COMMODITY AID AND COUNTERPART FUNDS IN SUB?SAHARAN AFRICA: SOME MACROECONOMIC ASPECTS

Summary Commodity (especially food) aid, counterpart funds from recipient sale of external aid (commodities or import support forex) and the macroeconomics of structural adjustment in sub?Sanaran Africa have become an academically and operationally prominent interlocking cluster of issues. Standard present analysis is both incomplete (especially on multiplier and production linkage impact) and too general (on sectoral and commodity specificities). As a result, CA/CF analysis and practice is rarely integrated into macro/sectoral strategy and policy; and procedures are discussed without adequate attention to their impact on national analytical and accountability capacity. These are not inherent limitations of CA/CF and can be addressed by acting within a clearer conceptual framework, elements toward which are set out. Résumé L'aide en matières premières et les fonds de contrepartie en Afrique sous?saharienne: une discussion des aspects macro?économiques Toute une série de questions: l'aide en matières premières (surtout alimentaires), les fonds de contrepartie dérivés des ventes de l'aide extérieure (par ex. les matières premières, le soutien à l'importation) par le donataire et les aspects macroéconomiques de l'ajustement structurel en afrique sous?saharienne seront désormais imbriquées en raison de leur proéminence tant au niveau intellectuel qu'au niveau opérationnel. Actuellement, l'explication conventionnelle est à la fois incomplète (surtour au niveau de l'impact sur la production et de l'impact multiplicateur) et trop généralisée (relativement aux aspects spécifiquement ‘secteur’ et ‘matières premières’). En conséquence, l'analyse et la pratique relatives à l'aide en matières premières et aux fonds de contrepartie ne sont que rarement intégrées dans les stratégies et les politiques macro/secteur. Qui plus est, les procédures sont souvent discutées sans réfléchir à leur impact sur les capacités d'analyse et de comptabilité au niveau national. Il ne s'agit aucunement de limitations intrinsèques de l'aide en matières premières ou des fonds de contrepartie, ainsi peut?on s'y adresser en agissant au sein de paramètres conceptuels mieux définis: tels que ceux que mentionne l'article. Resumen La asistencia en especie y los fondos de contrapartida en Africa sub?Sahariana; algunos aspectos macroeconómicos La asistencia en especie (especialmente alimentario), los fondos de contrapartida provenientes de la venta de asistencia externa, (productos o apoyo a las importaciones) y la macroeconomía del ajuste estructural en Africa sub?Sahariana, se han transformado en un conjunto de cuestiones entrelazadas operacional y académicamente. El análisis corriente actual es al mismo tiempo incompleto (especialmente en lo que se refiere al impacto de la conexión productiva), y demasiado general (en especificaciones sectorales y de producción). Como resultado, el análisis y la práctica de estos dos aspectos raramente son integrados en las políticas y estrategias macro/sectorales; y se discuten procedimientos sin atención adecuada a su impacto en la capacidad de responsabilidad analítica nacional. Estas no son limitaciones inherentes a las dos cuestiones, y pueden ser encaradas actuando dentro de una estructura conceptual más clara, para la cual se exponen algunos elementos en el presente artículo

Anomaly or Augury? Global Food Prices Since 2007

This article reviews the dynamics of global food prices since the food crisis of2007–08, the extent to which international prices have influenced national prices and poverty and wellbeing outcomes, and considers whether this exceptional period represents an anomaly or likely signals future episodes of food price volatility. It finds that although some factors that contributed to recent events have eased considerably, some significant drivers remain structural threats to future food security. There is little reason to be confident that recent reductions in food prices and volatilities augur well for the food security or wellbeing of those living on low and precarious incomes in the future

Genetic load and transgenic mitigating genes in transgenic Brassica rapa (field mustard) × Brassica napus (oilseed rape) hybrid populations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One theoretical explanation for the relatively poor performance of <it>Brassica rapa </it>(weed) × <it>Brassica napus </it>(crop) transgenic hybrids suggests that hybridization imparts a negative genetic load. Consequently, in hybrids genetic load could overshadow any benefits of fitness enhancing transgenes and become the limiting factor in transgenic hybrid persistence. Two types of genetic load were analyzed in this study: random/linkage-derived genetic load, and directly incorporated genetic load using a transgenic mitigation (TM) strategy. In order to measure the effects of random genetic load, hybrid productivity (seed yield and biomass) was correlated with crop- and weed-specific AFLP genomic markers. This portion of the study was designed to answer whether or not weed × transgenic crop hybrids possessing more crop genes were less competitive than hybrids containing fewer crop genes. The effects of directly incorporated genetic load (TM) were analyzed through transgene persistence data. TM strategies are proposed to decrease transgene persistence if gene flow and subsequent transgene introgression to a wild host were to occur.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the absence of interspecific competition, transgenic weed × crop hybrids benefited from having more crop-specific alleles. There was a positive correlation between performance and number of <it>B. napus </it>crop-specific AFLP markers [seed yield vs. marker number (r = 0.54, P = 0.0003) and vegetative dry biomass vs. marker number (r = 0.44, P = 0.005)]. However under interspecific competition with wheat or more weed-like conditions (i.e. representing a situation where hybrid plants emerge as volunteer weeds in subsequent cropping systems), there was a positive correlation between the number of <it>B. rapa </it>weed-specific AFLP markers and seed yield (r = 0.70, P = 0.0001), although no such correlation was detected for vegetative biomass. When genetic load was directly incorporated into the hybrid genome, by inserting a fitness-mitigating dwarfing gene that that is beneficial for crops but deleterious for weeds (a transgene mitigation measure), there was a dramatic decrease in the number of transgenic hybrid progeny persisting in the population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The effects of genetic load of crop and in some situations, weed alleles might be beneficial under certain environmental conditions. However, when genetic load was directly incorporated into transgenic events, e.g., using a TM construct, the number of transgenic hybrids and persistence in weedy genomic backgrounds was significantly decreased.</p

Food Consumption and its Impact on Cardiovascular Disease: Importance of Solutions Focused on the Globalized Food System A Report From the Workshop Convened by the World Heart Federation

Major scholars in the field, based on a 3-day consensus, created an in-depth review of current knowledge on the role of diet in CVD, the changing global food system and global dietary patterns, and potential policy solutions. Evidence from different countries, age/race/ethnicity/socioeconomic groups suggest the health effects studies of foods, macronutrients, and dietary patterns on CVD appear to be far more consistent though regional knowledge gaps are highlighted. There are large gaps in knowledge about the association of macronutrients to CVD in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), particularly linked with dietary patterns are reviewed. Our understanding of foods and macronutrients in relationship to CVD is broadly clear; however major gaps exist both in dietary pattern research and ways to change diets and food systems. Based on the current evidence, the traditional Mediterranean-type diet, including plant foods/emphasizing plant protein sources, provides a well-tested healthy dietary pattern to reduce CV

Addressing constraints in promoting wild edible plants’ utilization in household nutrition: case of the Congo Basin forest area

It is worth raising the question, why are wild edible plants (WEPs) which are rich in diverse nutrients and widely abundant underutilized despite the increasing rate of undernourishment in poor regions? One reason is that their culinary uses are not quantified and standardized in nutrition surveys, and therefore, they are not properly included in household diet intensification and diversification across regions and cultures. Active steps are needed to bridge this gap. This paper outlines the constraints to including WEPs in nutritional surveys as the lack of standard ways of food identification of diverse WEPs, lack of specific food categorization and therefore difficult dissemination across regions and cultures. As a way forward, a functional categorization of 11 subgroups for WEPs is introduced and discussed. In labeling these sub-food groups, the paper advocates that more WEPs food items and culinary uses should be enlisted during household nutrition surveys. Food researchers could then capitalize these enlisted species and disseminate them to promote diverse food use of WEPs in other regions where they exist but are not utilized as food