The impact of biotechnology and GMO cultivation on individual consumption of cereals and food security in Romania

The impacts of climate change on marine capture fisheries have been observed in several studies. It is likely to have a substantial effect on fishers’ income and food security. This study aims to estimate the impact of adaptation strategies on fishers’ income and their household’s food security. Data were collected from small-scale fishers’ households, which own a fishing boat smaller or equal to five gross tonnages (GT). The study sites were the two coastal regions of Malang and Probolinggo in East Java, Indonesia, due to the meager socioeconomic resources caused by climate change. A probit regression model was used to determine the factors influencing the fishers’ adaptation. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to evaluate the impact of the adaptation strategies on income and food security. Food security was measured by food consumption score (FCS). The findings indicated that participation in the fishers’ group affected adaptation strategies significantly, and so did the access to credit and climate information. Also, PSM showed that the adaptation strategies had a positive and significant impact on fishers’ income and food security. Those who applied the adaptation strategies had a higher income and FCS than those who did not. This finding implies that the fishery sector’s adaptation strategies can have significant expansion outcome and reduce exposure to risks posed by climate change. Therefore, the arrangement of more climate change adaptation strategies should be promoted by the government for small-scale fishers in Indonesia.

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High food insecurity in Latinx families and associated COVID-19 infection in the Greater Bay Area, California

BMC Nutrition ◽

10.1186/s40795-021-00419-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Milagro Escobar ◽

Andrea DeCastro Mendez ◽

Maria Romero Encinas ◽

Sofia Villagomez ◽

Janet M. Wojcicki

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

San Francisco ◽

Employment Status ◽

The United States ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Bay Area ◽

Household Food ◽

History Of ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Food insecurity impacts nearly one-in-four Latinx households in the United States and has been exacerbated by the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We examined the impact of COVID-19 on household and child food security in three preexisting, longitudinal, Latinx urban cohorts in the San Francisco Bay Area (N = 375 households, 1875 individuals). Households were initially recruited during pregnancy and postpartum at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) and UCSF Benioff prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this COVID-19 sub-study, participants responded to a 15-min telephonic interview. Participants answered 18 questions from the US Food Security Food Module (US HFSSM) and questions on types of food consumption, housing and employment status, and history of COVID-19 infection as per community or hospital-based testing. Food security and insecurity levels were compared with prior year metrics. Results We found low levels of household food security in Latinx families (by cohort: 29.2%; 34.2%; 60.0%) and child food security (56.9%, 54.1%, 78.0%) with differences between cohorts explained by self-reported levels of education and employment status. Food security levels were much lower than those reported previously in two cohorts where data had been recorded from prior years. Reported history of COVID-19 infection in households was 4.8% (95% Confidence Interval (CI); 1.5–14.3%); 7.2% (95%CI, 3.6–13.9%) and 3.5% (95%CI, 1.7–7.2%) by cohort and was associated with food insecurity in the two larger cohorts (p = 0.03; p = 0.01 respectively). Conclusions Latinx families in the Bay Area with children are experiencing a sharp rise in food insecurity levels during the COVID-19 epidemic. Food insecurity, similar to other indices of poverty, is associated with increased risk for COVID-19 infection. Comprehensive interventions are needed to address food insecurity in Latinx populations and further studies are needed to better assess independent associations between household food insecurity, poor nutritional health and risk of COVID-19 infection.

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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural production, livelihoods, and food security in India: baseline results of a phone survey

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-021-01164-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lindsay M. Jaacks ◽

Divya Veluguri ◽

Rajesh Serupally ◽

Aditi Roy ◽

Poornima Prabhakaran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

The Past ◽

Phone Survey ◽

Extra Food ◽

The Government ◽

Time Of Year ◽

Livestock Products ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on agricultural production, livelihoods, food security, and dietary diversity in India. Phone interview surveys were conducted by trained enumerators across 12 states and 200 districts in India from 3 to 15 May 2020. A total of 1437 farmers completed the survey (94% male; 28% 30–39 years old; 38% with secondary schooling). About one in ten farmers (11%) did not harvest in the past month with primary reasons cited being unfavorable weather (37%) and lockdown-related reasons (24%). A total of 63% of farmers harvested in the past month (primarily wheat and vegetables), but only 44% had sold their crop; 12% were still trying to sell their crop, and 39% had stored their crop, with more than half (55%) reporting lockdown-related issues as the reason for storing. Seventy-nine percent of households with wage-workers witnessed a decline in wages in the past month and 49% of households with incomes from livestock witnessed a decline. Landless farmers were about 10 times more likely to skip a meal as compared to large farmers (18% versus 2%), but a majority reported receiving extra food rations from the government. Nearly all farmers reported consuming staple grains daily in the past week (97%), 63% consumed dairy daily, 40% vegetables daily, 26% pulses daily, and 7% fruit daily. These values are much lower than reported previously for farmers in India around this time of year before COVID-19: 94–95% dairy daily, 57–58% pulses daily, 64–65% vegetables daily, and 42–43% fruit daily. In conclusion, we found that the COVID-19 lockdown in India has primarily impacted farmers’ ability to sell their crops and livestock products and decreased daily wages and dietary diversity.

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Dryland Food Security in Ethiopia: Current Status, Opportunities, and a Roadmap for the Future

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116503 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6503

Author(s):

Yu Peng ◽

Hubert Hirwa ◽

Qiuying Zhang ◽

Guoqin Wang ◽

Fadong Li

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Current Status ◽

Future Research ◽

Systematic Research ◽

Security Assessment ◽

Security Issue ◽

Sustainable Development Goal ◽

Zero Hunger ◽

The Impact

Given the impact of COVID-19 and the desert locust plague, the Ethiopian food security issue has once again received widespread attention. Its food crisis requires comprehensive and systematic research to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger. This review discusses the current situation and the causes of food security in Ethiopia. We focus on the challenges in the food security assessment field. The article lists seven typical causes of food insecurity and three roots of food security in Ethiopia. Long-term food security assessment and a comprehensive understanding and manageability for food security causes are considered as the main existing research challenges. Climate-resilient management, water management, and long-term ecosystem network monitoring and data mining are suggested as potential roadmap for future research.

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