Journal of Food Security

Field experiments were conducted at Dry Land Research Sub-station of Sher-e Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu during rabi (winter) (winter) season of 2008-09 to kharif (monsoon)(monsoon) season of 2010 on the same site and layout. The experimental field was well drained upland with bulk density of 1.46 Mg/m³. The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam with low in organic carbon (0.42%), available nitrogen (174.2 kg/ha) and medium in available phosphorus (16.5 kg/ha), potassium (124.0 kg/ha) and sulphur (20.4 kg/ha). The study was conducted with the objective to identify the most suitable and promising mustard-maize intercropping sequence in changing climate scenario under kandi areas of Jammu region. The two years experimental findings revealed that the system productivity (47.0 and 49.1 kg/ha/day), production efficiency (59.6 and 62.3), nitrogen build up (18.7 kg/ha)and net returns (Rs.71608 and Rs.71090 /ha) with a benefit –cost ratio of 2.54 and 2.32 during the year 2008-09 and 2009-10,respectively were higher in the sequence where mustard was intercropped with fieldpea when succeeded by maize grown in association with cowpea followed by the sequence mustard+fieldpea succeeded by maize in association with moongbean intercropping sequences.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 58-64. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-8
Pub. Date: December 24, 2013

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Food Insecurity and Child Undernutrition: Evidence from BDHS 2011

by Md. Mehedi Hasan, Sayem Ahmed and Md. Atiqul Hoque Chowdhury

Original Research

Food insecurity has prejudicial impact in protecting child undernutrition. To explore this, using nationally representative two-stage stratified sample from Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2011 data collected from mothers about their household and child born during their last delivery, a total of 5904 children having valid information of all variables selected for this study were analyzed. Following the WHO guidelines and cut-off points, the prevalence of nutritional status- stunting (40.2%), underweight (35.7%) and wasting (16.3%) were accessed by the Z-scores approach of anthropometric criterion height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height respectively. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) measure was used to measure household food insecurity in this study. Food insecurity of household was discovered to have significant impact on child undernutrition in the form of stunting (OR = 1.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.42, 1.85, p< 0.01), underweight (OR = 1.80, 95% confidence interval: 1.58, 2.06, p < 0.01) and wasting (OR = 1. 28, 95% confidence interval: 1.09, 1.51, p < 0.01). These findings persisted even after adjusted for some significant socioeconomic characteristics. It indicates that a sufficient reduction of food insecurity is obvious for protecting child from undernutrition.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 52-57. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-7
Pub. Date: December 23, 2013

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Fuelwood Supply: A Missed Essential Component in a Food Security Equation

by Stephy D. Makungwa, Francis Epulani and Iain H. Woodhouse

Commentary

The current definition of food security neglects to explicitly account for the fact that most staple foods in many developing countries need to be cooked before they are edible. Because of this deficiency, household access and availability to cooking energy is not considered in many food security projects and programmes. In this paper we synthesize existing documents to promote explicit inclusion of cooking energy as a fundamental component in a food security equation. The synthesis showed that as fuelwood becomes scarce households adapt their cooking styles by omitting or substituting some essential energy-demanding dishes (e.g. dry beans) in order to save cooking energy. As a consequence, household members are denied essential nutrients supplied by the ingestion of such dishes, thereby compromising their nutritional well-being. We argue that when food is sufficiently available, fuelwood shortage may prevent households in poor countries from bringing about important improvements in their nutritional well-being. We therefore recommend to explicitly add cooking energy as a fundamental component of any food security project or programme.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 49-51. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-6
Pub. Date: December 03, 2013

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Food Pricing, Extreme Weather and the Rural/Urban Divide: A Case Study of Northern NSW, Australia

by Lila Singh-Peterson, Amanda Shoebridge and Geoffrey Lawrence

Original Research

According to the Australian Government (2012:vi), `a crucial question for the wellbeing of all Australian residents is the extent to which the food supply chain is resilient in the face of disruption’. The impact of extreme weather events and a changing climate on food production influences food prices across time and space. In this study food prices across the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales were surveyed one week after a disastrous flood and cyclone event. Six months later, a follow-up survey was initiated. The surveys provided data which allowed comparisons between food pricing in urban settlements and rural settlements in the region, both at the time of flooding, and six months after the floods. Results from the study indicate that the large chain supermarket prices actually decreased during the six-month period while, in contrast, food pricing in the small independent stores continued to increase after the flood event. We conclude that the smaller, regional stores are less resilient to the impact of the flooding event than are the larger, urban based stores. This raises significant concerns for regional communities that are dependent for food provision from small independent stores.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 42-48. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-5
Pub. Date: November 21, 2013

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Repackaging Agricultural Research for Greater Impact on Agricultural Growth in Africa

by Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Afiavi Agboh-Noameshie, Aliou Diagne and Ibrahim Bamba

Review Article

Despite the enormous research activities embarked upon by the various research entities in Africa over time, the expected research impacts remain obscure. This paper is a compilation of facts and figures from published peer reviewed articles, agricultural research and development reports from national and international institutions, and base-line data from the Africa Rice Centre aimed at elucidating the performance of agricultural research in Africa between 1960 and 2010. It discusses the constraints to the visible impact of agricultural research on the growth of Africa’s economy, and suggests how to repackage agricultural research for more visible impact on Africa’s economic growth. Results show that agricultural research has been beneficial for African agriculture widely and is believed to be the backbone of the economic growth of the continent. Agricultural research has also served as the bedrock of agricultural technological transformation to enhance agricultural growth. Research has helped to increase agricultural production and productivity and food security in several countries. Also, investment in agricultural research has yielded positive impact on poverty reduction and food security. However, food security and poverty are still visibly mining the African population. The major constraints in the utilization of agricultural research results are the lack of adequate public investment in agriculture, lack of well-trained researchers, inadequate research infrastructures and poor management of the agricultural research and development system. Findings show that in order to package agricultural research for visible impact on the economy, agricultural research systems would need to be adequately funded and handled by skilled human resources under good governance. An effective innovative agricultural policy would demand the initial acknowledgment that a break from the past is necessary to ‘produce more and better’ in Africa and that successful agricultural research systems should be designed in a framework of co-construction, co-execution and co-evaluation.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 30-41. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-4
Pub. Date: November 19, 2013

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Food Security as Determinant of Anemia at Household Level in Nepal

by Romiha Nisar, Sofia Anwar and Sonia Nisar

Original Research

This study investigates to assess the validity of household food security through its association between anemia and food insecurity by using a data set of Demographic Household Survey (DHS) 2011 in Nepal. About 32.3% households were not anemic, 19.9 % moderate, 12.1 % mild while 2.8 % households resulted as severe anemic based on the organized indexed appraisal of food security. Moreover, based on the Chi-square (5.06) value it is demonstrated that food security and anemia has no strong association. The result of the multinomial logit model reveals that woman education, media awareness, households from middle and rich class has significant while food poverty has insignificant impact of anemia. It is concluded that food security may not be a sufficient on its own to impact anemia.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 27-29. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-3
Pub. Date: October 21, 2013

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Prevention of Crops Contamination by Fungi and Mycotoxins Using Natural Substances Derived from Lycopersiconesculentum Mill. Leaves

by IrèneAhou Kouadio, Louis Ban Koffi and MireilleBretin Dosso

Original Research

Lycopersiconesculentum Mill.(tomato) leaves are known to possess antimicrobial activities. In this study, the aqueous fraction containing the antifungal compounds obtained after purification of these leaves extract was evaluated for its effect on proliferation and mycotoxins production by three Aspergillusstrains (Aspergillusfumigatus, Aspergillusflavus and Aspergillusnidulans). This antifungal fraction exhibited a significant inhibition on growth of the three Aspergillusstrains with a dose-dependent manner. Indeed, the radial growth was 90 mm on the medium without antifungal fraction for these three strains, while on the medium at 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.5% and 1% of antifungal fraction, it was respectively 55.67, 40, 20 and 0 mm for A nidulans, 70.67, 50, 24.33 and 0 mm for A. fumigatus and 85.33, 54.67, 24.33 and 0 mm for A. flavus after 7 days of incubation. The absence of conidia germination was also observed only on the medium at 1 % of antifungal fraction for the three strains. This reduction of the growth of the strains when the antifungal fraction content in the medium increased, led to the reduction of mycotoxins production. Indeed, the mycotoxins analysis by Thin Layer Chromatography showed any spots of sterigmatocistin and Gliotoxinin the medium at 0.5% and 1% of antifungal fraction respectively for A. nidulans and A. fumigatus, while for the other concentrations tested, spots of these mycotoxins were observed. For A. flavus, the absence ofthe spot of aflatoxinB1 was observed only in the medium at 1% of antifungal fraction. These results suggest the use of Lycopersiconesculentum leaves extract as a natural fungicide in alternative in chemical fungicides which cause environmental risks.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 16-26. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-2
Pub. Date: August 10, 2013

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The Paradox of Going Hungry when there is So much Food: The Perspective of Vulnerable Youth and Their Caseworkers

by Quynh Lê, Stuart Auckland, Hoang Boi Nguyen, Daniel R Terry and Tony Barnett

Original Research

This study aimed to examine the food security challenges experienced among vulnerable youth in North West Tasmania. An exploratory, descriptive design was used to collect data through face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions with 22 young residents and with five stakeholders and representatives from different community and state organisations. The most significant finding of the study was that a proportion of young residents in the North West Coast of Tasmania were threatened by food insecurity, which was caused by a combination of factors including patterns of food consumption and dietary behaviours. Those with higher financial difficulty due to the lack of a stable job were significantly more vulnerable to food insecurity and faced a higher chance of having health problems. The findings of the project have many implications to improve the food security and lives of vulnerable youth.

Journal of Food Security. 2013, 1(2), 10-15. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-1-2-1
Pub. Date: July 13, 2013

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