Mentoring Women's Farmer Groups in Utilizing Yard Land as an Effort for Food Security in the Pandemic Period

The objectives of this community service are: 1. assisting women farmer groups in the use of yard land, 2. educating women farmer groups in efforts to food security during the pandemic. This community service was carried out for 3 months, namely April, May, and June 2021 through the following methods: 1) lectures by the implementation team for the Women Farmer Group in Baran village, Cawas, Klaten who attended a total of 52 people regarding food security education in during the pandemic, 2) distribution of assistance for a number of vegetable seeds to be planted in a predetermined yard, 3) assistance in planting and using vegetables as a source of family nutrition. The result of this community service is that the women in Baran Village, Cawas, Klaten who are members of the Women Farmers Group have an independent business in the form of vegetable plants as a source of nutrition that can be used as a share of crop yields: from, by, for the Woman Farmer Group members.

Economic Feasibility of Solar Irrigation Pumps: A Study of Northern Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. With a total population of around 165 million, the country has constantly been facing food security challenges and other problems. Therefore, increasing food production is one of the feasible solutions to this challenge, and proper agricultural land use for food production bears critical importance. Adopting sustainable irrigation systems and viable technologies would be vital for ensuring efficient use of agricultural land in Bangladesh to safeguard the country's food security. Solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) can be a reliable option in this regard. However, Bangladesh has experienced a prolonged growth rate of SIP installation in the last decade. The countryhas set a target to install 10000 SIPs by the year 2027, albeit it is a tiny share of the 1.57 million conventional irrigation pumps operating in the country. This study aims to investigate the economic feasibility of the SIPs operating in the northern region of Bangladesh in terms of estimating financial feasibility and environmental benefits. The study is mainly based on primary data collected from the users of SIPs from two Upazilas of Dinajpur and Rangpur districts. A total of 14 SIPs, categorized into large, medium, and small pumps, are selected randomly from the available SIPs in the study areas. The financial analysis reveals that small SIPs are the most profitable option (20% IRR) for investment. Large SIPs are moderately profitable (10% IRR), and their profitability can be improved (10.50% IRR) by introducing additional uses of solar energy. However, medium SIPs are the worst (5% IRR) option for investment. In the study areas, large and medium SIPs are designed for the 'fees for service model', and small SIPs are designed for the 'fees for ownership model'. It is found that the 'fees for ownership model' is more profitable than the 'fees for service model'. Moreover, the net environmental benefit for all SIPs is found almost equal to the given subsidy for installing them. Also, the net environmental benefit per kilowatt peak (kWp) is highest for the small SIPs. This paper recommends that additional use (e.g., husking, grinding, supply excess electricity to grid, and so on) of solar energy can improve the profitability of investmenton SIPs. Further, the government should continue giving grants for installing SIPs and promote 'fees for ownership model' (small SIPs) for personal use. It would speed up the dissemination rate of SIPs and help increase the country's agricultural production and improve the environmental conditions.

A system dynamics approach to food security: The case of Turkey

Predicting a sustainable food safety policy for the near future is among Turkey's priority problems. In this context, this study aims to predict Turkey's sustainable food safety policies. For this reason, the system dynamics model, which is a dynamic cycle-based method with stock and flow diagrams, is used in this paper. This study supposed the six different scenarios for 2020 and 2050. Data were selected as population, productivity rate, arable land fertility rate, and annual food consumption (per capita). The purpose of creating these scenarios; To determine the most appropriate policy to ensure food safety in Turkey. In the first scenario, we assumed that the current situation continues. In the second scenario, the average productivity rate was increased by 1.5%. The third scenario assumes that annual per capita food consumption rises to 1.2 tonnes per year. In the fourth scenario, the total fertility rate is accelerated by 2%. In the fifth scenario, we assumed that the arable land loss rate decreased by 1/3. Finally, we assumed that the sixth scenario covers all the second, third, fourth, and fifth scenarios and that 2 points reduce food losses. In conclusion, the findings show that food security responds positively in scenarios 2 and 6. However, in other scenarios, food security is negatively affected. The findings show that the sixth scenario is the best-case scenario. To ensure food security, it is necessary to reduce arable land losses and food waste. Training farmers and control of the food supply chain will be beneficial for sustainable food security in Turkey. We recommend that policymakers consider these recommendations.