22 pages, Commercialisation of smallholder agriculture is important for rural economic growth. While previous studies have analysed effects of commercialisation on productivity and income, implications for farm household nutrition have received much less attention. We evaluate the effects of commercialisation on household food security and dietary quality with a special focus on calorie and micronutrient consumption. We also examine transmission channels by looking at the role of income, gender, and possible substitution effects between the consumption of own-produced and purchased foods. The analysis uses survey data from farm households in Kenya and a control function approach. Generalised propensity scores are employed to estimate continuous treatment effects. Commercialisation significantly improves food security and dietary quality in terms of calorie, zinc and iron consumption. For vitamin A, effects are insignificant. Commercialisation contributes to higher incomes and increased nutrients from purchased foods, but it does not reduce the consumption of nutrients from own-produced foods. Enhancing market access is important not only for rural economic growth, but also for making smallholder agriculture more nutrition-sensitive.
11 pages, In the United States, approximately 11% of households were food insecure prior to the COVID-19
pandemic. The present study aims to describe the prevalence of food insecurity among adults and households with children living in the United States during the pandemic.
17 pages, Scholarship within the social sciences of agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) exists, in part, to inform solutions to complex problems. Increasingly, complex problems are found at the nexus of social and ecological systems; therefore, scholarship within the social sciences of AFNR must mirror this social-ecological characteristic. Existing AFNR social science literature on resilience lacks the required social-ecological perspective, conceptualizing resilience as an individual characteristic. The absence of a social-ecological perspective of resilience fails to holistically address the complexity of AFNR systems and the challenge therein. Therefore, the current manuscript seeks to inform social science scholarship within AFNR by foregrounding social-ecological resilience as a necessary approach to addressing the complexity of challenges found throughout AFNR systems. Included in the discussion is a critical review of individual resilience, an introduction to adaptation and transformation, an outline of social-ecological resilience, an in-depth analysis of the seven principles of social-ecological resilience, and a discussion of social-ecological resilience thinking applied to the seven research priority areas described by the American Association for Agricultural Education. In total, the current manuscript paves the way for additional systems-based research in the AFNR social sciences by introducing critical concepts and approaches related to social-ecological resilience.
Shellabarger, Rachel M. (author), Voss, Rachel C. (author), Egerer, Monika (author), Chiang, Shun-Nan (author), and University of California, Santa Cruz
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018-10-17
Published:
United States: Springer Netherlands
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10316
13 pages., Via online journal., The idea of a profound urban–rural divide has shaped analysis of the 2016 U.S. presidential election results. Here, through examples from agri-food systems, we consider the limitations of the urban–rural divide framework in light of the assumptions and intentions that underpin it. We explore the ideas and imaginaries that shape urban and rural categories, consider how material realities are and are not translated into U.S. rural development, farm, and nutrition policies, and examine the blending of rural and urban identities through processes of rural deagrarianization and urban reagrarianization. We do not argue that an urban–rural divide does not exist, as studies and public opinion polls illustrate both measured and perceived differences in many aspects of the lived experiences that shape our individual and collective actions. Ultimately, we suggest that the urban–rural divide concept obscures the diversity and dynamism of experiences each category encompasses. Additionally, it ignores the connections and commonalities that demand integrative solutions to challenges in agri-food systems, and draw attention to the power relations that shape resource access and use within and across urban and rural spaces.
6pgs, Valerie Horn works with several community action groups in Whitesburg, Kentucky. The state’s recent flooding has made these organizations even more vital to the community.
20 pages, Food security, also known as having proper access to food to live a healthy life, affects more than 10% of individuals in the United States. Marketing and communications, as well as brand identity, plays a role in how organizations combating food insecurity operate and raise awareness. However, these organizations’ communications are typically not as successful as for-profit corporations, and there is a gap in literature about the effectiveness of these charitable food organizations’ marketing efforts. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of charitable food organization branding on college students’ support of charitable food organizations—specifically through volunteering, donating behavior, and advocacy efforts. This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), color theory, and semiotics to craft treatments similar to social media images from charitable food organizations (CFOs). There were four treatment groups, all with the same verbiage, but all using either color or no color or with an icon versus an image. Findings suggested Treatment 3, the colorful treatment with a picture of two children, had the greatest impact on intent to support CFOs. While some of the other treatment models were significant, none included all significant TPB predictors as with treatment 3. This study’s results indicate that using a post with imagery and color can influence intent to support charitable food organizations. Future research should use qualitative methods to better understand this study and similar studies’ results.
