Stakeholders’ meeting on the regional initiative for the promotion of local foods from West Africa's traditional food systems, Abuja Nigeria, May 18th-20th 2010

Adequate nutrition for the West African population can rightly be perceived as a product of interventions requiring several essential inputs for its development and execution. Vital inputs from several sectors, public and private institutions are required in order to ensure the desired goals of adequate food security, nutrition and health of a population.The need for collaborative partnership is increasingly being recognized in West Africa where during the past four years, a strong regional collaborative, multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral partnership has developed involving the West African Health Organization (WAHO), the ECOWAS Commission on Agriculture, the regional network of small-scale food producers (Reseau des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricole de l’Afrique de l’Ouest – ROPPA), in collaboration with Bioversity International and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The overarching objective of this initiative is to ensure, through its activities, the effective promotion of use of local food resources from West Africa’s traditional food systems in households, and in strategies and interventions against food insecurity, micronutrient deficiencies and diet related chronic diseases

Demand for Genetic Resources and the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System

Although genetic resources have strong public-goods characteristics, public genebanks often have struggled for adequate funding. A review of economic literature on the value of plant genetic resources indicated that more information is needed about germplasm use. The data compiled in this paper examine patterns of germplasm use for one of the world\u27s largest national genebank networks, the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). Data on 10 major crops, gathered directly from within the NPGS and from end-users, revealed patterns of usage for germplasm during the period from 1995 to 1999. Data were collected describing the characteristics of NPGS users, the types of germplasm requested, the purpose of requests, and, when applicable, the specific traits sought. From these findings, we estimated the utility of distributed materials, their secondary use, and projected future demand for NPGS resources. To explore relationships between the usefulness of germplasm samples and accompanying data in a more systematic fashion, we estimated a linear regression. The regression model suggests that accompanying data make germplasm more useful. We conclude that demand for NPGS resources was substantial and came from broad range of users. Utilization rates were higher than suggested by past studies. Countries with developing economies made greater use of NPGS resources, relatively speaking, than did countries with high-income economies. Finally, demand for NPGS resources is likely to increase, especially among users in countries with developing economies

Yield response of seedless watermelon to different drip irrigation strategies under Mediterranean conditions

[EN] Water is an essential resource for food production, as agriculture consumes close to 70% of the total freshwater, and its shortage is becoming critical in arid and semiarid areas of the world. Therefore, it is important to use water more efficiently. The objectives of this project are to determine the productive response and the irrigation water use efficiency of seedless watermelon to three irrigation management strategies over two growing seasons. This was done by applying 100, 75 and 50% of the irrigation water requirements (IWR) the first year, in the second year added six additional treatments, of which three treatments were regulated deficit irrigation with 75% IWR during the vegetative growth, fruit development and fruit ripening stages, and the other three treatments were with 50% IWR during the same stages. The exposure of watermelon plants to severe deficit irrigation resulted in a reduction in dry biomass, total and marketable yield, average fruit weight, fruit number and harvest index, and without improvement of marketable fruit quality. The fruit ripening was the less sensitive stage to water deficits. Relative water content and cell membrane stability index decreased as the water deficit increased. Irrigation water use efficiency decreased to a lesser extend during the fruit ripening stage than when water restriction were applied during different growth stages. If water is readily available, irrigating with 100% of water requirements is recommended, but in the case of water scarcity, applying water shortage during fruit ripening stage would be advisable.Abdelkhalik, A.; Pascual-Seva, N.; Nájera, I.; Giner, A.; Baixauli Soria, C.; Pascual España, B. (2019). Yield response of seedless watermelon to different drip irrigation strategies under Mediterranean conditions. Agricultural Water Management. 212:99-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.08.0449911021

Association between wasting and food insecurity among children under five years: findings from Nepal demographic health survey 2016

Background Wasting is a consequence of food insecurity, inappropriate dietary practices, and inadequate caring and feeding practices. The present study assessed association between wasting and household food insecurity among under 5 years old children, along with other socio-demographic characteristics. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. The survey is cross-sectional in design with use of standardized tools. The sampling frame used is an updated version of the frame from the 2011 National Population and Housing Census. The participants were children under 5 years of age (n = 2414). Logistic regression was carried out to identify the odds of being wasted for children belonging to different levels of food insecure households using odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals. Results The prevalence of wasting increased with the level of food insecurity, from mild (9.4%) to moderate (10.8%) and to severe (11.3%). The highest proportions of wasted children were in Province 2 (14.3%), from rural areas (10.1%), born to mothers with no education (12.4%) and from a richer quintile (11.3%). Children belonging to severe food insecure households had 1.36 (95%CI 0.72–2.57) adjusted odds of being wasted and those belonging to mild food insecure and moderately food insecure households had 0.98 (95%CI 0.64-1.49) and 1.13 (95%CI 0.65–1.97) odds of being wasted respectively. Province 1 (AOR 2.06, 95%CI 1.01–4.19) and Province 2 (AOR 2.45, 95%CI 1.22–4.95) were significantly associated with wasting. Conclusion Considering the increment in childhood wasting as per level of food insecurity, an integrated intervention should be developed in Nepal that, 1. addresses improving knowledge and behavior of community people with respect to diet and nutrition; 2. reduce the problem of food insecurity through agricultural interventions

Cross-Sector Review of Drivers and Available 3Rs Approaches for Acute Systemic Toxicity Testing

Acute systemic toxicity studies are carried out in many sectors in which synthetic chemicals are manufactured or used and are among the most criticized of all toxicology tests on both scientific and ethical grounds. A review of the drivers for acute toxicity testing within the pharmaceutical industry led to a paradigm shift whereby in vivo acute toxicity data are no longer routinely required in advance of human clinical trials. Based on this experience, the following review was undertaken to identify (1) regulatory and scientific drivers for acute toxicity testing in other industrial sectors, (2) activities aimed at replacing, reducing, or refining the use of animals, and (3) recommendations for future work in this area

Enrichment of stirred yogurts with folic acid encapsulated in pH-responsive mesoporous silica particles: Bioaccessibility modulation and physico-chemical characterization

[EN] In this work, we have studied the ability of a mesoporous silica support loaded with folic acid and functionalized with amines (S1) to modulate the bioaccessibility of the vitamin after its incorporation in stirred yoghurts with different fat contents. Due to the novelty of using mesoporous silica supports in food matrixes, the influence of S1 addition on the physicochemical, rheological and lactic acid bacteria viability of these yoghurts during 21 days of refrigerated storage at 4 °C was also evaluated. The in vitro digestion procedure showed that S1 was capable of inhibiting the release of folic acid in acidic solution at pH 2 (stomach) and controllably release their contents in neutral pH (intestine), thereby modulating the bioaccessibility. Moreover, the physicochemical and microbiological assays revealed that enrichment generally does not alter the physicochemical properties (pH, colour, syneresis and rheology) of either type of yoghurt and does not cause any effect on lactic acid bacteria survival.Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Projects AGL2012-39597-C02-01, AGL2012-39597-C02-02 and MAT2012-38429-C04-01) and the Generalitat Valenciana (project PROMETEO/2009/016). E.P.E. and M.R.R. are grateful to the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion for their grants (AP2008-00620, AP2010-4369). Electron Microscopy Service of the UPV is also acknowledged.Pérez-Esteve, É.; Ruiz Rico, M.; Fuentes López, A.; Marcos Martínez, MD.; Sancenón Galarza, F.; Martínez-Máñez, R.; Barat Baviera, JM. (2016). Enrichment of stirred yogurts with folic acid encapsulated in pH-responsive mesoporous silica particles: Bioaccessibility modulation and physico-chemical characterization. Food Science and Technology. (72):351-360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2016.04.061S3513607