Articles

An assessment of mobile phone-based dissemination of weather and market information in the Upper West Region of Ghana

The rapid growth of mobile phones in Ghana has opened up the possibility of delivering timely and useful weather and market information to farmers at costs lower than traditional agricultural extension service...

Authors: Prince Maxwell Etwire, Saaka Buah, Mathieu Ouédraogo, Robert Zougmoré, Samuel Tetteh Partey, Edward Martey, Sidzabda Djibril Dayamba and Jules Bayala

Food security in the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority Zone of Ghana: an ordered probit with household hunger scale approach

Food security has been observed to be severe in northern Ghana than any other area of the country. Though this has been acknowledged, few attempts have been made to curb the situation. One of such intervention...

Authors: Paul Kwame Nkegbe, Benjamin Musah Abu and Haruna Issahaku

Small-scale fisheries in the context of traditional post-harvest practice and the quest for food and nutritional security in Nigeria

Existing scholarly works have paid little or no attention to the problems small-scale fisheries encounter within the context of food and nutritional security. Therefore, this work has examined the problem. Sma...

Authors: Shehu Latunji Akintola and Kafayat Adetoun Fakoya

Fishing for food: piloting an exploration of the invisible subsistence harvest of coastal resources in Connecticut

In Connecticut, the subsistence harvest of coastal and marine resources, with the explicit goal of consuming what is collected or caught, is counted and regulated as recreational fishing. Little information ex...

Authors: Syma Alexi Ebbin

Reconnecting people, place, and nature: examining alternative food networks in Newfoundland’s fisheries

Fisheries have played a significant role in the economic development of Newfoundland and Labrador and continue to contribute to coastal livelihoods and local food security. However, the access to and availabil...

Authors: Chloé Poitevin DesRivières, Ratana Chuenpagdee and Charles Mather

The impact of adoption of conservation agriculture on smallholder farmers’ food security in semi-arid zones of southern Africa

In southern Africa, conservation agriculture (CA) has received a lot of research and promotional support from various organizations in the past decades. Conservation agriculture is largely promoted as one of t...

Authors: Nelson Mango, Shephard Siziba and Clifton Makate

Assessment of production practices of smallholder potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) farmers in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia

Potato plays a great role for the achievement of food security program due to its plasticity to environmental conditions and yielding capacity. However, its productivity is far less than other countries due to...

Authors: Hailu Gebru, Ali Mohammed, Nigussie Dechassa and Derbew Belew

Optimizing yield of improved varieties of millet and sorghum under highly variable rainfall conditions using contour ridges in Cinzana, Mali

Low productivity of cereals, the staple food, in Sahelian zone of Cinzana in Mali is caused by a range of factors including but not limited to inherent low soil fertility, and insufficient and inadequate distr...

Authors: Kalifa Traore, Daouda Kalifa Sidibe, Harouna Coulibaly and Jules Bayala

Characteristics of maize cultivars in Africa: How modern are they and how many do smallholder farmers grow?

Maize is the most important cereal and most widely cultivated staple that plays a key role in the food security of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although some countries have achieved significant gains in maize pro...

Authors: Tsedeke Abate, Monica Fisher, Tahirou Abdoulaye, Girma T. Kassie, Rodney Lunduka, Paswel Marenya and Woinishet Asnake

Genotype by environment effects on promiscuous nodulation in soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill)

Understanding factors influencing the expression of a trait is key in designing a breeding program. Genotype by environment interaction has great influence on most quantitative traits. Promiscuous nodulation i...

Authors: Eric E. Agoyi, Thomas L. Odong, John B. Tumuhairwe, Godfree Chigeza, Brian W. Diers and Phinehas Tukamuhabwa

The association of food insecurity and school absenteeism: systematic review

Household food insecurity not only affects normal physical growth of young children, but also adversely affects their intellectual capacity and social skills. Studies showed that household food insecurity has ...

Authors: Dessalegn Tamiru and Tefera Belachew

Response to the Ebola-related bushmeat consumption ban in rural Côte d’Ivoire

Bushmeat represents an important animal protein source for populations in rural areas of Côte d’Ivoire; consequently, the exploitation of the bushmeat reserves has contributed to food security in these areas f...

Authors: Arlette Olaby Dindé, Aubin Jacob Mobio, Amoin Georgette Konan, Gilbert Fokou, Konan Yao, Emmanuel Lasme Jean Charles Esso, Agathe Fantodji, Marina Koussemon and Bassirou Bonfoh

Farmers’ knowledge and perception of postharvest physiological deterioration in cassava storage roots in Ghana

In spite of the essential role of cassava in ensuring household food security and employment for most rural farm households, postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD) of the roots which is serious abiotic ...

Authors: R. Prempeh, J. A. Manu-Aduening, B. O. Asante, I. K. Asante, S. K. Offei and E. Y. Danquah

Characterization of pre- and postharvest losses of tomato supply chain in Ethiopia

Tomato has significant economic importance in Ethiopia. Although quantitative evidence is limited, postharvest loss in tomato is considerably high. This study presents qualitative and quantitative postharvest ...

Authors: Bezabih Emana, Victor Afari-Sefa, Ngoni Nenguwo, Amsalu Ayana, Dereje Kebede and Hedija Mohammed

Impact of climate variability on pineapple production in Ghana

Climate variations have a considerable impact on crop production. For pineapple, variable temperatures and rainfall patterns are implicated, yet there is limited knowledge of the conditions and consequences of...

Authors: Portia Adade Williams, Olivier Crespo, Christopher John Atkinson and George Owusu Essegbey

Productivity and food security effects of using of certified seed potato: the case of Kenya’s potato farmers

Potato is a major food crop in the tropical regions of Africa. However, potato yields continue to remain very low in these regions mainly due to use of poor quality seed. The recent development of rapid seed m...

Authors: Julius Juma Okello, Yuan Zhou, Norman Kwikiriza, Sylvester Ogutu, Ian Barker, Elmar Schulte-Geldermann, Elly Atieno and Justin Taj Ahmed

Smallholder farmers’ adaptation to climate change and determinants of their adaptation decisions in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

The agricultural sector remains the main source of livelihoods for rural communities in Ethiopia, but faces the challenge of changing climate. This study investigated how smallholder farmers perceive climate c...

Authors: Abrham Belay, John W. Recha, Teshale Woldeamanuel and John F. Morton

Mitigating dry season food insecurity in the subtropics by prospecting drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing weeds

Subtropical regions experience an extended dry season, which inhibits the growth of most crops, and as a result there is seasonal scarcity of food and fodder. Globally, almost 600 million smallholders and land...

Authors: Finlay A. A. Small and Manish N. Raizada

Is bean really a women’s crop? Men and women’s participation in bean production in Uganda

Common bean one of the grain legumes that was traditionally considered a subsistence crop and therefore a woman’s crop in Uganda was prioritized for commercialization. This has transformed the crop from being ...

Authors: Florence Nakazi, Jemimah Njuki, Michael Adrogu Ugen, Paul Aseete, Enid Katungi, Eliud Birachi, Ruth Kabanyoro, Isaac Joseph Mugagga and Grace Nanyonjo

Establishing symbiotic nitrogen fixation in cereals and other non-legume crops: The Greener Nitrogen Revolution

Haber’s invention of the synthesis of ammonia from its elements is one of the cornerstones of modern civilization. For nearly a century, agriculture has come to rely on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers produced ...

Authors: David Dent and Edward Cocking

Vegetable diversification in cocoa-based farming systems Ghana

As part of dynamic livelihood coping strategies, some farmers in Ghana’s cocoa belt have diversified away from traditional cocoa production to other high-value crops including vegetables, to the extent of dive...

Authors: Justice G. Djokoto, Victor Afari-Sefa and Albert Addo-Quaye

Internal validity and reliability of experience-based household food insecurity scales in Indian settings

Experience-based household food insecurity (HFI) scales are not included in large-scale Indian surveys. There is limited evidence on which experience-based HFI scale or questions within a scale are most releva...

Authors: Vani Sethi, Chandana Maitra, Rasmi Avula, Sayeed Unisa and Surbhi Bhalla

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 r...

Authors: Precillia Ijang Tata Ngome, Charlie Shackleton, Anne Degrande and Julius Chupezi Tieguhong

Household food insecurity and associated factors among households in Wolaita Sodo town, 2015

Culturally, food insecurity is expected in rural households. But it is considerable in urban setting due to many factors. Yet this has been hardly recognized in the study area. Therefore, this study intended t...

Authors: Abraham Tadesse Tantu, Tsegaye Demissie Gamebo, Berhanu Kuma Sheno and Mulugeta Yohannis Kabalo

Assessment of fish post-harvest losses in Tekeze dam and Lake Hashenge fishery associations: northern Ethiopia

Fish are perishable and hence susceptible to high post-harvest losses. Post-harvest losses in fisheries include material losses of fish due to spoilage, breakage, size, discarding of by-catches and operationa...

Authors: Solomon Tesfay and Mekonen Teferi

Household food insecurity and associated factors in West Abaya district, Southern Ethiopia, 2015

Subsistence farming in West Abaya district is sited in an area prone to drought. Thus, poor food security is a principal concern. But, this has been less documented. Therefore, this study aimed to determine th...

Authors: Malla Shone, Tsegaye Demissie, Bereket Yohannes and Mulugeta Yohannis

Livestock ownership, animal source foods and child nutritional outcomes in seven rural village clusters in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa currently has the highest prevalence of malnutrition worldwide. In children under the age of 5 years, malnutrition can have long-term effects on physical and cognitive development, with impl...

Authors: Jack B. Hetherington, Anke K. Wiethoelter, Joel Negin and Siobhan M. Mor

Integrating fisheries and agricultural programs for food security

Despite the connections between terrestrial and marine/freshwater livelihood strategies that we see in coastal regions across the world, the contribution of wild fisheries and fish farming is seldom considered...

Authors: Brendan Fisher, Robin Naidoo, John Guernier, Kiersten Johnson, Daniel Mullins, Dorcas Robinson and Edward H. Allison

Cocoa farming households in Ghana consider organic practices as climate smart and livelihoods enhancer

Several state and non-state organizations are promoting organic agriculture as a climate smart option among cocoa farmers in the Ashanti region of Ghana. In this study, flora diversity and livelihoods position...

Authors: Joseph Bandanaa, Irene Susana Egyir and Isaac Asante

Resource use efficiency among maize farmers in Ghana

Despite the enormous importance of maize in Ghana, maize farmers in the country continue to experience low yields, making Ghana self-insufficient in the production of the crop. For maize farmers to be helped t...

Authors: Dadson Awunyo-Vitor, Camillus Abawiera Wongnaa and Robert Aidoo

Toward climate-smart agriculture in West Africa: a review of climate change impacts, adaptation strategies and policy developments for the livestock, fishery and crop production sectors

Many projections of the impact of climate change on the crop, livestock and fishery production sectors of African agriculture are reported in the literature. However, they may be arguably too general to unders...

Authors: Robert Zougmoré, Samuel Partey, Mathieu Ouédraogo, Bamidele Omitoyin, Timothy Thomas, Augustine Ayantunde, Polly Ericksen, Mohammed Said and Abdulai Jalloh

Enumeration and molecular detection of Bacillus cereus in local indigenous and imported rice grains

Bacillus cereus is frequently related to foodborne illness outbreak. The common food vehicles for transmission of the bacteria are rice, rice products and starchy foods. As rice is a s...

Authors: Lesley Maurice Bilung, Ahmad Syatir Tahar, Tan Pei Shze, Samantha Valarie Furzanne Anak Jamie, Hashimatul Fatma Hashim, Kasing Apun and Son Radu

The humble sardine (small pelagics): fish as food or fodder

The group of small pelagic fish is the largest species group landed globally. A significant proportion of this nutrient-rich food is processed and lost to livestock feed, fish feed, fish oil, pet food and omeg...

Authors: Moenieba Isaacs

The effect of artisanal processing methods on lysine content in selected fish species from different lakes in Uganda

Lysine is one of the essential amino acids required in the human diet. However, it is easily lost when fish is subjected to different processing methods which may compromise the human dietary requirements.

Authors: Masette Margaret and Tinyiro Samuel Edgar

The challenge of achieving basal energy, iron and zinc provision for home consumption through family farming in the Andes: a comparison of coverage through contemporary production systems and selected agricultural interventions

Child undernutrition is persistently high in the central Andes of Peru, and numerous smallholder households fail to meet their basic needs of energy, iron and zinc. Food-based approaches assume household-level...

Authors: Alejandra Arce, Hilary Creed-Kanashiro, Maria Scurrah, Raul Ccanto, Edgar Olivera, Dharani Burra and Stef De Haan

Effect of nutrition education on the knowledge scores of urban households with home gardens in Morogoro, Tanzania

Home gardens are an old agricultural practice playing a key role in household food security and diversity. Proximity of gardens to the home facilitates easy access to food and reduces household expenditure. Ho...

Authors: Aarati Pillai, Joyce Kinabo and Michael B. Krawinkel

Erratum to: Urban harvests: food security and local fish and shellfish in Southcentral Alaska

Authors: Hannah L. Harrison and Philip A. Loring

Combining soil fertilization, cropping systems and improved varieties to minimize climate risks on farming productivity in northern region of Burkina Faso

In search of options to cope with climate change and variability, a trial combining fertilization and improved varieties of millet and cowpea (intercropped or as sole crop) was conducted on three sites (Lemnog...

Authors: Josias Sanou, Babou André Bationo, Silamana Barry, Loyehoun Dorothée Nabie, Jules Bayala and Robert Zougmore

Agrobiodiversity conservation enhances food security in subsistence-based farming systems of Eastern Kenya

Globally, there is great concern about expanding agricultural activities due to their impact in the conservation of agrobiodiversity. African continent is known for its richness in biodiversity. In Kenya, ther...

Authors: Simon Wambui Mburu, Gilbert Koskey, Jacinta Malia Kimiti, Omwoyo Ombori, John M. Maingi and Ezekiel Mugendi Njeru

Role of inland fishery and aquaculture for food and nutrition security in Nepal

Fish as a food is generally acceptable to all regardless of region, religion, race, gender and age across Nepal. The aquaculture and open-water capture fishery contributes about 2 % of agricultural gross domes...

Authors: Tek Bahadur Gurung

First record of tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Tanzania

Pest invasion has been a disruptive phenomenon in nature, the consequence being ecological and economical negative effect in natural ecosystem of the area. In agriculture, introduced insect pest has a devastat...

Authors: Maneno Chidege, Shakil Al-zaidi, Nayem Hassan, Abisgold Julie, Elialilia Kaaya and Sheila Mrogoro

Urban harvests: food security and local fish and shellfish in Southcentral Alaska

Alaska is known for its many fisheries, which support an extensive global marketplace, a thriving tourism industry, and also contribute much to diets of many Alaskans. Yet, some research has suggested that Al...

Authors: Hannah L. Harrison and Philip A. Loring

Farmer knowledge identifies a competitive bean ideotype for maize–bean intercrop systems in Rwanda

Plant genotypes are rarely developed for mixed cropping systems despite the potential of these systems to provide multiple ecosystem services. One of the most ubiquitously grown mixed cropping systems is a com...

Authors: Krista B. Isaacs, Sieglinde S. Snapp, James D. Kelly and Kimberly R. Chung

“I eat two meals per day” impact of climate variability on eating habits among households in Rufiji district, Tanzania: a qualitative study

Improved understanding of the influence of climate variability on eating habits is required to manage health outcomes that could be produced. Agriculture production is the main source of income to people in Ru...

Authors: Naomi Jones Saronga, Idda Hubert Mosha, Anna Tengia Kessy, Mangi Job Ezekiel, Alex Zizinga, Opportuna Kweka, Paul Onyango and Sari Kovats

Building local institutional capacity to implement agricultural carbon projects: participatory action research with Vi Agroforestry in Kenya and ECOTRUST in Uganda

Smallholders have begun to take advantage of a growing pool of investment in climate change mitigation. Meanwhile, early movers in this area are working to develop innovative models that will allow projects to...

Authors: Seth Shames, Krista Heiner, Martha Kapukha, Lillian Kiguli, Moses Masiga, Pauline Nantongo Kalunda, Annet Ssempala, John Recha and Amos Wekesa

Spatio-temporal analysis of the impact of climate, cropping intensity and means of irrigation: an assessment on rice yield determinants in Bangladesh

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most important staple food for almost half of the global population. Improvement of rice yield is of global concern and is influenced by a wide variety of regional factors including cli...

Authors: Iffat Ara, Megan Lewis and Bertram Ostendorf

How is household food insecurity and maternal nutritional status associated in a resource-poor setting in Ghana?

Population-based studies show household food insecurity is associated with increased body mass index (BMI) and an increased risk of overweight in adult women in developed countries. However, there is insuffici...

Authors: Mahama Saaka

Potential of Kersting’s groundnut [Macrotyloma geocarpum (Harms) Maréchal & Baudet] and prospects for its promotion

Kersting’s groundnut is a tropical crop, highly nutritious, adapted to drought-prone areas. The crop is neglected both by researchers and by policy makers. This paper aimed at providing relevant information on...

Authors: Mathieu Anatole Tele Ayenan and Vincent A. Ezin

A review on the legislative aspect of artificial fruit ripening

Fruit ripening is a natural process in which a fruit goes through various physical and chemical changes and gradually becomes sweet, colored, soft, and palatable. Fruit ripening process can also be stimulated ...

Authors: Md. Nazibul Islam, Mehnaz Mursalat and Mohidus Samad Khan

Genetic variability in storage root bulking of cassava genotypes under irrigation and no irrigation

Early bulking in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a very important trait in semi-arid ecologies of the tropics. Farmers tend to select early-maturing cassava varieties to escape terminal drought and destruct...

Authors: Joseph Adjebeng-Danquah, Vernon Edward Gracen, Samuel Kwame Offei, Isaac Kwadwo Asante and Joseph Manu-Aduening