A systematic review of urban agriculture and food security impacts in low-income countries

Food Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 131-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa N. Poulsen ◽  
Philip R. McNab ◽  
Megan L. Clayton ◽  
Roni A. Neff
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 2988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alana Siegner ◽  
Jennifer Sowerwine ◽  
Charisma Acey

The aim of our review is to critically analyze the urban agriculture and urban food systems literature in order to understand the impact of urban-produced foods on community food security. We examine the role of city planning, food policy, and civic engagement in creating spaces for urban agriculture in cities across the United States, and whether (and how) these spaces promote food justice and food security. Bringing together multidisciplinary literature on access to urban agriculture and the distribution of urban-produced foods in a thematic, systematic review, we point out gaps in the academic research that would benefit from further study. The review integrates academic literature generated from Web of Science searches with gray literature identified through Google Alerts. We find that while there is a strong focus on elucidating the multiple benefits of urban agriculture, there are few studies that robustly measure the impact of urban farms on improving food security in low-income communities. Much of the literature is theoretical, focused on the production potential of urban agriculture, while more work is needed to understand and overcome barriers to access and distribution among communities in need. We conclude with a set of recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who seek to create spaces in cities for food justice, equity, access, and sovereignty.


Urban Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 131-144
Author(s):  
Antonia D. Bousbaine ◽  
Christopher Bryant

2021 ◽  
pp. 105991
Author(s):  
Michael Gregorio Ortega-Sierra ◽  
María del Carmen Castillo-Montalvo ◽  
Jesús Alberto Manotas-Berdugo ◽  
Jonhatan Guillermo Jiménez-Chimá ◽  
Maria Paz Bolaño-Romero

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5294
Author(s):  
Boglárka Anna Éliás ◽  
Attila Jámbor

For decades, global food security has not been able to address the structural problem of economic access to food, resulting in a recent increase in the number of undernourished people from 2014. In addition, the FAO estimates that the number of undernourished people drastically increased by 82–132 million people in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To alleviate this dramatic growth in food insecurity, it is necessary to understand the nature of the increase in the number of malnourished during the pandemic. In order to address this, we gathered and synthesized food-security-related empirical results from the first year of the pandemic in a systematic review. The vast majority (78%) of the 51 included articles reported household food insecurity has increased (access, utilization) and/or disruption to food production (availability) was a result of households having persistently low income and not having an adequate amount of savings. These households could not afford the same quality and/or quantity of food, and a demand shortfall immediately appeared on the producer side. Producers thus had to deal not only with the direct consequences of government measures (disruption in labor flow, lack of demand of the catering sector, etc.) but also with a decline in consumption from low-income households. We conclude that the factor that most negatively affects food security during the COVID-19 pandemic is the same as the deepest structural problem of global food security: low income. Therefore, we argue that there is no need for new global food security objectives, but there is a need for an even stronger emphasis on poverty reduction and raising the wages of low-income households. This structural adjustment is the most fundamental step to recover from the COVID-19 food crises, and to avoid possible future food security crises.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 100068
Author(s):  
Hannah K. Weiss ◽  
Roxanna M. Garcia ◽  
Jesutofunmi A. Omiye ◽  
Dominique Vervoort ◽  
Robert Riestenberg ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 9-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Prasad Pant

Climate change is posing a threat on present and future food security in low income countries. But, the actual effect of the climate change on food security is not known. Using secondary data reported by the government, the paper examines the effects of climate change on food security in Nepal in the context of policies of commercialization of farm production. Statistical analysis is used to delineate the situation of food security in the country and regression analysis for exploring the effects of global warming on domestic production of major cereals. The results are discussed at global, national, household and individual levels empirically and qualitatively. The results suggest that a rise in minimum temperature decreases the productivity of rice increasing threat of food insecurity. The paper suggests some policy measures for improving food security situation in the country and open up some areas for further research. The Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:13, Jun.2012, Page 9-19 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/aej.v13i0.7582


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhad Salari ◽  
Vida Sepahi

Context: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been numerous higher education challenges. Medical universities have been urged to dispel students from educational and clinical settings and led them toward virtual education. This sudden transition has been accompanied by multiple challenges. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the challenges of virtual medical education in the COVID-19 pandemic. Study Selection: This systematic review was performed by reviewing the current literature on the research subject and the studies conducted in this regard during March 2019 to April 2021 by searching via five key search engines and databases, including Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Scopus, and ERIC. Results: In total, 23 studies were assessed, and different virtual education challenges in medical universities were classified into three categories of structural challenges, student-related challenges, and teacher-related challenges. In addition, strategies were proposed for overcoming the identified challenges. Conclusions: Since medical education was not properly pursued before the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary infrastructures are lacking in this area, designing and implementing such programs could bring about fundamental challenges in several countries (especially developing and low-income countries), thereby decreasing their success rate. On the other hand, the coronavirus crisis could be an opportunity to identify the weaknesses, shortcomings, and infrastructural deficiencies in e-learning and address these issues effectively.


Author(s):  
Abirami Kirubarajan ◽  
Shannon Leung ◽  
Xinglin Li ◽  
Matthew Yau ◽  
Mara Sobel

Background Though cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally, its incidence is nearly entirely preventable. Young people have been an international priority for screening. However, in both high-income and low-income countries, young people have not been screened appropriately according to country-specific guidelines and in many countries, screening rates for this age-group have even dropped. Objectives The aim of this systematic review was to systematically characterize the existing literature on barriers and facilitators for cervical cancer screening among young people globally. Search Strategy We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines of four databases: Medline-OVID, EMBASE, CINAHL, and ClinicalTrials.Gov. Selection Criteria We only examined original, peer-reviewed literature. Databases were examined from inception until the date of our literature searches (12/03/2020). Articles were excluded if they did not specifically discuss cervical cancer screening, were not specific to young people, or did not report outcomes or evaluation. Data Collection and Analysis All screening and extraction was completed in duplicate with two independent reviewers. Main Results Of the 2177 original database citations, we included 36 studies that met inclusion criteria. Our systematic review found that there are three large categories of barriers for young people: lack of knowledge/awareness, negative perceptions of the test, and practical barriers to testing. Facilitators included stronger relationships with healthcare providers, social norms, support from family, and self-efficacy. Conclusions Health systems worldwide should address the barriers and facilitators to increase cervical cancer screening rates in young people. Further research is required to understand this age group.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Ariel Abeldano Zuniga ◽  
Silvia Coca ◽  
Giuliana Abeldano ◽  
Ruth Ana Maria Gonzalez Villoria

Objective. The aim was to assess the clinical effectiveness of drugs used in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection. Method. We conducted a systematic review of randomized clinical trials assessing treatment with remdesivir, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, ritonavir, dexamethasone, and convalescent plasma, for hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The outcomes were mortality, clinical improvement, duration of ventilation, duration of oxygen support, duration of hospitalization), virological clearance, and severe adverse events. Results. A total of 48 studies were retrieved from the databases. Ten articles were finally included in the data extraction and qualitative synthesis of results. The meta-analysis suggests a benefit of dexamethasone versus standard care in the reduction of risk of mortality at day 28; and the clinical improvement at days 14 and 28 in patients treated with remdesivir. Conclusions. Dexamethasone would have a better result in hospitalized patients, especially in low-resources settings. Significance of results. The analysis of the main treatments proposed for hospitalized patients is of vital importance to reduce mortality in low-income countries; since the COVID-19 pandemic had an economic impact worldwide with the loss of jobs and economic decline in countries with scarce resources. Keywords: Drugs; Antivirals; Clinical improvement; Mortality; COVID-19; SARS-CoV2.


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