The Impact of Technological Change in Agriculture on Production, Resource Use and the Environment: Towards an Approach for Ex Ante Assessment

The purpose of this working paper is to provide some additional insights on the process of transforming agricultural R and D resources into food and other agricultural products and the related resource and environmental issues. Emphasis will be placed on providing guidelines and information expected to be useful for the further planning and execution of the IIASA research project on "Limits and Consequences of Food production Technologies"

El impacto de un aumento en la oferta de alimentación sobre la nutrición humana: implicaciones para el establecimiento de productos prioritarios en la investigación y política agrícola.

Se muestra un enfoque del análisis económico que puede ayudar a establecer los bienes prioritarios para efectos de la investigación agrícola y las políticas gubernamentales, con el objeto de mejorar la nutrición humana. Este artículo complementa la metodología de Ramalho y Schuc, pues proporciona un modo de estimar la distribución de incrementos en la oferta entre grupos de consumidores urbanos y los beneficios nutricionales resultantes. Se desarrolla un modelo para estimar el impacto nutricional de la expansión en la oferta de cualquier alimento normalmente disponible para el consumidor, y con base a este modelo se realiza un análisis empírico con información muestral de la ciudad de Cali, Colombia. Además, de presentarse el modelo se describen brevemente los requerimientos de información y las características de la muestra, se resumen los resultados empíricos y se analizan la utilidad y limitaciones del modelo para el establecimiento de prioridades en la investigación agrícola y en las políticas gubernamentales orientadas hacia la nutrición. El modelo está basado en la teoría neoclásica de la demanda y se presenta en 2 partes: la primera se refiere, a la estimación de una matriz de elasticidades precio de la demanda para cada uno de varios estratos de ingreso y para el mercado como un todo, la segunda se refiere a la distribución de un incremento hipotético de la oferta de un bien cualquiera entre dichos estratos de ingreso, a los ajustes resultantes en el consumo de los otros bienes y al impacto en la nutrición calórica y protéica

Determinants of intra-household food allocation between adults in South Asia - a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition interventions, often delivered at the household level, could increase their efficiency by channelling resources towards pregnant or lactating women, instead of leaving resources to be disproportionately allocated to traditionally favoured men. However, understanding of how to design targeted nutrition programs is limited by a lack of understanding of the factors affecting the intra-household allocation of food. METHODS: We systematically reviewed literature on the factors affecting the allocation of food to adults in South Asian households (in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and developed a framework of food allocation determinants. Two reviewers independently searched and filtered results from PubMed, Web of Knowledge and Scopus databases by using pre-defined search terms and hand-searching the references from selected papers. Determinants were extracted, categorised into a framework, and narratively described. We used adapted Downs and Black and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists to assess the quality of evidence. RESULTS: Out of 6928 retrieved studies we found 60 relevant results. Recent, high quality evidence was limited and mainly from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. There were no results from Iran, Afghanistan, Maldives, or Bhutan. At the intra-household level, food allocation was determined by relative differences in household members' income, bargaining power, food behaviours, social status, tastes and preferences, and interpersonal relationships. Household-level determinants included wealth, food security, occupation, land ownership, household size, religion / ethnicity / caste, education, and nutrition knowledge. In general, the highest inequity occurred in households experiencing severe or unexpected food insecurity, and also in better-off, high caste households, whereas poorer, low caste but not severely food insecure households were more equitable. Food allocation also varied regionally and seasonally. CONCLUSION: Program benefits may be differentially distributed within households of different socioeconomic status, and targeting of nutrition programs might be improved by influencing determinants that are amenable to change, such as food security, women's employment, or nutrition knowledge. Longitudinal studies in different settings could unravel causal effects. Conclusions are not generalizable to the whole South Asian region, and research is needed in many countries

Feeding 9 billion by 2050 – Putting fish back on the menu

Fish provides more than 4.5 billion people with at least 15 % of their average per capita intake of animal protein. Fish's unique nutritional properties make it also essential to the health of billions of consumers in both developed and developing countries. Fish is one of the most efficient converters of feed into high quality food and its carbon footprint is lower compared to other animal production systems. Through fish-related activities (fisheries and aquaculture but also processing and trading), fish contribute substantially to the income and therefore to the indirect food security of more than 10 % of the world population, essentially in developing and emergent countries. Yet, limited attention has been given so far to fish as a key element in food security and nutrition strategies at national level and in wider development discussions and interventions. As a result, the tremendous potential for improving food security and nutrition embodied in the strengthening of the fishery and aquaculture sectors is missed. The purpose of this paper is to make a case for a closer integration of fish into the overall debate and future policy about food security and nutrition. For this, we review the evidence from the contemporary and emerging debates and controversies around fisheries and aquaculture and we discuss them in the light of the issues debated in the wider agriculture/farming literature. The overarching question that underlies this paper is: how and to what extent will fish be able to contribute to feeding 9 billion people in 2050 and beyond

Relative Undernourishment and Food Insecurity Associations with Plasmodium falciparum Among Batwa Pygmies in Uganda: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Survey

Although malnutrition and malaria co-occur among individuals and populations globally, effects of nutritional status on risk for parasitemia and clinical illness remain poorly understood. We investigated associations between Plasmodium falciparum infection, nutrition, and food security in a cross-sectional survey of 365 Batwa pygmies in Kanungu District, Uganda in January of 2013. We identified 4.1% parasite prevalence among individuals over 5 years old. Severe food insecurity was associated with increased risk for positive rapid immunochromatographic test outcome (adjusted relative risk [ARR] = 13.09; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 2.23–76.79). High age/sex-adjusted mid-upper arm circumference was associated with decreased risk for positive test among individuals who were not severely food-insecure (ARR = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.19–0.69). Within Batwa pygmy communities, where malnutrition and food insecurity are common, individuals who are particularly undernourished or severely food-insecure may have elevated risk for P. falciparum parasitemia. This finding may motivate integrated control of malaria and malnutrition in low-transmission settings

Genetic and Physiological Analysis of Iron Biofortification in Maize Kernels

BACKGROUND: Maize is a major cereal crop widely consumed in developing countries, which have a high prevalence of iron (Fe) deficiency anemia. The major cause of Fe deficiency in these countries is inadequate intake of bioavailable Fe, where poverty is a major factor. Therefore, biofortification of maize by increasing Fe concentration and or bioavailability has great potential to alleviate this deficiency. Maize is also a model system for genomic research and thus allows the opportunity for gene discovery. Here we describe an integrated genetic and physiological analysis of Fe nutrition in maize kernels, to identify loci that influence grain Fe concentration and bioavailability. METHODOLOGY: Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was used to dissect grain Fe concentration (FeGC) and Fe bioavailability (FeGB) from the Intermated B73 × Mo17 (IBM) recombinant inbred (RI) population. FeGC was determined by ion coupled argon plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP). FeGB was determined by an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell line bioassay. CONCLUSIONS: Three modest QTL for FeGC were detected, in spite of high heritability. This suggests that FeGC is controlled by many small QTL, which may make it a challenging trait to improve by marker assisted breeding. Ten QTL for FeGB were identified and explained 54% of the variance observed in samples from a single year/location. Three of the largest FeGB QTL were isolated in sister derived lines and their effect was observed in three subsequent seasons in New York. Single season evaluations were also made at six other sites around North America, suggesting the enhancement of FeGB was not specific to our farm site. FeGB was not correlated with FeGC or phytic acid, suggesting that novel regulators of Fe nutrition are responsible for the differences observed. Our results indicate that iron biofortification of maize grain is achievable using specialized phenotyping tools and conventional plant breeding techniques

The food security continuum: a novel tool for understanding food insecurity as a range of experiences

The current lack of consensus on the relationships between hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity frustrates efforts to design good policies and programs to deal with the many problems. Disputes over terminology distract from the need for urgent action. This paper argues that our understanding of food insecurity is incremental: it develops as new research in a variety of food-deprived and nutrition-deprived contexts reveals causes, experiences and consequences and how they are interlinked. If we are to improve beneficiary selection, program targeting and intervention impact assessment, it is vital to coordinate our new understandings. The paper brings convergence to our understanding of food insecurity by introducing a new framework that visualizes levels of food insecurity, and the concomitant consequences and responses, as a continuum. Some potential benefits of using the continuum as a diagnostic tool are increased focus on less extreme but nevertheless urgent manifestations of food insecurity, more accurate targeting of interventions and better follow- up, and improved accountability for donor spending.http://link.springer.com/journal/12571hb201

Management Effectiveness of the World's Marine Fisheries

A global analysis shows that fishery management worldwide is lagging far behind international standards, and that the conversion of scientific advice into policy, through a participatory and transparent process, holds promise for achieving sustainable fisheries