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32. Connecting consumer indifference on food waste and global food insecurity
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- Research brief
- Publication Date:
- 2016-07-27
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D09373
- Notes:
- Online from the Center for Food Integrity, Gladstone, Missouri. 2 pages.
33. Constraints to the utilisation of conservation agriculture in Africa as perceived by agricultural extension service providers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Brown, Brendan (author), Nuberg, Ian (author), Llewellyn, Rick (author), and School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide CSIRO Agriculture
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10460
- Journal Title:
- Land Use Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 73: 331-340
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Via online journal., Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a knowledge-intensive set of practices which requires substantial access to functional agricultural extension services to enable utilisation. Despite this importance, the perspectives of those providing extension services to smallholder farmers have not been fully investigated. To address this, we qualitatively explore the perspectives of agricultural extension providers across six African countries to understand why uptake of CA has been limited, as well as the institutional changes that may be required to facilitate greater utilisation. Across the diversity of geographical, political and institutional contexts between countries, we find multiple commonalities in the constrained utilisation of CA by smallholder farmers, highlighting the difficulties non-mechanised subsistence farmers face in transitioning to market-oriented farming systems such as CA. The primary constraint relates to the economic viability of market-oriented farming where farmers remain in low input and low output systems with limited exit points. The assumed exit point used by CA programs appears to have led to a culture of financial expectancy and reflects a continuation of top-down extension approaches with inadequate modification of CA to the contextual realities of subsistence farmers. If African agricultural systems are to be sustainably intensified, we find a need for greater flexibility within extension systems in the pursuit of sustainable intensification. If extension systems are to persist with CA, it will need to be promoted through more transitional pathways that disaggregate the CA package, and with that there is a need for the provision of a mandate to, and necessary funding for, more participatory extension services.
34. Consumer expectations high for sustainability
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Karst, Tom (author)
- Format:
- Research summary
- Publication Date:
- 2020-12-17
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11995
- Journal Title:
- Packer
- Notes:
- Online via subscription. 5 pages., Review of results of survey research among U.S. consumers by Aimpoint Research for The Packer.
35. Contribution of small-scale farming and local food supply to sustainable production and food security in Nigeria – A review
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Olugbire, Oluseyi Olutoyin (author), Sunmbo,Olorunfemi (author), and Olarewaju,Titilope Omolara (author)
- Format:
- Review
- Publication Date:
- 2021
- Published:
- Poland: University of Life Sciences in Poznań
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12704
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol 59, N.1
- Notes:
- 10 pages, Prior to the year 1970, agriculture was the main source of livelihood and backbone of the Nigerian economy until the discovery of oil drastically decelerated its potential to sustainably maintain food security and generate significant export earnings. Despite its sudden fall in productivity, agriculture still remains the main sector providing the highest employment (70% of the population) for the populace. To tackle these problems, many policies were formulated (from 1960 to 2015) to resuscitate the sector but to no availdue to failure in tailoring suitable policies to engage small-scale farmers and address other socio-economic problems. This paper constitutes an in-depth review of agricultural production and food security in Nigeria with relative importance attributed to local food supply and small-scale farmers. The article analyzes several documents of the Nigerian Government and international organizations, such as the Food and Agricultural Organization, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and a number of peer-reviewed journals across various disciplines to provide a balanced interdisciplinary review. The paper concludes that food insecurity is at its peak in Nigeria and urgent attention is required in the agricultural sector to compensate for the unstable food balance in the country. There is a need for the Government to take strong measures against the food deficit situation and to support the development of the primary agriculture sector. The paper proposes viable policies that could involve smallholders, aid transformation and positively restructure the agricultural sector.
36. Cover crops and specialty crop agriculture: exploring cover crop use among vegetable and fruit growers in Michigan and Ohio
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Schoolman, E.D. (author) and Arbuckle, J.G. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-07
- Published:
- USA: Soil and Water Conservation Society
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12643
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 77, N.4
- Notes:
- 15 pages, Cover crops—crops grown primarily to protect and improve soil—are widely considered to be an important component of sustainable agricultural systems because their use can provide multiple ecosystem services without compromising yields over time. Specialty crops—fruits, vegetables, and horticultural crops—are increasingly important to US agriculture and food security and uniquely vulnerable to climate-related problems that cover crops can help to address. Yet far less research has been conducted on cover crop use by farmers who grow mainly specialty crops, compared to the much larger body of research on farmers who principally grow row crops like corn (Zea mays) and soybeans (Glycine max). In this study, we draw on survey data from a stratified, random sample of 881 specialty crop growers in Michigan and Ohio to accomplish two main goals. First, we seek to characterize cover crop use among this important group of farmers, focusing on types of cover crop used and use of multiple types. Second, we examine the relationship between cover crop use on vegetable and fruit farms and key social and economic factors, with particular attention to farmers’ environmental values, adherence to organic principles, and sources of information. According to survey results, cover cropping is more likely when farmers (1) manage certified organic (p < 0.01) or organic-in-practice (p < 0.05) farms; (2) report being influenced by private crop consultants (p < 0.01); (3) attach high importance to agri-environmental goals (p < 0.01); and (4) grow vegetable crops instead of or in addition to fruit crops (p < 0.001). No relationship was found to exist between cover cropping and farmers’ concerns about climate-related risks, education level, or perceived self-efficacy. We conclude by suggesting that the importance of structural factors to farmers’ decisions about cover crops should not be underestimated. Promoting and strengthening the market for organic food may be the most direct pathway toward increasing the number of farmers who use cover crops. Historically important entities in agricultural networks, including cooperative extension and conservation nongovernmental organizations, might enhance their impact on cover crop use by forming new partnerships with private crop consultants.
37. Creating and promoting sustainable agriculture: the Milan protocol call to action
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Massari, Sonia (author)
- Format:
- Proceedings
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08826
- Notes:
- Pages 1025-1044 in Rob Roggema (ed.), Agriculture in an urbanizing society volume two: proceedings of the sixth AESOP conference on sustainable food planning. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Pages 601-1274.
38. Designing inter-regional engagement to inform cohesive policy making
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Fears, Robin (author), Holzeis, Claudia Canales (author), and ter Meulen, Volker (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-06-03
- Published:
- UK: Nature Portfolio
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13083
- Journal Title:
- Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
- Journal Title Details:
- V.6, N.107
- Notes:
- 5 pages, The scientific advice needed to inform national and regional policies addressing the key challenges we face today must take account of disparate requirements. The complex nature of the problems addressed in this article—which encompass food and nutrition security, global health and climate change—and the multitude of their interconnections, calls for an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach that spans aspects related to the use of natural resources; the adoption of new technologies all the way to issues related to food demand and human behaviour. The scale is also important: national policies need to respond to a set of heterogeneous local conditions and requirements and should be particularly mindful of the effect on vulnerable groups of the population. At the same time, the global interconnectedness of food systems and shared natural resources also necessitates coordinated action at regional and global levels. The InterAcademy Partnership sought to develop an innovative model for integrating and analysing multidisciplinary scientific evidence to inform governments and regional policy bodies for policymaking on food and nutrition security. This approach relies on IAP’s membership of over 130 science academies grouped in four regional networks for Africa, America, Asia and Europe. Our article reviews the model, in particular with regards to interdisciplinarity, exploring examples relating to yield gap, plant breeding and food processing, and reflects on lessons learned during the project discussions and when engaging with policy-makers and other stakeholders. We propose that the framework developed can be applied to integrated assessment of other societal challenges where the scientific community can play a significant role in informing policy choices.
39. Do plant clinics improve household food security? evidence from rwanda
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Tambo, Justice A. (author), Uzayisenga, Bellancile (author), Mugambi, Idah (author), and Bundi, Mary (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07-08
- Published:
- United States: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12368
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Economics
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 72, Iss. 1
- Notes:
- 20 pages, One of the main drivers of food insecurity is pests, which are estimated to cause around 40% of crop losses worldwide. We examine the food security effects of plant clinics, a novel agricultural extension model that aims to reduce crop losses due to pests through the provision of demand-driven plant health diagnostic and advisory services to smallholder farmers. The study is based on survey data from maize-growing households in Rwanda, where 66 plant clinics have been established. Using switching regression and matching techniques as well as various food security metrics, including the food insecurity experience scale, we find evidence that participation in plant clinics is significantly associated with a reduction in household food insecurity. For instance, among the participating households, plant clinics contribute to a decrease in the period of food shortage by one month and a reduction in the severity of food insecurity by 22 percentage points. We also show that these effects are more pronounced for female-headed households. Overall, our findings suggest that plant clinics can play an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of zero hunger.
40. Edible insect workshop engages public in sustainable food conversation
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Jasinski, James (author), Kulhanek, Ashley (author), and Shumaker, Kate (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-02
- Published:
- USA: Extension Journal, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 5 Document Number: D10192
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 57(1) : 1-6
- Notes:
- 6 pages., Article # 1IAW7, Via online journal., A 6-hr train-the-trainer workshop focused on introducing the concept that insects may play a significant role in food security as the world population is projected to exceed 9 billion people by the mid 21st century. Workshop topics including cultural, nutritional, culinary, and commercial aspects surrounding edible insects were presented and packaged into a formal curriculum for later use by the participants. A 12-item sensory evaluation of insect-fortified foods provided participants a tangible experience with product palatability. By the end of the workshop, participants had increased various dimensions of their knowledge about edible insects and reported a generally positive perception toward insect-based foods.