Food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture

Food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture constitute fundamental elements that contribute significantly to the attainment of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals are a globally shared blueprint that calls for peace and prosperity for all people and the planet. Focusing on food security and nutrition is directly linked to SDG 2 which seeks to "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture." Beyond SDG 2, these themes also relate to other SDGs such as Goal 3 - Good Health and Well-being, Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production, and Goal 13 - Climate Action. The relationship between sustainable agriculture and these goals is profound; by promoting eco-friendly farming methods, we reduce the environmental footprint, mitigate climate change, and ensure the long-term sustainability of food production systems.

Moreover, sustainable agriculture is vital in fostering biodiversity, improving soil health, and enhancing water use efficiency, which are critical aspects related to Goals 14 and 15 - Life below Water and Life on Land respectively. By safeguarding our ecosystems, we not only ensure food security but also the preservation of the natural environment for future generations. In turn, better nutrition is a conduit to improved health (SDG 3), and it can also influence educational outcomes (SDG 4), given the known links between nutrition and cognitive development.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that the interconnections go beyond these goals. There's an important nexus between sustainable agriculture, food security and issues of poverty (SDG 1), gender equality (SDG 5), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), and economic growth (SDG 8), among others. Sustainable agriculture creates job opportunities, thus reducing poverty levels. By empowering women in agriculture, we can help achieve gender equality. Proper water and sanitation practices in agriculture can prevent contamination, ensuring clean water and sanitation for all. Therefore, the triad of food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture, while being a significant goal in itself, is also a vehicle that drives the achievement of the wider Sustainable Development Goals.

A Commentary on the role of governments in mitigating the health effects of malnutrition, in the context of SDGs 3 and 12, highlighting the need for the implementation of more comprehensive policies to limit the availability of unhealthy foods and to increase that of healthy foods to communities across Africa.
This chapter advances the UN SDG Goal 3: Good Health and Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities by elucidating nutrition as a fundamental domain of global health. It highlights the health of individuals and the stability of populations within the academic discipline of global health.
Background: Almost a quarter of the world's undernourished people live in India. We tested the effects of three nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) interventions on maternal and child nutrition in India. Methods: We did a parallel, four-arm, observer-blind, cluster-randomised trial in Keonjhar district, Odisha, India. A cluster was one or more villages with a combined minimum population of 800 residents.
Poor weaning practice and malnutrition among under 5 (yrs) children are still major public health issues in Bangladesh. This study aimed to develop a cheap and nutritious weaning food for the children of Bangladesh. For this purpose, three weaning formulations of Q1, Q2, and Q3 with different ratios of germinated wheat, germinated mung-bean, and soya-bean, and a constant amount of sweet potato, sugar, salt, and milk flavor were processed and evaluated.
Alternative methods for improving traditional food processing have increased in the last decades. Additionally, the development of novel dairy products is gaining importance due to an increased consumer demand for palatable, healthy, and minimally processed products. Ultrasonic processing or sonication is a promising alternative technology in the food industry as it has potential to improve the technological and functional properties of milk and dairy products.
Over the years, chemical pre-treatments have been used intensively to maintain apple quality and reduce decay during postharvest. This conduct has been reported to have a negative impact on environment and human health. This study aimed to investigate alternative approaches such as hot water (HW) and electrolyzed water (WE) treatments for decay management of ‘Granny Smith’ apples. Two different sets of experiments were set up for this study.
Elsevier,

Food Chemistry, Volume 343, 1 May 2021

Food packaging can be considered as a passive barrier that protects food from environmental factors such as ultraviolet light, oxygen, water vapour, pressure and heat. It also prolongs the shelf-life of food by protecting from chemical and microbiological contaminants and enables foods to be transported and stored safely. Active packaging (AP) provides the opportunity for interaction between the external environment and food, resulting in extended shelf-life of food. Chemoactive packaging has an impact on the chemical composition of the food product.

Food production on our planet is dominantly based on agricultural practices developed during stable Holocene climatic conditions. Although it is widely accepted that climate change perturbs these conditions, no systematic understanding exists on where and how the major risks for entering unprecedented conditions may occur. Here, we address this gap by introducing the concept of safe climatic space (SCS), which incorporates the decisive climatic factors of agricultural production: precipitation, temperature, and aridity.

Elsevier,

Trends in Food Science and Technology, Volume 111, May 2021

Background: Coffee is of the most traded commodities in the world and its market has grown regularly over the last 150 years. During production and processing of coffee beans many by-products are generated such as skin, pulp, mucilage, parchment, silverskin, and immature /defective coffee beans. Around 50% of coffee fruit is discard and can contaminate the environment. Scope and approach: The purpose of this review is to raise potential applications for coffee by-products in topical formulations. Besides, to present the main bioactive compounds responsible for their biological activity.

The effect of the river chief system on reducing agricultural NPS pollution is explored in this study using panel data from 308 Chinese counties during the period from 2004 to 2015.

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