR). Ventrodorsal and right lateral radiographs were taken of 10 mature Humboldt penguins during routine health evaluations. An echocardiographic exam of each penguin was performed to confirm that there was no evidence of cardiac structural remodeling from disease. Two penguins were excluded on the basis of echocardiographic findings; therefore, data from eight penguins were used to calculate objective cardiac measurements for the clinically healthy population. Right lateral radiographs were used to determine VHS (7.4-10.4) and CKR (3.4-4.4). Ventrodorsal radiographs were used for calculating CCWR (0.45-0.59). The excluded penguins had CCWRs that were outside the 95% confidence interval for the range generated by this study. This initial work supports that standardizing radiographic views provides objective measures for cardiac silhouette evaluation in this species. Further research in larger populations and comparison with birds having confirmed cardiac disease is needed to determine the value of these three measurement techniques in Humboldt penguins.

In today’s constantly changing scenario, there is an increase in the use of novel and useful bioactive compounds for solving myriad of problems mankind faces, viz. appearance of drug-resistant bacteria, emergence of life-threatening viruses, increasing incidences of fungal infections in the world’s population and problems in eliminating food scarcity from some areas of the globe to help human populations. Fungal endophytes though not extensively studied yet are potent source of novel natural products useful in industry, agriculture and medicine. Each of the 300,000 plant species existing on earth is host to one or more endophytes. Till date about one tenth of an estimated one million plant species have been studied for fungal endophytes which are considerably diverse. This chapter deals with the range of bioactive metabolites produced by the fungal endophytes studied so far with emphasis on those useful in increasing food production.

The indiscriminate application of synthetic chemicals in agriculture has deteriorated extremely the quality of environment due to loss of beneficial microbial communities. The world now has a real prospect to grow sustainably and eliminate acute food scarcity in the next generation. Achieving this will require eco-friendly and safe technology for restoration of degraded lands. Microbes form the vital living components of soils contributing ecosystem sustainability due to their cosmopolitan survival, massive efficient genetic pool, catabolic versatility and stress tolerance potential. It has been reported that direct application of modified microbes enhances the microbial diversity in the agro-ecosystems by breaking dormancy of inactive soil microbial pool. It is presumed that enhanced diversity of efficient microbial community compositions in degraded ecosystems establish a functional equilibrium, which help maintain sustainability. Undoubtedly therefore, microbes may play the role of chief ecological engineers in resolving the environmental problems as well as the innovative tool to reinstate the degraded ecosystems.

Household food insecurity has been previously hypothesized to promote dependence on inexpensive, highly palatable foods that are energy dense. Such dependence, and the cyclical nature of having enough food in the beginning of the month followed by food scarcity at the end of the month, could lead to weight gain over a short period of time. Such dependence on energy-dense foods and weight gain may play a direct role in the development of chronic conditions. Other compounding factors that result from exposure to household food insecurity have been well described, including pathways by which stress promotes visceral fat accumulation and chronic disease. This symposium review paper summarizes the literature on the link between food insecurity and the following: 1) diet, 2) weight gain, and 3) chronic disease, especially among women. This paper also proposes a framework for considering how the lived experience of household food insecurity may potentiate the development of chronic disease by activating the stress response among individuals at critical developmental periods in a food-impoverished environment.

The subterranean parts of many wild plants form an important constituent of traditional diet of the tribal inhabitants of Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Odisha especially in times of food scarcity during critical periods. However, no specific study has been made so far on this aspect. The present study was conducted during 2008–2012 as a search for sources of food and to assess the dietary diversity, consumption pattern, culinary uses and prioritized species of wild tuberous plants sustained by local tribes. The exploration and germplasm collection missions along with intensive botanical survey, focus group discussions, structured household interview and market survey were conducted in 30 villages interacting with 102 key informants of core and buffer zones. A total of 55 wild edible tuberous species representing 37 genera and 24 families were inventoried including 17 species used during food deficiency to meet seasonal shortages. The analyzed data contributed 5 use categories, 4 preparation methods, 7 kinds of food items, 10 species as children snacks, 35 species of pharma-foods and 20 prioritized species. Ten species were domesticated by tribes thus reducing threats on wild tubers and 20 species were traded in local markets to generate additional income exemplifying economic benefits from wild tubers. Seventeen species were identified as novel uses of food items from India. The findings suggested that the nutritional profile along with pharmaceutical attributes of preferred wild food plants be analyzed for recommending suitable species for better nutrition and development of nutraceuticals. Further, many genetic resources of these wild tuberous species of agri-horticultural importance constitute the wild genepool hence their economic and breeding potential along with desirable attributes need to be investigated for utilization in crop improvement programmes.

Food security as a concept attracts the attention of policy makers, practitioners, and academics around the world (Jones et al. 2013), as it is considered one of the key essentials of life (Pfeiffer et al. 2015), since it is related to individual well-being (Magana-Lemus and Lara-Alvarez 2015) and because food scarcity or food insecurity can affect almost every facet of society (Jones et al. 2013). A household (microlevel) is considered food-secure when it has the ability to acquire the food needed by its members (Pinstrup-Andersen 2009). Timmer (2012) asserts that understanding the behavioral dimensions of food security is an important step in learning how to prevent food crises.

Continuous practice of old methods in agriculture cannot reduce the food scarcity, as the over use of chemicals, drought and infertile soil are a severe issues where the investment is more and the yielding is less, these all due to unpredictable climatic changes and uncontrolled pesticides. To overcome these issues scientist have concentrated on the new technology by combining the specific genes in-vivo for the crops which is called transgenic crops/plants.

Immigrants typically express cravings for the food of their homeland, but for undocumented and temporarily documented Salvadoran immigrants living in the United States, the hunger for their traditional cuisine is particularly poignant. To cope with a history of food scarcity in El Salvador and their documentation liminality in the United States, Salvadoran immigrants in this study crave symbolically rich foods. Salvadoran women provide these foods by recreating for their families an ideal Salvadoran meal into which they "groom" meanings of an imagined past and a hoped for present and future. Salvadoran immigrants' cravings, more cultural than physiological, are not readily satisfied, thus contributing to the overconsumption of food and the high rate of overweight among first-generation Salvadoran-American children.

First paragraph: The challenge of preserving enough farmland for food production will be a defining challenge for the 21st century. Lester Brown, icon of the Worldwatch Institute, identifies food scarcity as "the weak link" of modern society (Brown, 2012). He points to the growing global demand for food and fuel, eroding soils, declining aquifers, and global climate change as major challenges to the future of human civilization. All of these challenges could be met, but not without a fundamental transformation in current ways of thinking about both land and food. A market economy will neither provide food for the hungry of current generations nor preserve enough farmland to provide food for generations of the future. Any society that allows markets to determine how much and what kind of land is used for food is not sustainable. This could be the defining challenge of the 21st century....

Lactose intolerance is an inability to digest milk sugar, characterized by abdominal cramps, nausea, and diarrhea after ingesting milk products. It develops in adolescence or adulthood among those whose bodies naturally stop producing the lactose-digesting enzyme lactase after childhood. Although uncommon in the United States, lactose intolerance actually occurs in the majority of people around the world. The ability to continue producing lactase, and thus to digest milk products, is a relatively recent evolutionary development. After presentation of an illustrative clinical example, the biology of lactase production and lactose intolerance is reviewed. The "culture-historical" hypothesis of Simoons in the 1970's held that persistent lactase production developed in a dairy herding population in Northern Europe during a time of food scarcity, when the ability to digest milk would have provided a survival advantage. Simoons demonstrated that low prevalence of lactose intolerance was associated with pastoral practices among early populations around the world. Hirschhorn recently provided strong genetic evidence for the culture-historical hypothesis using contemporary techniques of genomics and single nucleotide polymorphisms. His research group found that European derived persistent lactase production is due to a mutation near the lactase gene that occurred only about 10 million years ago and rapidly increased in prevalence.

Acute poisoning caused by plant is not uncommon in Bangladesh. Intentional or accidental plant poisoning sometimes results in morbidity and significant death. People have been traditionally usingmedicinal plant from the very early period of civilization, and this practice is still continued in a well-established manner, especially for the treatment of some chronic non-curable disease; medicinal plants are considered nontoxic by the general public due to their natural origin. The mixture of different plants and herbs made by a traditional healer and their canvassing on the street magnetize a wide range of people. The easy low-cost availability and the consumption of unknown and inappropriate mixture of mysterious medicinal plants sometime cause hepatic and renal toxicity, even deaths which are mostly unreported. Inadvertent deaths do occur in children in Bangladesh due to plant poisoning. Food scarcity during a disaster also drives poor people to deviate their usual consumption practices and take immature or nonprocess plants which are occasionally fatal. Plant poisoning for suicidal attempt is now declining mostly due to the availability of other easy method like agrochemical and pharmaceutical drug. Suicidal attempt by yellow oleander is infrequently reported in different hospitals. In Bangladesh, once Datura plant seeds were popularly used by miscreants as a stufying agent offered through different food items to a bystander to make them stupor in order to rob the capital. A separate group of poisonings with significant mortality and morbidity occurs after women use plants to induce abortions. Treatment for most plant poisoning is symptomatic, and specific antidotes are used in only a very few cases.

Recent changes in the institutional framework of food safety in Portugal have been initiated by BSE scandals and by EU legislative impact. Portuguese consumers have only recently moved from a poverty-related fear of food scarcity to modern fears of safety-related problems with food. Food safety is now highly politicized in Portugal, and the organization of food safety policies has been the topic of several parliamentary debates and of governmental reform. The chapter describes the political conflicts generated by the planned establishment of a new Food Agency-controversies which have so far hindered institutional change.

Several species of birds and primates produce food-associated vocalizations upon finding or consuming food. Tufted capuchin monkeys produce two food-associated vocalizations (the grgr and the food-associated whistle series), which are functionally referential. By experimentally placing new food sources (feeding platforms containing half pieces of banana), I explored the factors that affect the production of food-associated calls in a wild group of tufted capuchins. Finders of these platforms called in 81% of the discoveries when the platform contained fruit (N = 57) but in 0% of cases when the platform was empty (N = 5). Males and females of all ages and dominance ranks gave food-associated calls when discovering a platform with fruit. The probability that a finder gave food-associated vocalizations was lower during the period of food scarcity and when the platform contained a small amount of bananas (three pieces as opposed to ≥ 20 pieces). There was an effect of the audience on the latency to give food-associated calls. The time elapsed until the finder gave the first food-associated call decreased with the presence and density of nearby individuals and increased with the distance from other individuals to the platform. The latency to call was longer for females than for males. The audience effect and the effect of the sex of the finder are consistent with the hypothesis that capuchins use these vocalizations deceptively by withholding information about the presence of a food source. By increasing the latency to call, finders of new food sources can obtain a larger amount of food and thus reduce the costs associated with calling. Fil: Di Bitetti, Mario Santiago. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Laboratorio de Investigaciones Ecológicas de las Yungas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina

Shortages of wood and grain threatened pre-modern societies from the Middle-Ages onwards. The many economical societies,which arose in Europe in the second half of the 18th century,tried to combat such shortages by calling for agricultural and silvicultural reforms. The process of such reforms can be nicely illustrated using the example of the Economical Commission of Zurich. Not only does this provide an opportunity to examine the complicity and mutual dependence of the two sectors in question, it also serves to show the discursive character of both wood and food scarcity. The warnings and reform proposals emanating from the Zurich economists were rarely based, it must be said, on any personal experience of shortages.

In rural Africa, wild foods provide diversity, vitamins and minerals in the diet. They are also important at times of food shortage. This paper discusses issues concerning wild food use in semiarid West Africa, and presents the results of a study of the use of wild plant foods in northeast Nigeria. Interviews with farmers and herders identified a total of 67 wild foods, coming from 53 species of plant. Knowledge of wild foods varied according to ethnic group and gender. Some wild foods caused side effects if eaten in excess. Land-use change due to agricultural expansion seems to be increasing the areas where wild foods are most commonly found. Wild foods are important as a supplement to daily diet, and at times of food scarcity. In addition, they provide an opportunity to generate income when they are collected and traded. The paper concludes that wild foods are an important coping strategy for rural communities. Further research is needed to determine whether local institutions and community-based natural resource management regimes are sufficient to conserve this resource.

Experiences with a participatory seed improvement initiative as a strategy for combating food deficits in a remote community in eastern Nepal are outlined. On the basis of participatory methods of problem assessment, food deficits were attributed to several factors, such as limited arable land, poor soils, and lack of access to improved seeds and other agricultural services arising partly from the lowland and gender biases of national planners. Additionally, an increase in the number of households headed by women and the greater agricultural burden placed on women as a result of male out-migration have contributed to the problem of food deficits. During times of scarcity, women's preferences for nutritional value and easy postharvest preparation are subsumed by the more immediate need for higher yields. Most of the crop varieties preferred by women are land races; hence, it is proposed that these crop varieties become the focus of future crop improvement initiatives to sustain crop diversity whil...

Este estudo objetivou identificar uma alimentação eficiente para as abelhas Apis mellifera L. utilizando um complexo enzimático para melhorar o desempenho dos enxames em períodos de escassez alimentar. Para isso, quadros de cria fechada foram retirados de duas colmeias, conduzidos até uma câmera climatizada e após a emergência, as abelhas foram mantidas em unidades experimentais para serem alimentadas. A dieta utilizada na pesquisa foi composta por 60% de mel, 30% de farinha de soja e 10% de farinha de milho, com diferentes níveis de inclusão (0,00%, 0,03%, 0,06%, 0,09%) do complexo enzimático em estudo. Os parâmetros avaliados foram: longevidade das abelhas, concentração de proteína total da hemolinfa e consumo de água e dieta. Não houve efeito toxicológico de acordo com análise de sobrevivência, verificou-se uma redução no consumo, conforme foi acrescentado o complexo enzimático na dieta e um aumento no teor de proteína na hemolinfa. O uso do complexo enzimático mostrou-se como uma ferramenta para manter os enxames em períodos de escassez de alimento, pois proporcionou melhor aproveitamento dos alimentos por menor consumo da dieta e o maior teor de proteína total na hemolinfa.

Humans and their predecessors evolved in environments where they were challenged intermittently with: 1) food scarcity; 2) the need for aerobic fitness to catch/kill prey and avoid or repel attackers; and 3) exposure to biological toxins present in foodstuffs. Accordingly, cells and organ systems acquired and retained molecular signaling and metabolic pathways through which the environmental challenges enhanced the functionality and resilience of the cells and organisms. Within the past 60 years there has been a precipitous diminution of such challenges in modern societies because of the development of technologies that provide a continuous supply of energy-dense processed foods and that largely eliminate the need for physical exertion. As a consequence of the modern ‘couch potato’ lifestyle, signaling pathways that mediate beneficial effects of environmental challenges on health and disease resistance are disengaged, thereby rendering people vulnerable to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurodegenerative disorders. Reversal of the epidemic of diseases caused by unchallenging lifestyles will require a society-wide effort to re-introduce intermittent fasting, exercise and consumption of plants containing hormetic phytochemicals into daily and weekly routines.

Plants have served as sources of food and medicines for human beings since their advent. During famines or conditions of food scarcity, people throughout the world depend on unconventional plant items to satiate their hunger and meet their nutritional needs. Malnourished people often suffer from various diseases, much more than people eating a balanced diet. We are hypothesizing that the unconventional food plants that people eat during times of scarcity of their normal diet are also medicinal plants and thus can play a role in satiating hunger, meeting nutritional needs, and serving therapeutic purposes. Towards testing our hypothesis, surveys were carried out among the low income people of four villages in Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts of Bangladesh. People and particularly the low income people of these two districts suffer each year from a seasonal famine known as Monga. Over 200 informants from 167 households in the villages were interviewed with the help of a semistructured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. The informants mentioned a total of 34 plant species that they consumed during Monga. Published literature shows that all the species consumed had ethnomedicinal uses. It is concluded that famine food plants also serve as ethnomedicinal plants.

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites produced by fungal species that commonly contaminate staple foods and feeds. They represent an unavoidable problem due to their presence in globally consumed cereals such as rice, maize and wheat. Most mycotoxins are immunosuppressive agents and some are carcinogens, hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins, and neurotoxins. Worldwide trends envision a stricter control of mycotoxins, however, the changing global environment may not be the ideal setting to control and reduce the exposure to these toxins. Although new technologies allow us to inspect the multi-mycotoxin presence in foods, new sources of exposure, gaps in knowledge of mycotoxins interactions, appearance of “emergent” mycotoxins and elucidation of consequent health effects can complicate their control even more. While humans are adapting to cope with environmental changes, such as food scarcity, decreased food quality, mycotoxin regulations, crop production and seasonality, and other climate related modifications, fungal species are also adapting and increased cases of mycotoxin adverse health effects are likely to occur in the future. To guarantee access to quality food for all, we need a way to balance global mycotoxin standards with the realistic feasibility of reaching them, considering limitations of producers and designing strategies to reduce mycotoxin exposure based on sound research.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Swiss Alps have an ancestral tradition with regard to the use of wild plants as medicines and food. However, this knowledge is falling into oblivion, and is nowadays confined to village areas. Aim of the study was to identify wild edible plants used today and during the last two centuries by the alpine population of Valais (Switzerland). Material and methods Data were collected by means of semi-directed interviews made in four different lateral valleys of Valais (Val d'Anniviers, Val d'Entremont, Val d'Herens, and Val d'Illiez). Wild food plants were classified according to their uses (salads, cooked vegetables, spices, raw snacks, teas, alcoholic drinks, sirups, and jams). Books and reports written in the XIXth century were consulted to identify uses of wild plants which have fallen in oblivion meanwhile. Results A total of 98 edible wild plants, distributed into 38 botanical families, were identified during the interviews. Several plants were highly cited (e.g. Taraxacum officinale , Chenopodium bonus-henricus ). The most frequent usage was as tea (18%), followed by uses as cooked vegetables (16%), jams (16%), and raw snacks (16%). A strong association was observed between food and medicinal uses of plants. Wild food plants were of critical importance in times of food scarcity. Meanwhile, they have lost their relevance as vital components of the diet and are nowadays rather perceived and appreciated as delicacies. Conclusions This study provides for the first time comprehensive data on present day and historical uses of wild plants as food in Lower and Central Valais. Besides being of historical interest, this ethnobotanical information can be used to identify species which may provide interesting opportunities for diversification of mountain agriculture.

Natural disasters have an enormous impact on the lives and well-being of people in many parts of the world. When a disaster occurs, it causes massive damage to people's livelihoods. Although a household is automatically disrupted after experiencing a natural disaster (floods, earthquakes, mudslides, etc.), the accessibility of food commodities is often the most negatively impacted. Since pre-disaster periods are already challenging in the context of providing sufficient food within poverty-stricken areas, natural disasters leave a trail of vulnerable and disadvantaged people who cannot acquire an adequate amount of nutritious food necessary for survival. The inability to maintain consumption levels exposes households to food insecurities – insecurities experienced particularly by women, who head households. Women are more susceptible to food scarcity and lose the ability to sustain their families’ livelihood due to the loss of seeds, livestock, and food, in general. Natural cataclysms, however, not only hamper access to nutritious food, but also considerably affect women's and children's health conditions. In countries like Tajikistan, there is a small body of research that assesses the impact of hazardous events on women's and children's health and nutrition in the aftermath of disasters. This study seeks to provide insights into the access of balanced diets to families in post-disaster situations and analyzes how disasters impact the health of affected people.

Eiighteenth-century literary criticism abounds with metaphors of books as food and their readers as ravenous eaters.1 From Wordsworth’s denigration of contemporary verse as “food for fickle tastes, and fickle appetites” (597), to Walter Scott’s witty retrospective on novels as “bread eaten in secret” (Southam 58), to Hannah More’s judgment that “an appetite for reading” among the lower classes was endangering the nation (249), critics disparaged books through a playful yet compelling language of consumption. While the image of edible books was a commonplace for centuries,2 the frequency with which the trope is repeated in the eighteenth century locates the novel and other popular reading materials within a range of consumer discourse whose figural registers have yet to be fully investigated.3

The level of integration of agricultural markets is a critical determinant of agricultural price policy in developing countries, particularly large ones. If agricultural markets are not integrated, then any local food scarcity will tend to persist, as distant markets (with no scarcity) will not be able to respond to the price signals of such isolated markets (Dreze and Sen, 1995). Lack of integration can often lead to localized food scarcity, even famines (Currey and Hugo, 1985). Testing for such integration is, therefore, central to determining the (geographical) level at which agricultural price policy should be targeted, at least in the short-run. If all agricultural markets were not integrated at the national level then a national agricultural price policy would not be suitable. It would be more appropriate to target a common price policy to a set of integrated markets. In the longer run it would be imperative to enhance market integration across the board in order to reap the advantages of a large market.

The study aimed at identifying the evidences of climate change in Bauchi. The emphasis was to find out if there are changes on the temperature and rainfall over time; to what extent these changes occur and likely impact these changes will have in Bauchi. The study was done in Bauchi town, Bauchi state of northeastern Nigeria. Elements of climate such as temperature and rainfall of the study area for a period of thirty (30) years between 1978 and 2008 were collected and analyzed using statistical method of Time Series Analysis. Findings from the study showed that rainfall in Bauchi was increasing by 0.2mm per annum. The findings also showed that temperature was increasing by 0.02990c per annum. This implies that Bauchi may be vulnerable to flooding and ecosystem change. And having a detrimental effect on agricultural produce thereby leading to food scarcity in the town. The annual increase in temperature by 0.02990c and rainfall by 0.2mm indicate that Climate Change is real in Bauchi Keywords : climate change, Bauchi, food scarcity, Time Series Analysis, temperature and rainfall.

In minority populations, those who do not maintain normal weight outnumber those who do; thus, overweight is often the community norm. Compared to many white populations, minority populations are transitioning from poverty, food scarcity, and jobs that require significant amounts of energy expenditure. This may mean food and activity habits of both black and Latino populations may have been developed during a more physically-active era. Caloric restriction and leisure-time physical activity are not routine in minority communities. In these communities, there are often few supermarkets that carry fresh produce, many fast food establishments and small grocery stores that sell high-fat, energy-dense foods, and high neighborhood crime rates that discourage outdoor activities and limit safe places for walking and bicycling, including school routes. Although specific dietary and activity behaviors related to weight control ultimately are undertaken by individuals, our current environment makes such individual choices difficult when it contains substantial barriers to establishing healthy lifestyles. Substantial environmental changes need to be made, especially in minority communities.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was established in 1960 by the Rockefeller (New York, NY, USA) and Ford Foundations (New York, NY, USA) in response to food scarcity problems in the developing world. Today, it is the world's leading international research and training center for rice. Based in the Philippines, with operations in 11 other countries, it is one of 16 Future Harvest Centers funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies.

Because the Earth's population is slated to hit 9 billion in the next century, food scarcity has become an increasingly important topic of study. Food availability is widely examined, but D'Odorico et al. point out that reliance on trade to distribute food has not been sufficiently quantified.

Malnourishment across Africa could jump 40% by 2050 due to climate change, according to the Africa Agriculture Status Report 2014 (AASR), released on 2 September. With temperatures predicted to rise 1.5°C–2.5°C by midcentury, African smallholder farms, which are generally run by one family, are more vulnerable than ever, the report finds.

Deprivation level was manipulated in fourteen food- and water-deprived adult human females to examine its effects on self-control for food (choice of larger, more delayed access to apple juice over smaller, less delayed access to apple juice). Each subject was exposed to two treatments: (1) Consumption of a 500 g tomato soup preload just prior to self-control testing and (2) no soup preload. When subjects had consumed soup, they reported significantly less hunger and showed significantly more self-control as compared to when not having consumed soup. Additionally, when subjects had consumed soup, self-control decreased as a function of session time. Subjects who reported that they were currently dieting drank significantly less juice when they had previously consumed soup than when they do not previously consumed soup. Together, the results indicate that when subjects are more deprived they may be less able to wait for food reinforcers (i.e., show less self-control). Such behaviour may be adaptive in situations in which energy is needed to survive periods of food scarcity.

Application of herbizides and voles in forest plantations Two areas in different spruce plantations were treated with Gramoxone® (Paraquat). Changes of the density of small mammals especially of the Field Vole(Microtus agrestis) and the Common Vole(Microtus arvalis) were observed. Residues of Paraquat in the excretions of marked individuals in the treated area were not detected with few exception. The problem of debarking young trees by starving voles and food scarcity caused by the weedkiller is discussed.

An interactive dietary assessment method developed for use in rural Bangladesh was evaluated. Observed 24‐hour food intake of 10 mothers and their 10 infants was compared with the mother's recall on the following day. Cultural factors contributing to the accuracy of recall were the self‐sacrificing attentiveness of the mother, preoccupation with food caused by food scarcity, structured family meals, lack of platewaste, infrequency of snacking, simplicity of the diet and uniformity of utensils and serving and eating practices in rural homes. Differences in average intake reported by the two methods were very small. Measurement reliability and sources of error are presented.

Fat is used biologically mainly as a source of energy and as a constituent of the body tissues. It has minor functions, such as carrying important accessory substances. Weight for weight, fat supplies about twice the energy of the other staple organic foods, carbohydrate and protein. It is an essential in the structure and functions of all tissues and especially of the brain and nerves. The natural fats contain many of the vitamins which are necessary for the growth, maintenance and well-being of animals and probably plants as well. Fats serve passively as heat insulation under the skin, as padding to keep the bodily organs and blood vessels and nerves in place, and for rounding out the angular contours of the bodily structure. They constitute the most important form of stored energy for tiding the animal over through periods of food scarcity and for transmitting to the offspring, as milk