Making world hunger legible : The politics of measuring global food insecurity

Indikatorar for mattryggleik og ernæring er blant dei mest sentrale måleinstrumenta for internasjonal utvikling. Forskingslitteraturen kring historiske, konseptuelle og politiske dimensjonar ved måling av svolt er likevel atterhalden. Denne doktorgradsavhandlinga freistar å fylle eit tomrom ved å undersøke korleis global statistikk på mattryggleik og ernæring er knytt saman med det politiske landskapet som omsluttar dei. Dette gjer den ved å studere to modellbaserte indikatorar som har blitt utvikla og publisert av Dei sameinte nasjonar (SN) og er integrerte i Bærekraftsmåla (SDGane). Indikatoren Prevalence of Underourishment (PoU) er SN-systemet og særleg Food and Agricultural Organizations’s (FAO) sin flaggskipmetode for å måle global svolt. Avhandlinga skildrar og analyserer utviklinga av den statistiske modellen som PoU baserer seg på sidan 1946 og fram til i dag. Ho syner især korleis ei rekke tekniske endringar har støtta opp om omskiftelege narrativ kring politikk og styring i kampen mot svolt. Eit nøkkeldøme er endringane som vart utførte etterkvart som Milleniumsmåla (MDG) gjekk mot slutten og FN skulle vurdere internasjonal framgong. Trendliner som frå før av synte krise og konsistents auke i undernæring sidan starten av nittitalet vart erstatta av nye estimat som styrka eit motsett narrativ om global framgong i MDG-perioden. Ny tilgong til spørjeundersøkingar frå Kina i 2020 tillot også FAO å gi indirekte verifikasjon av kinesiske styresmakter sine fortelingar om sosial framgong under autoritært styre. Ei rekke meir og mindre vilkårlege tekniske revisjonar har også vore utførte i krisetider for å få PoU sine estimat til å syne auke i svolt under pandemi, økonomisk resesjon og dramatisk matvareinflasjon. Desse revisjonane syner behovet for større gjennomsiktigheit og tilrettelegging for reproduksjon av estimat i dataen og modelleringen til PoU. Den andre indikatoren som har blitt valt for å måle bærekraftsmål SDG 2.1 er den erfaringsbaserte mattryggleiksindikatoren Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). Det var mykje usemje kring kva indikatorar som burde bli valt for å måle SDG 2.1, men prosessen var likevel prega av stiavhengigheit: Kompleksiteten i å kvantifisere mattryggleik favoriserte datainfrastrukturar og ekspertisemiljø som allereie vart etablerte, og låste FAO sine etablerte indikatorar i posisjon. Nokre nøkkelfaktorar i denne stiavhenigheiten er avgrensa ressursar og tilgjenge av data, ettersom FAO sine indikatorar var blant få alternativ med globale datainfrastrukturar. Indikatorane for SDG 2.1 definerer mattryggleik ut frå tilbod og etterspurnad etter kaloriar samt individuell erfaring, og ekskluderer med difor demokratisk medverknad, bærekraft og andre dimensjonar og drivararar av mattryggleik. SDGane er bygde på eit skilje mellom politiske og tekniske prosessar, lekamleggjort av ei politisk forhandling om måla, og ein teknisk prosess for å lage eit målstyringsrammeverk med indikatorar. Dette narrativet om klare skilje mellom teknikk og politikk vert reprodusert av statistikarane frå nasjonale statistikkbyrå som skal lage indikatorrammeverket. Ei bivirkning av denne inndelinga er at legitim usemje om indikatorar vert avfeid fordi den vert rekna som politisk. I denne avhandlinga argumenterer eg for at det er mykje å tene på å inkludere meir variert ekspertise i prosessar for å lage indikatorrammeverk for bærekraftig utvikling. Dette gjeld særleg ekspertise frå eit breitt definert sivilsamfunn. Ei slik diversifisering kan gjere ulike syn på verdiar, vitskap og politikk meir synlege for offentlegheita. Den kan også bidra til å fange meir av kompleksiteten i bærekraftig utvikling gjennom vurdering av eit breiare utval med indikatorar og metodologiar. Det er viktig å halde fram med å ta føre seg dei kunnskapspolitiske aspekta ved indikatorar på mattryggleik og ernæring for å opne opp agendaen for bærekraftig utvikling av matsystem. Indikatorar som skal måle oppnåing bør ikkje bli valte på grunnlag av dominansen til enkelte organisasjonar, og deira datainfrastrukturar, men snarare reflektere demokratiske prioriteringar. Å kaste lys over fleire aspekt ved det multidimensjonale konseptet mattryggleik gjennom statistikk er viktig for å få til eit slikt skifte. Vi behøver difor ein større variasjon av målemetodar og datainfrastruktur.Indicators of food security and nutrition are among the most central indicators informing the international development agenda. The literature on the historical, conceptual, and political aspects of measuring hunger is however scarce. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by investigating how global statistics on food security and nutrition are embedded in the political landscape that surrounds them. It does so by means of homing in on two model-based indicators developed and published by the United Nations (UN) and integrated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The indicator Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) is the UN and Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) traditional flagship indicator on world hunger. The thesis chronicles and analyzes the development of its statistical model since 1946 as well as the political and historical context of its revisions. It shows that technical revisions that have led to substantial changes in the estimates of the indicator have underpinned shifting policy narratives about trends in the fight against hunger. A key example is the revisions undertaken as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were coming to an end and it was time to judge progress. Trend lines showing crises and a decades-long rise in undernutrition were entirely discarded by technical adjustments that bolstered a narrative of global progress in the era of the MDGs. Access to new survey data from China in 2020 enabled FAO to provide verification of the Chinese government’s narratives of social progress. Times of crisis have furthermore necessitated ad hoc technical revisions to show that more people go hungry during periods of drastic food price inflation, global pandemics, or economic recessions. These revisions highlight the need for greater transparency and facilitation of reproduction of results in the data and modelling basis for the PoU. The second indicator chosen to monitor SDG Target 2.1 is the household level experienced-based food security indicator Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). While there was significant contestation around which indicators should be selected for the SDGs, the process was characterized by pathway lock-in: The complexity of food security quantification favored already established data infrastructures and milieus of expertise, locking in the position of FAO and its established food security indicators. Key enforcers of this path dependency were resource constraints and limited availability data, as the chosen FAO indicators were among few options with well-established global data infrastructures. The resulting SDG 2.1 indicators frame food insecurity in terms of caloric supply and demand and individual experience, arguably excluding dimensions of democratic agency, sustainability and other dimensions and drivers of food insecurity. The SDG process furthermore purports to separate politics and technical matters, embodied by the political negotiation of goals and targets, and the technical creation of an indicator framework. The narrative of separation between the technical and the political process built into the SDGs is reproduced by the statisticians tasked with crafting its indicator framework. A side effect of the attempt to clinically divide the SDGs into parallel political and technical processes is that contestation about indicators that are highly political in nature is disregarded because it is considered inappropriate in a technical body. In this thesis, I argue that development processes would benefit from more diverse indicator bodies than the current Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG indicators (IAEG-SDGs) through including relevant expertise from a broadly defined civil society. Such diversification could explicate already existing political and value contestations, rendering them more transparent and visible to the public. It may also contribute to capturing more of the complexities of sustainable development in future monitoring frameworks through consideration of a broader selection of indicators and methodologies. I also argue that considering the knowledge politics of indicators is important to broaden and open agendas for sustainable transformations of food systems. Indicators that monitor their success should not be chosen due to the dominance of certain incumbents and their data infrastructures but rather reflect democratically set priorities. Highlighting additional aspects of the multidimensional concept of food security through statistics is crucial in this endeavor. We therefore need a greater diversity of measurement approaches and data infrastructures.Doktorgradsavhandlin

Hunger and sustainability

This paper examines the problem of world hunger and discusses potential solutions to it. It reflects on the debate about whether transgenic foods should be used, which is more of a social controversy than a scientific one. Sustainability is considered a key driver for innovation that can be used as a basis for assessing the problem of hunger in the world, and the question is inseparable from its ethical aspects. Given that economic growth does not directly equate to human development, this paper states that it is necessary to address the problem of poverty and hunger from the capacity development framework according to human rights. Poverty causes disability by limiting human development; it creates the conditions for the violation of human rights; therefore, an institutional framework and social initiatives aimed at protecting the poor should be established. Finally, the main lines of research in the field of biotechnology are outlined, such as the development of genetically modified organisms and the need to continue defining methods, based on the development of capabilities. Such capabilities should be embedded in educational programmes, to establish guidelines that are incorporated into curricula as transversal orientations to be able to make sustainability a social reality

Incidence of fungi and mycotoxins in dairy cattle feeds from some selected smallholder farms in South Africa

Abstract: Dairy feed is an indispensable part of the dairy industry, essential for high-quality and nutritious milk. These feeds are vulnerable to contamination by a diverse range of mycoflora, that produce several mycotoxins, causing severe feed quality loss and posing a significant challenge to animal and human health. The aim of this present study was to determine the safety levels of 70 dairy cattle feeds and feed ingredients sourced from some selected smallholder dairy farms in the Free State and Limpopo provinces of South Africa during two seasons (summer and winter) from2018 to 2019 regarding fungal contamination and to evaluate the effects of seasonal and geographical variation on the mycotoxigenicity of the isolated fungal species. The feeds were screened for fungal contamination following both macro- and microscopic methods, and their identities were confirmed by molecular means. Additionally, mycotoxins produced by the isolated mycotoxigenic fungal species were analysed using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC- MS/MS). In this study, a total of 237 fungal isolates from 14 genera were isolated from the dairy feeds and feed ingredients. Also, mean fungal loads recorded in the feeds ranged from 9.3 x 103 to 3.6 x 105 CFU/g in the Free State and Limpopo provinces, respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that none of the single factors (season or province) had a significant effect on the mycotoxins production capacity of the isolated fungal species. However, levels of AFB1 (0.22 to 10445.8 μg/kg) produced during summer was higher than in winter (0.69 to 190.22 μg/kg). The same trend was observed for AFB2 in the summer (0.11 to 3.44 μg/kg) and winter (0.21 to 2.82 μg/kg). Furthermore, maximum and minimum zearalenone (ZEN) concentrations (97.18 and 5.20 μg/kg) were observed in the Limpopo summer and Free State winter samples, respectively. Lastly, the mycotoxogenic fungal species failed to produce other mycotoxins tested for. Therefore, since milk is majorly consumed in different forms, the high prevalence of mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins recorded in this present work is a matter of concern to the health of the dairy cattle and consumers of dairy milk and milk by-products in South Africa. Keywords: Dairy feed, milk, fungal loads, mycotoxins, LC-MS/MS.M.Sc. (Biotechnology

The geospatial evaluation for planning photovoltaic power plants in Serbia

Основни циљ докторске дисертације је да се утврди методологија за процену повољности простора за изградњу фотонапонских електрана на земљи, на примеру две јединице локалне самоуправе у Србији: Граду Врању и општини Кладово. Предложен модел заснива се на примени географског информационог система и методе вишекритеријумске анализе. За вредновање простора коришћене су три групе критеријума (климатске карактеристике, животна средина и локација) и њима припадајућих 10 фактора (ирадијација, температура ваздуха, нагиб и, експозиција терена, педолошки састав, удаљеност од површинских вода, близина путева, електроенергетске инфраструктуре и места потрошње). Уз помоћ критеријума за елиминацију из поступка вредновања изузети су терени са нагибом преко 32°, заштићена природна и културна добра, изграђене површине, површинске воде, путеви, железница, и електроенергетска инфарструктура са заштитним појасом, као и остале нетравнате површине. За потребе истраживања направљен је модел просторне расподеле ирадијације. На основу индекса просторне повољности одабране су експерименталне парцеле за које је извршена процена техничког потенцијала за фотонапонску конверзију. Резултати спроведеног вредновања представљени су у виду карата на којима су приказане класе повољности простора за изградњу фотонапонских електрана. Други део дисертације представља анкетно истраживање, које има за циљ да утврди информисаност стручњака и шире јавности у вези коришћења обновљивих извора енергије, са посебним нагласком на фотонапонске системе. Анализом досадашњих активности у Србији на пољу коришћења ових система, као и на основу примера добре праксе у Кини, Немачкој и Словенији, закључено је да би доношење различитих развојних програма и финансијских механизама, који су усмерени на конкретне локације, омогућило боље перформансе фотонапонских електрана уз минималне трошкове и утицај на животну средину.The main goal of the doctoral dissertation is to determine a methodology for the assessment of spatial suitability for the development of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants, by the example of two local self-government units in Serbia: the City of Vranje and the municipality of Kladovo. The proposed model is based on the application of the geographical information system and the multi-criteria analysis method. Three groups of criteria (climatic characteristics, environment, and location) and 10 related factors (irradiation, air temperature, terrain slope and aspect, pedological composition, distance from surface waters, and proximity to roads, electricity infrastructure and places of consumption) were used to evaluate the spatial suitability. With the help of the criteria for elimination, the terrain with a slope exceeding 32°, protected natural and cultural assets, built-up areas, surface water, road, railway and electricity infrastructure with a protective belt, as well as other non-grassed areas were excluded from the evaluation procedure. For the purposes of the conducted research, a model of the spatial distribution of irradiation was developed. On the basis of the spatial suitability index, experimental plots were selected to estimate technical potential for photovoltaic conversion. The results of the evaluation are presented in the form of maps that shows the spatial suitability classes for the construction of photovoltaic power plants. The second part of the doctoral dissertation is survey research aimed at establishing the awareness of experts and the public regarding the use of renewable energy sources, with particular emphasis on photovoltaic systems. Based on the analysis of recent activities in Serbia in the field of using these systems, as well as on good practices in China, Germany and Slovenia concluded that adopting different development programs and site-specific financial mechanisms would enable better performance photovoltaic power plants with minimal cost and environmental impact

The geospatial evaluation for planning photovoltaic power plants in Serbia

Основни циљ докторске дисертације је да се утврди методологија за процену повољностипростора за изградњу фотонапонских електрана на земљи, на примеру две јединице локалнесамоуправе у Србији: Граду Врању и општини Кладово. Предложен модел заснива се напримени географског информационог система и методе вишекритеријумске анализе. Завредновање простора коришћене су три групе критеријума (климатске карактеристике,животна средина и локација) и њима припадајућих 10 фактора (ирадијација, температураваздуха, нагиб и, експозиција терена, педолошки састав, удаљеност од површинских вода,близина путева, електроенергетске инфраструктуре и места потрошње). Уз помоћкритеријума за елиминацију из поступка вредновања изузети су терени са нагибом преко 32°,заштићена природна и културна добра, изграђене површине, површинске воде, путеви,железница, и електроенергетска инфарструктура са заштитним појасом, као и осталенетравнате површине. За потребе истраживања направљен је модел просторне расподелеирадијације. На основу индекса просторне повољности одабране су експерименталнепарцеле за које је извршена процена техничког потенцијала за фотонапонску конверзију.Резултати спроведеног вредновања представљени су у виду карата на којима су приказанекласе повољности простора за изградњу фотонапонских електрана. Други део дисертацијепредставља анкетно истраживање, које има за циљ да утврди информисаност стручњака ишире јавности у вези коришћења обновљивих извора енергије, са посебним нагласком нафотонапонске системе. Анализом досадашњих активности у Србији на пољу коришћењаових система, као и на основу примера добре праксе у Кини, Немачкој и Словенији,закључено је да би доношење различитих развојних програма и финансијских механизама,који су усмерени на конкретне локације, омогућило боље перформансе фотонапонскихелектрана уз минималне трошкове и утицај на животну средину.The main goal of the doctoral dissertation is to determine a methodology for the assessment ofspatial suitability for the development of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants, by theexample of two local self-government units in Serbia: the City of Vranje and the municipality ofKladovo. The proposed model is based on the application of the geographical information systemand the multi-criteria analysis method. Three groups of criteria (climatic characteristics,environment, and location) and 10 related factors (irradiation, air temperature, terrain slope andaspect, pedological composition, distance from surface waters, and proximity to roads, electricityinfrastructure and places of consumption) were used to evaluate the spatial suitability. With the helpof the criteria for elimination, the terrain with a slope exceeding 32°, protected natural and culturalassets, built-up areas, surface water, road, railway and electricity infrastructure with a protectivebelt, as well as other non-grassed areas were excluded from the evaluation procedure. For thepurposes of the conducted research, a model of the spatial distribution of irradiation was developed.On the basis of the spatial suitability index, experimental plots were selected to estimate technicalpotential for photovoltaic conversion. The results of the evaluation are presented in the form ofmaps that shows the spatial suitability classes for the construction of photovoltaic power plants. Thesecond part of the doctoral dissertation is survey research aimed at establishing the awareness ofexperts and the public regarding the use of renewable energy sources, with particular emphasis onphotovoltaic systems. Based on the analysis of recent activities in Serbia in the field of using thesesystems, as well as on good practices in China, Germany and Slovenia concluded that adoptingdifferent development programs and site-specific financial mechanisms would enable betterperformance photovoltaic power plants with minimal cost and environmental impact