Rural infrastructure to contribute to African agricultural development: the case of irrigation

Report for The Commission for Afric

Agricultural water management in a water stressed catchment: Lessons from the RIPARWIN Project

irrigation management / water stress / river basins / water rights / water fees / water allocation / irrigation efficiency / economic aspects / decision support tools / wetlands / water use / water users associations

Simulating Foodborne Pathogens in Poultry Production and Processing to Defend Against Intentional Contamination

There is a lack of data in recent history of food terrorism attacks, and as such, it is difficult to predict its impact. The food supply industry is one of the most vulnerable industries for terrorist threats while the poultry industry is one of the largest food industries in the United States. A small food terrorism attack against just a single poultry processing center has the potential to affect a much larger population than its immediate consumers. In this work, the spread of foodborne pathogens is simulated in a poultry production and processing system to defend against intentional contamination. An agent-based simulated environment that represents the farm, processing plant, homes, and restaurants is developed, which contains both poultry agents and human agents that move through the system and possibly infect each other. The simulation is run varying several parameters that include probability of infection if exposed for both poultry and humans. The simulation predicts the number of infected poultry and humans over time