Articles

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

Identification of discrepancies in grain quality and grain protein composition through avenin proteins of oat after an effort to increase protein content

Oat prolamin (avenin) is a family of proteins that contain several polymorphic components. The high interspecific variability of avenin among cultivars, electrophoretic patterns have been used for grain protei...

Authors: Bindu A. Sunilkumar and Eden Tareke

Economics of beekeeping as pollination management practices adopted by farmers in Chitwan district of Nepal

When the natural pollinator’s declines, beekeeping can contribute to the pollination services, assuring crop yields, and can also be used to strengthen the livelihoods through commercialization to increase eco...

Authors: Kedar Devkota, Shiva Chandra Dhakal and Resham Bahadur Thapa

Shallow wells, the untapped resource with a potential to improve agriculture and food security in southern Mali

Excessive rainwater during the rainy season and lack of water in the dry season have been challenging the agricultural productivity and food security for rural communities in southern Mali. Various soil and wa...

Authors: Birhanu Zemadim Birhanu and Ramadjita Tabo

Food coping strategies in northern Ghana. A socio-spatial analysis along the urban–rural continuum

Food insecurity is a worrying challenge worldwide, with sub-Sahara Africa most affected. Literature reveals that in developing countries, food insecurity is a largely ‘‘managed process’’, meaning people are ac...

Authors: Takemore Chagomoka, Sophie Unger, Axel Drescher, Rüdiger Glaser, Bernd Marschner and Johannes Schlesinger

Adoption of improved citrus orchard management practices: a micro study from Drujegang growers, Dagana, Bhutan

Citrus ranks top among the agricultural export commodities of Bhutan both in terms of volume and value. However, citrus cultivation practices still remain traditional with very low yield and inferior fruit qua...

Authors: Kinley Dorji, Lakey Lakey, Sonam Chophel, Sonam Dechen Dorji and Birkha Tamang

The effect of weakened resilience on food insecurity in protracted crisis: the case of South Sudan

This study aims to determine predictors of food insecurity in a typical setting where resilience of population is weakened as a result of protracted crises. South Sudan is used as a case study. The rationale o...

Authors: Lailà B. Lokosang, Shaun Ramroop and Temesgen Zewotir

Access to livelihood capitals and propensity for entrepreneurship amongst rice farmers in Ghana

This paper examines rice farmers’ access to livelihood capitals (natural, financial, physical, social and human) and the relationship and propensity for entrepreneurship capacities amongst rice farmers in the ...

Authors: Eliasu Mumuni and Oladimeji Idowu Oladele

Postharvest practices and farmers’ perception of cocoa bean quality in Cameroon

After the closure of Cameroon’s National Produce Marketing Board in 1990, rigorous measures no longer existed to control production of quality cocoa. This study assesses farmers’ knowledge of postharvest pract...

Authors: Lewis Dopgima Levai, Henry Dilonga Meriki, Amayana Adiobo, Sama Awa-Mengi, Jane-Francis Tatah Kihla Akoachere and Vincent P. K. Titanji

Synergies at the interface of farmer–scientist partnerships: agricultural innovation through participatory research and plant breeding in Honduras

The article describes the institutionalization of farmer participatory research and plant breeding that has occurred in Honduras over the past 22 years and demonstrates how this approach can offer a positive r...

Authors: Sally Humphries, Juan Carlos Rosas, Marvin Gómez, José Jiménez, Fredy Sierra, Omar Gallardo, Carlos Avila and Mérida Barahona

Rural women’s farmers access to productive resources: the moderating effect of culture among Nupe and Yoruba in Nigeria

This paper analyzes ownership and control of productive resources by gender as determined by culture. This is premised on the fact that past researchers have isolated gender and productive resources on one han...

Authors: Adebola Adewumi Ajadi, Oladimeji Idowu Oladele, Koichi Ikegami and Tadasu Tsuruta

Edible insects contributing to food security?

Because of growing demand for meat and declining availability of agricultural land, there is an urgent need to find alternative protein sources. Edible insects can be produced with less environmental impact th...

Authors: Arnold van Huis

Plant breeding for organic agriculture: something new?

The role of both organic (OF) and conventional (CF) farming remains open to debate particularly when related to food security and climate change. Targeting plant breeding for OF can contribute to reduce its yi...

Authors: Leonardo A. Crespo-Herrera and Rodomiro Ortiz

Sowing seeds of empowerment: effect of women’s home garden training in Bangladesh

There is a lack of scientific evidence that home gardens contribute to women empowerment, which eventually leads to greater gender equality, although it is generally assumed that they do. Using data from poor ...

Authors: Marie Antoinette Patalagsa, Pepijn Schreinemachers, Shahana Begum and Shawkat Begum

Households and food security: lessons from food secure households in East Africa

What are the key factors that contribute to household-level food security? What lessons can we learn from food secure households? What agricultural options and management strategies are likely to benefit femal...

Authors: Silvia Silvestri, Douxchamps Sabine, Kristjanson Patti, Förch Wiebke, Radeny Maren, Mutie Ianetta, Quiros F. Carlos, Herrero Mario, Ndungu Anthony, Ndiwa Nicolas, Mango Joash, Claessens Lieven and Rufino Mariana Cristina

The worldwide status of phasmids (Insecta: Phasmida) as pests of agriculture and forestry, with a generalised theory of phasmid outbreaks

Stick insects have been reported as significant phytophagous pests of agricultural and timber crops since the 1880s in North America, China, Australia and Pacific Islands. Much of the early literature comes fr...

Authors: Edward Baker

Soil fertility status and wheat nutrient content in Vertisol cropping systems of central highlands of Ethiopia

Land degradation reduces agricultural productivity and poses a serious threat on food security status of households. In Ethiopia, farmers have been using only urea and di-ammonium phosphate for more than 15 ye...

Authors: Hillette Hailu, Tekalign Mamo, Riikka Keskinen, Erik Karltun, Heluf Gebrekidan and Taye Bekele

Animal agriculture and the importance of agnostic governance of biotechnology

Human population growth and rising income levels in developing countries are increasing demand for animal protein. One of the key enablers of the associated increase in global animal protein production has bee...

Authors: Alison L. Van Eenennaam and Amy E. Young

Use of NeemPro^®, a neem product to control maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais (Motsch.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on three maize varieties in Cameroon

Sitophilus zeamais is a key pest of stored maize causing serious economic damage. The predominant control of this pest is the use of synthetic residual pest...

Authors: Simon Pierre Yinyang Danga, Elias Nchiwan Nukenine, Gabriel Tagne Fotso and Cornel Adler

Farmer participation in selection within segregating populations of cowpea in Volta Region, Ghana

Participatory plant breeding leads to early adoption of a newly released variety as farmers would be aware of whatever advantage it might have over prior existing ones as early as possible. Cowpea farmers arou...

Authors: Kenneth Fafa Egbadzor, Samuel Kwame Offei, Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Daniel Ashie Kotey, Dickson Korku Gamedoagbao, Mark Dadoza, Martin Yeboah and Kwadwo Ofori

The interplay between household food security and wellbeing among small-scale farmers in the context of rapid agrarian change in India

Small-scale agriculture, government entitlements, and livelihood opportunities offered by rapid economic growth shape the food security and wellbeing of people in rural India. This paper analyses this ongoing ...

Authors: Kirit Patel, Hom Gartaula, Derek Johnson and M. Karthikeyan

Effect of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) grain conditions on occurrence of mycotoxin-producing fungi

Sorghum is a staple cereal crop that is well adapted to arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). It has a potential of assuring food security and livelihoods in the ASALs. The objective of this study was to determine...

Authors: Alex M. Kange, Erick K. Cheruiyot, Joshua O. Ogendo and Peter F. Arama

Distribution of indigenous strains of atoxigenic and toxigenic Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus in maize and peanuts agro-ecological zones of Kenya

Grains of important food and export crops in Africa are susceptible to contamination by toxin-producing moulds. Aflatoxins are mycotoxins associated with liver damage and cancer in humans and animals. These to...

Authors: Daniel O. Okun, Fathiya M. Khamis, Geoffrey M. Muluvi, Joseph J. Ngeranwa, Fidelis O. Ombura, Moses O. Yongo and Eucharia U. Kenya

Indentifying farmers’ preferences and constraints to maize production in two agro-ecological zones in Burkina Faso

The low adoption of technologies, developed by research institutions, by farmers substantiates the need for client orientation in research and development. Hence, to bridge the gap between breeders and farmers...

Authors: Abdalla Dao, Jacob Sanou, Vernon Gracen and Eric Y. Danquah