Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security

Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security
Author: Rukhsana
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2021-04-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030693333

This volume provides an interdisciplinary collection of studies that cover the trends and issues related to agricultural productivity and availability, food and nutrition security, and sustainability in India. The book discusses a broad range of vital issues concerning the production and consumption of food during the era of climate change, and has been prepared to generate awareness of these issues in a large agricultural economy to shed light on new perspectives and solutions to achieve sustainable food production and security in India. The book is organized into three major sections: Climate and Agricultural Productivity for Availability, Changes and Trends in Cropping Patterns and Food Security, and Food and Nutrition Security for Sustainable Development. The book will be of interest to students, researchers, policymakers, and other inquisitive readers interested in different aspects of agriculture, food and nutrition security, and sustainable development.

Understanding Food Systems

Understanding Food Systems
Author: Ruth MacDonald
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2017-05-25
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0128044853

Understanding Food Systems: Agriculture, Food Science, and Nutrition in the United States explores the complex and evolving system from which the United States gets its food. From farm, to home, and everything in-between, the authors use a scientific perspective that explains the fundamentals of agricultural production, food science, and human nutrition that will guide readers through the issues that shape our food system, including political, societal, environmental, economic, and ethical concerns. Presenting the role and impact of technology, from production to processing and safety, to cultural and consumer behavior perspectives, the book also explores the link between food systems and the history of nutrients and diet patterns, and how these influence disease occurrence. Current topics of concern and debate, including the correlations between food systems and diet-related diseases, such as obesity and diabetes are explored, as are the history and current status of food insecurity and accessibility. Throughout the text, readers are exposed to current topics that play important roles in personal food choices and how they influence components of the food system. Presents the evolution of the US food system, from historical beginnings, to current consumer and political roles and responsibilities Provides farm to fork insights on production and consumption practices in the United States Explores complex topics in call-out boxes throughout the text to help readers understand the various perspectives on controversial topics

A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System

A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2015-06-17
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 030930783X

How we produce and consume food has a bigger impact on Americans' well-being than any other human activity. The food industry is the largest sector of our economy; food touches everything from our health to the environment, climate change, economic inequality, and the federal budget. From the earliest developments of agriculture, a major goal has been to attain sufficient foods that provide the energy and the nutrients needed for a healthy, active life. Over time, food production, processing, marketing, and consumption have evolved and become highly complex. The challenges of improving the food system in the 21st century will require systemic approaches that take full account of social, economic, ecological, and evolutionary factors. Policy or business interventions involving a segment of the food system often have consequences beyond the original issue the intervention was meant to address. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System develops an analytical framework for assessing effects associated with the ways in which food is grown, processed, distributed, marketed, retailed, and consumed in the United States. The framework will allow users to recognize effects across the full food system, consider all domains and dimensions of effects, account for systems dynamics and complexities, and choose appropriate methods for analysis. This report provides example applications of the framework based on complex questions that are currently under debate: consumption of a healthy and safe diet, food security, animal welfare, and preserving the environment and its resources. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System describes the U.S. food system and provides a brief history of its evolution into the current system. This report identifies some of the real and potential implications of the current system in terms of its health, environmental, and socioeconomic effects along with a sense for the complexities of the system, potential metrics, and some of the data needs that are required to assess the effects. The overview of the food system and the framework described in this report will be an essential resource for decision makers, researchers, and others to examine the possible impacts of alternative policies or agricultural or food processing practices.

Rethinking Food and Agriculture

Rethinking Food and Agriculture
Author: Amir Kassam
Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
Total Pages: 478
Release: 2020-10-18
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0128164115

Given the central role of the food and agriculture system in driving so many of the connected ecological, social and economic threats and challenges we currently face, Rethinking Food and Agriculture reviews, reassesses and reimagines the current food and agriculture system and the narrow paradigm in which it operates. Rethinking Food and Agriculture explores and uncovers some of the key historical, ethical, economic, social, cultural, political, and structural drivers and root causes of unsustainability, degradation of the agricultural environment, destruction of nature, short-comings in science and knowledge systems, inequality, hunger and food insecurity, and disharmony. It reviews efforts towards ‘sustainable development’, and reassesses whether these efforts have been implemented with adequate responsibility, acceptable societal and environmental costs and optimal engagement to secure sustainability, equity and justice. The book highlights the many ways that farmers and their communities, civil society groups, social movements, development experts, scientists and others have been raising awareness of these issues, implementing solutions and forging ‘new ways forward’, for example towards paradigms of agriculture, natural resource management and human nutrition which are more sustainable and just. Rethinking Food and Agriculture proposes ways to move beyond the current limited view of agro-ecological sustainability towards overall sustainability of the food and agriculture system based on the principle of ‘inclusive responsibility’. Inclusive responsibility encourages ecosystem sustainability based on agro-ecological and planetary limits to sustainable resource use for production and livelihoods. Inclusive responsibility also places importance on quality of life, pluralism, equity and justice for all and emphasises the health, well-being, sovereignty, dignity and rights of producers, consumers and other stakeholders, as well as of nonhuman animals and the natural world. Explores some of the key drivers and root causes of unsustainability , degradation of the agricultural environment and destruction of nature Highlights the many ways that different stakeholders have been forging 'new ways forward' towards alternative paradigms of agriculture, human nutrition and political economy, which are more sustainable and just Proposes ways to move beyong the current unsustainable exploitation of natural resources towards agroecological sustainability and overall sustainability of the food and agriculture system based on 'inclusive responsibility'

Forests and Food

Forests and Food
Author: Bhaskar Vira
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2015-11-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1783741937

As population estimates for 2050 reach over 9 billion, issues of food security and nutrition have been dominating academic and policy debates. A total of 805 million people are undernourished worldwide and malnutrition affects nearly every country on the planet. Despite impressive productivity increases, there is growing evidence that conventional agricultural strategies fall short of eliminating global hunger, as well as having long-term ecological consequences. Forests can play an important role in complementing agricultural production to address the Sustainable Development Goals on zero hunger. Forests and trees can be managed to provide better and more nutritionally-balanced diets, greater control over food inputs—particularly during lean seasons and periods of vulnerability (especially for marginalised groups)—and deliver ecosystem services for crop production. However forests are undergoing a rapid process of degradation, a complex process that governments are struggling to reverse. This volume provides important evidence and insights about the potential of forests to reducing global hunger and malnutrition, exploring the different roles of landscapes, and the governance approaches that are required for the equitable delivery of these benefits. Forests and Food is essential reading for researchers, students, NGOs and government departments responsible for agriculture, forestry, food security and poverty alleviation around the globe.

Biodiversity, Food and Nutrition

Biodiversity, Food and Nutrition
Author: Danny Hunter
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2020-04-29
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0429638264

This book examines the challenges and impacts of poor diets and nutrition from current food systems and the potential contribution of biodiversity and ecosystem services in addressing these problems. There is a strong need for a multi-level, cross-sectoral approach that connects food biodiversity conservation and sustainable use to address critical problems in our current food systems, including malnutrition. Building on research from the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project (BFN), which aims to better link biodiversity, diets and nutrition, the book presents a multi-country, cross-sectoral analysis of initiatives that have promoted local food biodiversity in four countries: Brazil, Kenya, Turkey and Sri Lanka. This book offers a comprehensive summary of the BFN Project results in each of the four countries along with lessons learned and how this work could be upscaled or applied in other regions. It argues that the strategic promotion and use of food biodiversity is critical in uniting attempts to address conservation, nutrition and livelihood concerns. The book is structured around chapters and case studies encompassing the BFN Project with specific experiences related by partners who played key roles in the work being done in each country. By offering a comparative view capable of furthering dialogue between the respective countries, it is also meant to connect the individual cases for a “greater than the sum of its parts” effect. This means consideration of how localized activities can be adapted to more countries and regions. Therefore, the book addresses global issues with a foot planted firmly in the grounded case study locations. This book will be of great interest to policymakers, practitioners and NGOs working on food and nutrition, as well as students and scholars of agriculture, food systems and sustainable development.

Agriculture for improved nutrition: Seizing the momentum

Agriculture for improved nutrition: Seizing the momentum
Author: Fan, Shenggen
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2019-02-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1786399318

Agriculture's vast potential to improve nutrition is just beginning to be tapped. New ideas, research, and initiatives developed over the past decade have created an opportunity for reimagining and redesigning agricultural and food systems for the benefit of nutrition. To support this transformation, the book reviews the latest findings, results from on-the-ground programs and interventions, and recent policy experiences from countries around the world that are bringing the agriculture and nutrition sectors closer together. Drawing on IFPRI's own work and that of the growing agriculture-nutrition community, this book strengthens the evidence base for, and expands our vision of, how agriculture can contribute to nutrition. Chapters cover an array of issues that link agriculture and nutrition, including food value chains, nutrition-sensitive programs and policies, government policies, and private sector investments. By highlighting both achievements and setbacks, Agriculture for Improved Nutrition seeks to inspire those who want to scale up successes that can transform food systems and improve the nutrition of billions of people.

Food Policy in the United States

Food Policy in the United States
Author: Parke Wilde
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2013
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1849714282

This book offers a broad introduction to food policies in the United States. Real-world controversies and debates motivate the book's attention to economic principles, policy analysis, nutrition science and contemporary data sources. It assumes that the reader's concern is not just the economic interests of farmers, but also includes nutrition, sustainable agriculture, the environment and food security. The book's goal is to make US food policy more comprehensible to those inside and outside the agri-food sector whose interests and aspirations have been ignored. The chapters cover US agriculture, food production and the environment, international agricultural trade, food and beverage manufacturing, food retail and restaurants, food safety, dietary guidance, food labeling, advertising and federal food assistance programs for the poor. The author is an agricultural economist with many years of experience in the non-profit advocacy sector, the US Department of Agriculture and as a professor at Tufts University. The author's well-known blog on US food policy provides a forum for discussion and debate of the issues set out in the book.

The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security

The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security
Author: Sergio Gomez y Paloma
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Agriculture
ISBN: 3030421481

This open access book discusses the current role of smallholders in connection with food security and poverty reduction in developing countries. It addresses the opportunities they enjoy, and the constraints they face, by analysing the availability, access to and utilization of production factors. Due to the relevance of smallholder farms, enhancing their production capacities and economic and social resilience could produce positive impacts on food security and nutrition at a number of levels. In addition to the role of small farmers as food suppliers, the book considers their role as consumers and their level of nutrition security. It investigates the link between agriculture and nutrition in order to better understand how agriculture affects human health and dietary patterns. Given the importance of smallholdings, strategies to increase their productivity are essential to improving food and nutrition security, as well as food diversity.