Identifying Social and Cultural Barriers to Food Security in Nicaragua

IMPACT. 1: This effort will involve local researchers and community members in a much-needed food security and health study in León, Nicaragua, and in outreach efforts that provide evidencebased feedback to the local communities about these health issues. -- 2. The immediate outcome of the project will be the identification of barriers to food security and child health in poor communities in León, Nicaragua. In the long-term, this project will yield invaluable future opportunities for Ohio State students and faculty to engage with local communities in research, learning and service in an international setting, where food insecurity and child malnutrition present serious threats to individuals' well-being.OSU PARTNERS: Department of Anthropology; Department of Sociology; College of Arts and SciencesCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: Center for Demographic; and Health Research (León, Nicaragua)PRIMARY CONTACT: Barbara Piperata ([email protected]); Kammi Schmeer ([email protected])With approximately 1 billion people world-wide suffering from lack of adequate access to food, food insecurity and maternal-child malnutrition remain critical health issues in poor communities around the world. This project aims to address this pressing need in poor communities in Nicaragua (the 2nd poorest country in the Western hemisphere) through an "outreach through research" approach

Revolución verde y transición ecológica: la respuesta de Italia a la pandemia

As a consequence of the economic crisis caused by the covid-19 Pandemic, Italy and other member States of the European Union have suffered considerable economic damage. To redress this situation, the European Commission authorized the return of a large amount of financial resources to European countries, in the form of loans and subsidies, as means for implementing the Next Generation EU, an ambitious program allowing member States to launch significant public spending policies. According to these initiatives, Italy adopted the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which includes six primary missions to modernize the country. The second mission, called the green revolution and ecological transition, is one of the pillars of the EU Next Generation project and constitutes an essential guideline for the future development of the country.Como consecuencia de la crisis económica provocada por la pandemia, Italia y los otros países de la Unión Europea han sufrido considerables daños económicos. Por esta razón, la Comisión Europea ha decidido remediar dicha situación mediante la devolución de una gran cantidad de recursos financieros, en forma de préstamos y subvenciones, a través de la adopción del Next Generation EU, un ambicioso programa con el que todos los países europeos están llamados a poner en marcha importantes políticas de gasto público. En la aplicación del Next Generation EU, Italia adoptó el Plan Nacional de Recuperación y Resiliencia (PNRR), que incluye seis misiones principales con las que se pretende renovar el país, modernizándolo y preparándolo para afrontar los retos de los próximos años. La segunda misión, denominada Revolución Verde y Transición Ecológica, es uno de los pilares del proyecto de la Unión Europea y de Italia de próxima generación, y constituye una directriz esencial para el desarrollo futuro del país. En este artículo se analizan esos instrumentos

Is heart transplantation a real option in patients with Duchenne syndrome? Inferences from a case report

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Socioeconomic status indicators and common mental disorders: Evidence from a study of prenatal depression in Pakistan

There is growing interest in the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), poverty, and mental health in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, it is not clear whether a gradient approach focused on a wider SES distribution or a binary poverty approach is more salient for mental health in LMIC. Yet this distinction has implications for interventions aimed at improving population health. We contribute to the literature by examining how multiple indicators of socioeconomic status, including gradient SES and binary poverty indicators, contribute to prenatal depression symptoms in a LMIC context. Prenatal depression is an important public health concern with negative sequela for the mother and her children. We use data on assets, education, food insecurity, debt, and depression symptoms from a sample of 1,154 pregnant women residing in rural Pakistan. Women who screened positive for depression participated in a cluster randomized controlled trial of a perinatal depression intervention; all women were interviewed October 2015-February 2016, prior to the start of the intervention. Cluster-specific sampling weights were used to approximate a random sample of pregnant women in the area. Findings indicate that fewer assets, experiencing food insecurity, and having household debt are independently associated with worse depression symptoms. The association with assets is linear with no evidence of a threshold effect, supporting the idea of a gradient in the association between levels of SES and depression symptoms. A gradient was also initially observed with woman’s educational attainment, but this association was attenuated once other SES variables were included in the model. Together, the asset, food insecurity, and debt indicators explain 14% of the variance in depression symptoms, more than has been reported in high income country studies. These findings support the use of multiple SES indicators to better elucidate the complex relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health in LMIC

Wild food collection and nutrition under commercial agriculture expansion in agriculture-forest landscapes

Wild food constitutes a substantial part of household food consumption around the world, but rapid land use changes influence the availability of wild foods, which has implications for smallholders' food and nutrient intake. With increasing commercial agriculture and biodiversity conservation efforts in forested tropical regions, many shifting cultivation systems are being intensified and their extent restricted. Studies examining the consequences of such pressures commonly overlook the diminishing role of wild food. Using a combination of collection diaries, participant observation, remote sensing, and interviews, we examined the role of agriculture-forest landscapes in the provision of wild food in rapidly transforming shifting cultivation communities in northern Laos. We found that wild food contributed less to human diets in areas where pressure on land from commercial agriculture and conservation efforts was more intense. Our results demonstrate that increasing pressure on land creates changes in the shifting cultivation landscape and people's use thereof with negative effects on the quality of nutrition, including protein deficiency, especially in communities adjacent to core conservation areas. Our study shows the importance of adopting a more nutrition-sensitive approach to the linkages between commercial agriculture and biodiversity conservation (and the policies that promote them), wild food provisioning, and food security

Sex-biased weaning and early childhood diet among middle holocene hunter-gatherers in Central California

This article evaluates age of weaning and early childhood diets of eight males and nine females from a Middle Holocene (4300-3000 BP) site in Central California, CA-CCO-548. All individuals died as adults. δ(15) N values from serial sections of dentin collagen in first molars suggest females were fully weaned, on average, by 3.6 years of age, about 0.4 years later than males in the sample, suggesting possible greater parental investment in female offspring. However, throughout childhood females consumed lower trophic-level foods than males. This could indicate greater investment in males through provisioning of higher quality foods, or alternatively, some degree of independent foraging by males starting as early as 2 to 3 years of age. Even as adults, these same males and females consumed a different range of foods as indicated by their bone collagen δ(13) C and δ(15) N values. Overall, the data suggest children were enculturated early into their respective gendered diets, with girls consuming greater amounts of plant foods and boys consuming greater amounts of higher-trophic level fish and meat protein

Assessing multidimensional sustainability : lessons from Brazil’s social protection programs

Examining linkages among multiple sustainable development outcomes is key for understanding sustainability transitions. Yet rigorous evidence on social and environmental outcomes of sustainable development policies remains scarce. We conduct a national-level analysis of Brazil’s flagship social protection program, Zero Hunger (ZH), which aims to reduce food insecurity and poverty. Using data from rural municipalities across Brazil and quasi-experimental causal inference techniques, we assess relationships between social protection investment and outcomes related to sustainable development goals (SDGs): "no poverty" (SDG 1), "zero hunger" (SDG 2), and "health and well being" (SDG 3). We also assess potential perverse outcomes arising from agricultural development impacting "climate action" (SDG 13) and "life on land" (SDG 15) via clearance of natural vegetation. Despite increasing daily per capita protein and kilocalorie production, summed ZH investment did not alleviate child malnutrition or infant mortality and negligibly influenced multidimensional poverty. Higher investment increased natural vegetation cover in some biomes but increased losses in the Cerrado and especially the Pampa. Effects varied substantially across subprograms. Conditional cash transfer (Bolsa Familia [BF]) was mainly associated with nonbeneficial impacts but increased protein production and improved educational participation in some states. The National Program to Strengthen Family Farming (PRONAF) was typically associated with increased food production (protein and calories), multidimensional poverty alleviation, and changes in natural vegetation. Our results inform policy development by highlighting successful elements of Brazil’s ZH program, variable outcomes across divergent food security dimensions, and synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals, including environmental protection