Social Capital Contributions to Food Security: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Ethnicity, social connectedness, and the rural-urban food continuum: Food security among urban informal settlement dwellers in Kenya

Rapid urbanization in developing countries is increasingly becoming an important development issue due to its negative effects on poverty and food insecurity in cities. This study investigated the determinants of the food insecurity gap among urban households living in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya, and the role of social connectedness and the rural-urban food continuum. Using panel data collected from 385 households using a two-stage cluster sample design, the study applied panel data regression and decomposition models to understand the factors affecting food insecurity access scores and weekly household food consumption expenditure. Descriptive results showed a score of 8.00 for the pooled sample on the household food access scale, with households from other regions having a lower score (7.94) than those from the Western region (8.32). 43 % of households from Western Kenya engaged in farming in rural areas (43 %) and had higher social connectedness (45 %) than households from other regions. The results indicate that dependency ratio, income, savings, social connectedness, rural visits, and dietary knowledge are significant factors impacting food security. Decomposition of levels and change in food insecurity revealed that endowments from the random effects model contributed to reducing the food insecurity gap between households originating from the Western region and those from other regions. The study highlights the importance of considering regional factors and promoting social connectedness and rural-urban linkages in addressing food insecurity in informal urban settlements.

Strengthening social capital in the Sri Lankan population: A qualitative exploration of factors driving the mothers' support groups initiative during economic crisis

Background

Social capital is a concept that has been identified to improve health outcomes in many populations. Due to COVID-19 and many other factors, Sri Lanka faced a massive economic crisis that affected the nutrition of communities. Many community engagement initiatives have begun to promote the country's nutrition during the worst-hit years. The Mothers' Support Groups initiative is one of the existing community engagement initiatives that is well known for strengthening community social capital. This article discusses how the Mothers' Support Groups (MSG) initiative in Sri Lanka contributed to improving social capital in Sri Lanka during the economic crisis, focusing on nutrition.

Methods

We conducted a case study on the activities undertaken by mothers' support groups in view of how they focused on social capital. We selected all activities presented by districts that improved social capital related to nutrition promotion captured in the YouTube video stream. We analyzed these qualitative data to identify the main themes related to social capital and nutritional promotion. Two coders transcribed the video recordings. We analyzed the data using the iterative thematic inquiry (ITI) method and initially assessed beliefs about concepts, building new beliefs through encounters with data, listing tentative themes, and evaluating themes through coding.

Results

Six major themes were identified (that social capital had been strengthened to promote nutrition): awareness creation of nutrition, home gardening promotion, promoting livestock farming, minimizing food waste, improving the home economy, and psychosocial health promotion. The most common forms of social capital encountered in these themes were bonding, bridging, and linking. Furthermore, strengthening structural social capital is more prominent than strengthening cognitive social capital.

Conclusion

Social capital can improve nutritional status during crises. Activities that can be used to achieve this vary from simple awareness creation among communities to more advanced psychosocial health promotion. Overall, social capital contributed to the community development aspect of health promotion to a greater extent.

A qualitative study to inform the development of a subsidized community-supported agriculture program for Chinese Americans in Brooklyn, New York, U.S

The objective of this study was to inform the development of a subsidized, culturally adapted Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for the Chinese American (CA) community in Brooklyn, New York (NY), USA. We conducted interviews with CA adults to understand their eating and shopping behaviors, interests in CSAs, and recommendations for educational content to inform the development of a subsidized and culturally adapted CSA. We then conducted thematic analysis of those interviews and identified major themes. CA adult participants shared interest in a CSA primarily to support their own health, interact socially with farmers and other participants, and gain access to fresh, culturally appropriate produce. Major concerns for participation, especially among older adults, included language barriers, transportation, and mobility. The unique needs and motivations of CAs should be centered in the development of alternative food access interventions for this population. CA adult participants living in Brooklyn, NY may be interested in a subsidized culturally adapted CSA that includes health information about the produce and provides in-language support. Engaging communities in the development of a health program may be important to ensure accessibility and acceptability for CA populations.

Revisiting food insecurity gender disparity

Previous research has shown that woman-headed households, more than man-headed ones, experience food insecurity. The purpose of this article is to contribute on the determinants that are linked to this gender disparity. Using a nationally representative dataset from Chile, we found that food security household head gender disparity is associated with marital status (having or not a partner) and household composition (having children or seniors). In contrast, gender disparity is not strongly associated with household income and household head educational differences. In this way, we expect to bring evidence to inform new alternatives that help mitigate food security gender disparity.

Exploring dimensions of social capital in relation to healthy eating behaviours in the US rural south

OBJECTIVE

This study examined relationships between dimensions of social capital (SC) (social trust, network diversity, social reciprocity and civic engagement) and fruit, vegetable, and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption among rural adults. Potential moderators (neighbourhood rurality, food security, gender and race/ethnicity) were explored to develop a more nuanced understanding of the SC-healthy eating relationship.

DESIGN

Data were from a 2019 mailed population-based survey evaluating an eleven-county initiative to address health equity. Participants self-reported health behaviours, access to health-promoting resources and demographics. Logistic regression models were used to analyse relationships between predictors, outcomes and moderators.

SETTING

Five rural counties, Georgia, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

1120 participants.

RESULTS

Among participants who lived in the country (as opposed to in town), greater network diversity was associated with consuming ≥ 3 servings of fruit (OR = 1·08; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·17, P = 0·029), yet among participants who lived in town, greater civic engagement was associated with consuming ≥ three servings of fruit (OR = 1·36; 95 % CI 1·11, 1·65, P = 0·003). Both food-secure and food-insecure participants with greater social reciprocity had lower odds of consuming 0 SSB (OR = 0·92; 95 % CI 0·86, 0·98, P = 0·014, OR = 0·92; 95 % CI 0·86, 0·99, P = 0·037, respectively). Men with greater social trust were more likely to consume 0 SSB (OR = 1·09; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·18, P = 0·038), and Whites with greater network diversity were more likely to meet daily vegetable recommendations (OR = 1·10; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·19, P = 0·028).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide a basis for future qualitative research on potential mechanisms through which SC and related social factors influence healthy eating in rural communities.

Prevalence and determinants of food insecurity during the 2022 COVID-19 related lockdown in Shanghai

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic has led to increased food insecurity levels. This cross-sectional study examines the prevalence and determinants of food insecurity during the two-month (1 April to 1 June 2022) city-wide lockdown in Shanghai. The data was collected via an online questionnaire from 3230 adult Shanghai residents during the lockdown. Food insecurity was measured using an adapted version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. Nearly 70% of participants reported being exposed to food insecurity. Using multivariable logistic regressions, we examined the associations between key correlates (i.e. age, income, lockdown-related income loss, migration, employment status, social capital, preparedness, and received social support) and overall food insecurity while adjusting for ethnicity, gender, education, household size, and marital status. Results showed that compared to local Shanghai residents, migrants (i.e, permanent migrants with Hukou (OR = 2.16), permanent migrants without Hukou (OR = 2.06), temporary migrants (OR = 2.74)), and participants with less than or greather than 50% lockdown-related income loss (OR = 2.60, OR = 3.09), were associated with higher odds of overall food insecurity. Participants with greater preparedness (OR = 0.66), greater bonding social capital (OR = 0.93), and greater bridging social capital (OR = 0.94), had lower odds of overall food insecurity. Targeted interventions are needed to enhance food resilience and health equity among vulnerable populations.

COVID-19, food insecurity and dietary diversity of households: Survey evidence from Nigeria

The policy measures of the government of Nigeria to restrain the spread of COVID-19, particularly in the initial three months (April - June 2020) led to significant disruptions to household livelihoods and food security. We investigate the effects of COVID-19 on food security and dietary diversity of households; focusing on the pathways through which income loss, endowments of wealth, social capital, and safety net programs moderate the severity of households' food security and dietary diversity. Primary data obtained from a telephone survey of 1,031 Nigerian households were analyzed using ordered logit and negative binomial models. Our results show that income losses due to the COVID-19 restrictive measures had pushed households into a more severe food insecurity and less diverse nutritional outcomes. Regarding wealth effects, livestock ownership significantly cushioned households from falling into a more severe food insecurity amid the pandemic. We found that because of the pandemic's indiscriminate effect across communities, the potential of social capital as an informal support mechanism might have been eroded to enable households to cope with shocks. Furthermore, safety net programs by the government and NGOs did not provide significant protection to households from falling into severe food insecurity and malnutrition amid the pandemic. We suggest three policy propositions - prioritize investment in local job creation to curb income loss; build the wealth base of households (e.g., land tenure security or livestock) to enhance resilience to shocks; and target safety nets and other social support programs spatially, temporally, and across social groups to enhance the effectiveness of such programs amid shocks.

Food Insecurity in the Informal Settlements of Inanda Households Living with Children under 60 Months in Ethekwini Municipality

Food insecurity is a continuing challenge for many households in South Africa. This challenge poses serious immediate and long-term health and development risks for children. Despite the intensive literature on household food insecurity, there is limited literature on the household food security status in South African informal settlements. Thus, the household food security status and dynamics in informal settlements are not clearly defined. Hence, this study assessed the food security status of households living with children under 60 months in the informal settlements of the Inanda area, eThekwini Municipality. This study employed a cross-sectional quantitative research approach. A non-probability sampling method was used, which used convenience sampling supplemented by a non-discriminative snowball sampling to obtain a sample size of 160 households with children under the age of five. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews, where questionnaires were administered to household child caregivers. Ethical considerations such as informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, permission from authorities, and cultural considerations were obeyed in this study. The HFIAS and HDDS tools were used to estimate the household food security status. Data were coded and analysed in SPSS version 25 software. This study revealed that higher proportions of the surveyed informal households living with children under 60 months were food insecure. The HFIAS analysis showed that approximately 34, 31, and 28% were severely, mildly, and moderately food insecure, respectively. In contrast, a small (approximately 8%) proportion of the surveyed informal households was estimated to be food secure. The HDDS analysis revealed that most (approximately 77%) of the surveyed informal households had low dietary diversity (deemed food insecure). Cereal, roots, and fatty foods were the main dietary components in the informal settlements of Inanda. It is paramount to improve the food security status of informal households living with children under 60 months through an integrated approach. This study suggests government and private stakeholders' engagement in developing policies and programs directed at informal households living with children under 60 months to alleviate food insecurity.

Food Consumption Structure and Food Security-Through Mediating Effect Analysis of Agricultural R&D and Agricultural Investment

Food security is the cornerstone that ensures the stable development of a country. Based on panel data of 31 provinces (including autonomous regions and municipalities) in China from 2015 to 2019, we use the mediating effect model to explore the mechanism by which food consumption structure affects food security. The results indicate that grain consumption has a significant promoting effect on food security, while plant and animal food consumption have significant inhibiting effects on food security. Furthermore, agricultural R&D and investment play mediating roles in the impact of food consumption structure on food security. Obvious differences exist in the relationship between food consumption structure and food security between urban and rural areas, as well as between Eastern, Central, and Western regions. Animal food consumption had a negative and significant impact on food security, with a stronger effect on rural residents than on urban residents. Compared with the central and western regions, grain consumption and animal food consumption in the eastern region had a stronger marginal impact on food security. This paper enriches and expands the research on influencing factors of food security from the perspective of consumer demand, which has important theoretical value and practical significance for ensuring food security.

Employment Loss and Food Insecurity - Race and Sex Disparities in the Context of COVID-19

INTRODUCTION

Applying an intersectional framework, we examined sex and racial inequality in COVID-19-related employment loss (ie, job furlough, layoff, and reduced pay) and food insecurity (ie, quality and quantity of food eaten, food worry, and receipt of free meals or groceries) among residents in Saint Louis County, Missouri.

METHODS

We used cross-sectional data from adults aged 18 or older (N = 2,146), surveyed by using landlines or cellular phones between August 12, 2020, and October 27, 2020. We calculated survey-weighted prevalence of employment loss and food insecurity for each group (Black female, Black male, White female, White male). Odds ratios for each group were estimated by using survey-weighted binary and multinomial logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Black female residents had higher odds of being laid off, as compared with White male residents (OR = 2.61, 95% CI, 1.24-5.46). Both Black female residents (OR = 4.13, 95% CI, 2.29-7.45) and Black male residents (OR = 2.41, 95% CI, 1.15-5.07) were more likely to receive free groceries, compared with White male residents. Black female (OR = 4.25, 95% CI, 2.28-7.94) and White female residents (OR = 1.93, 95% CI, 1.04-3.60) had higher odds of sometimes worrying about food compared with White male residents. Black women also had higher odds of always or nearly always worrying about food, compared with White men (OR = 2.99, 95% CI, 1.52-5.87).

CONCLUSION

Black women faced the highest odds of employment loss and food insecurity, highlighting the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 among people with intersectional disadvantages of being both Black and female. Interventions to reduce employment loss and food insecurity can help reduce the disproportionately negative social effects among Black women.

Exploring food security as a multidimensional topic: twenty years of scientific publications and recent developments

The scientific literature dealing with food security is vast and fragmented, making it difficult to understand the state of the art and potential development of scientific research on a central theme within sustainable development.

The current article, starting from some milestone publications during the 1980s and 1990s about food poverty and good nutrition programmes, sets out the quantitative and qualitative aspects of a vast scientific production that could generate future food security research. It offers an overview of the topics that characterize the theoretical and empirical dimensions of food security, maps the state of the art, and highlights trends in publications’ ascending and descending themes. To this end the paper applies quantitative/qualitative methods to analyse more than 20,000 scientific articles published in Scopus between 2000 and 2020.

Evidence suggests the need to find more robust links between micro studies on food safety and nutrition poverty and macro changes in food security, such as the impact of climate change on agricultural production and global food crises. However, the potential inherent in the extensive and multidisciplinary research on food safety encounters limitations, particularly the difficulty of theoretically and empirically connecting the global and regional dimensions of change (crisis) with meso (policy) and micro (individual behaviour) dimensions.

JP, Stalbek B, Vasa L, Magda R. Food security management in developing countries: Influence of economic factors on their food availability and access

The research presents an analysis of the food security policy effectiveness on the component of food availability and access in two developing countries, Colombia and Kyrgyzstan, during the period from 2000 to 2018. Determining the state of their food balance trade and the regression analysis for the Food Production Index of the countries, considering four economic indicators. Thus the study attempts to show that policies and strategies have not reached the expected results in terms of reduction of food imports dependency and strengthening of national production and export industry. Furthermore was found that among the economic indicators considered, food inflation, food imports, food exports, and extreme monetary poverty; the last one was the indicator that presented influence on the Food Production Index of both countries, during the period analyzed, showing that access was the main component that defines the food production. The results highlighted the need of integrating food security with the monetary and trade policies of these countries.

Sustainable Development Ensued by Social Capital Impacts on Food Insecurity: The Case of Kibera, Nairobi

The aim of this study is to disclose the social factors of sustainable development goals by exploring the links between three types of social capital (bonding, bridging and linking) and food security in Kibera, an informal settlement located in Nairobi, Kenya. Several studies in the literature have addressed links between food security and social capital. However, a lack of theoretical approaches exist in the literature, which concern the sustainable development theory devoted to urban areas taking into account the sustainable development goals. This study applies a linear regression model on data from 385 households in Kibera to analyze the connection between food security and three types of social capital (bonding, bridging and linking). The results demonstrate that there is a positive impact between our proxies for bonding social capital (cultural diversity and the number of visits to area of origin) and food security. Bridging social capital (measured by trust in strangers) demonstrated a negative impact on food security. Finally, one indicator for linking social capital demonstrated a positive impact on food security (trust in community leaders), whereas the statistical analyses did not find any relationship of the two indicators; ‘trust in local politicians’ and ‘membership of social organisations’, with food security. The results demonstrate that insight into social capital can inform the understanding of household food insecurity in vulnerable urban settlements, by illustrating the critical impacts of social drivers in a food system.

Public Works Programmes and Cooperation for the Common Good: Evidence from Malawi

This paper investigates the relationship between Malawi's largest and oldest public works programme (PWP) and social cohesion, specifically within-community cooperation for the common good. Using both primary and secondary data, we show that public works are associated with higher coordination activities and higher voluntary (unpaid) contributions to public goods, along both vertical ties (between community members and local leaders) and horizontal ties (among community members). Especially for school-building activities, voluntary inputs in the form of labour and other in-kind contributions are higher in the presence of the PWP. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the link between social protection programmes with community-driven features and social cohesion.

Promoting Subjective Well-Being among Rural and Urban Residents in Indonesia: Does Social Capital Matter?

There has been growing research on the link between social capital and subjective well-being. However, to date, research investigating the impact of social capital on subjective well-being based on urban and rural typology is limited. Therefore, to fill this gap, this study aims to examine the effects of social capital on subjective well-being, based on urban and rural typology, using large-scale data from 29,341 Indonesian residents, comprising 17,155 urban residents and 12,186 rural residents. A two-stage predictor substitution (2SPS) approach is applied to address the endogeneity issue in estimating the impact of social capital. The empirical findings indicate that social capital significantly increases subjective well-being, i.e., happiness and life satisfaction. However, based on the urban–rural model, we found that the impact of social capital on subjective well-being is different. In the urban model, social capital increases happiness and life satisfaction significantly. However, the rural model indicates that social capital significantly increases happiness, not life satisfaction. These findings imply that subjective well-being impacts urban residents more than rural residents. The main reason is social capital in urban areas is well-developed (i.e., management and infrastructure for community association). Therefore, we suggest developing social capital in rural areas to expand its role in improving well-being.

Contribution of Livelihoods to the Well-Being of Coffee-Growing Households in Southern Colombia: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Coffee cultivation is one of the main agricultural activities in Colombia, which increases the well-being of coffee-growing families. In order to determine the impact of coffee production, the capital endowment and well-being of coffee-growing families in the municipality of Pitalito, in the south of Colombia, were analyzed using the community capital index (CCI). Likewise, the relationships between the variables were identified through a Pearson correlation analysis, and the increase in well-being was identified and modeled by employing structural equations. The structural equation model showed a suitable fit to the data, indicated by the non-significant value of the χ2 statistic (p = 0.85), a high CFI (0.97), a low RMSEA (<0.001), a low stability index (0.23) and a low variance inflation factor (VIF = 1.42). At the capital level, political capital in synergy with social capital increased the well-being of coffee-growing families; meanwhile, capitals such as natural and physical-built capital did not have the greatest impact on well-being. Political capital variables such as the “possession of the coffee identification card” (CPI), as well as the variable “participates in the activities carried out by the community action board of the village” (PAC), increased by 9.9% and 8.66%, respectively, in the well-being of coffee-growing families measured by the CCI. The social capital variables that boosted the CCI were the benefits of the National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC) (BFN, %V(variation): 8.32) and associativity (Aso, %V: 7.51). Other variables that make up human capital with high incidence in the CCI were family size (FSi) and the number of people who can read in the family (FLE) with a variation of 9.12% and 8.6%, respectively. However, other variables such as labor cost for disease management (CDM) and labor cost for harvesting (HCL) had no significant effect on the variation of the CCI. It was found that the level of well-being increases due to variables such as associativity and participation in grassroots organizations in the community, such as being a member of the National Federation of Coffee Growers, a quality represented by the possession of a coffee identification card that, in synergy with other variables, reduce inequality and poverty.

Experiences and Lessons from Agri-Food System Transformation for Sustainable Food Security: A Review of China's Practices

Food system transformation has been a widely discussed topic in international society over time. For the last few decades, China has made remarkable achievements in food production and has contributed greatly to the reduction in global hunger and poverty. Examining experiences and lessons from China's food security practices over the years is helpful to promote a national food system transformation for China, as well as other developing countries. This study systematically reviews the literature on Chinese food security studies, with the aim of assessing China's food security achievements and examining the remaining and emerging issues in the pursuit of food system transformation. The results show that China has continuously promoted food system transformation in land consolidation, agri-food production technologies, management and organization modes, food reserves, trade governance, and food consumption. These transformations ensure not only food availability, timeliness, and nutrition, but also in terms of the ecological, social, and economic sustainability, feasibility, and justice of food security. However, China is also confronting new challenges in food security, for example, malnutrition, environmental unsustainability, and reductions in diversified agri-food. In the future, China is expected to be committed to promoting healthy diets, sustainable agricultural production, climate change mitigation, and the reduction of food waste and loss to enhance its agri-food system's resilience.

Food Security and Sustainability: Discussing the Four Pillars to Encompass Other Dimensions

The unadjusted intake of food constitutes a real challenge for the several sustainability dimensions. In this perspective, the main objectives of this research are to characterise the current contexts of food security, its relationship with sustainability, and identify proposals and actions that may support the design of more adjusted policies in the future. In addition, it is intended to assess if the food security pillars properly address the sustainability goals and if the evolution of undernutrition is accompanied by sustainable frameworks. In this way, statistical information from the FAOSTAT database was considered for the several dimensions of food security over the period 2000-2020. These data were analysed through factor-cluster approaches and panel data methodologies, namely those related to quantile regressions. As main insights, we may refer that undernutrition is more impacted by the availability of food and nutrients and political stability than by the level of GDP-Gross Domestic Product (except for the extreme cases). This means that the level of development is not the primary explanation for the problems of nutrition. The main focus of the national and international policies must be to improve the agrifood supply chains and to support political stability, in order to mitigate undernutrition worldwide and ensure a global access to sustainable and healthy diets. In addition, it is suggested to rethink the four pillars of food security (availability, access, utilisation and stability), in order to encompass other dimensions, such as climate change.

Food Insecurity, Nutritional Inequality, and Maternal–Child Health: A Role for Biocultural Scholarship in Filling Knowledge Gaps

Food insecurity, a significant contributor to nutritional inequality, disproportionately affects women and children in low- and middle-income countries. The magnitude of the problem has inspired research on its impacts on health, especially on nutritional status and, more recently, mental well-being. Current research is dominated by surveillance-type studies that emphasize access, one of food security's four dimensions. Findings are inconclusive regarding the association between food insecurity and women and children's nutritional status, but some evidence indicates that it is a key contributor to mental distress in women. To understand these inconsistent findings, we emphasize the need for research on the strategies that people use to cope with inadequate access to food. We contend that biocultural approaches that recognize the importance of local contexts and the role of broader political-economic factors in shaping them are well suited for addressing current knowledge gaps.

'Don't Worry, Honey: It's Cooked': Addressing Food Risk during Pregnancy on Facebook Italian Posts

During pregnancy, women exposed to microbiological risks are more susceptible to contracting specific pathogens, which can lead to serious diseases both in the mother and the foetus. Food-borne diseases can be avoided to a large extent by following good practices of food manipulation and cooking. Safe eating behaviours are influenced by knowledge and perception of food risks and are constructed, among others, online. Pregnant women often use Web 2.0 to obtain and share pregnancy-related information as a strategy of collective coping with emotions through conversations. This paper explores how knowledge and perceptions of food risks during pregnancy are shared among users on Italian Facebook pages and groups. The corpus, including 648,399 items (i.e., posts), was analysed: (a) first, by means of the Reinert method, to verify to what extent issues concerning food risks are debated; and (b) second, through a manual content analysis, to observe how food risks are addressed in terms of contents and social sharing of emotions. The main results show that food risk is not among the most discussed topics, and the least known and debated food risks are the most widespread (e.g., campylobacteriosis). Sometimes, food risks, when addressed, were minimised or denied, and the belief to be 'less at risk' than peers for such risk (i.e., optimistic bias) was observed. The results underline the importance, for health institutions, of building a tailored communication strategy on food risks during pregnancy to promote correct food behaviours by exploiting social networks.

Changes in Dietary Patterns and Clinical Health Outcomes in Different Countries during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has led to an excess in community mortality across the globe. We review recent evidence on the clinical pathology of COVID-19, comorbidity factors, immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and factors influencing infection outcomes. The latter specifically includes diet and lifestyle factors during pandemic restrictions. We also cover the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 transmission through food products and the food chain, as well as virus persistence on different surfaces and in different environmental conditions, which were major public concerns during the initial days of the pandemic, but have since waned in public attention. We discuss useful measures to avoid the risk of SARS-CoV-2 spread through food, and approaches that may reduce the risk of contamination with the highly contagious virus. While hygienic protocols are required in food supply sectors, cleaning, disinfection, avoidance of cross-contamination across food categories, and foodstuffs at different stages of the manufacturing process are still particularly relevant because the virus persists at length on inert materials such as food packaging. Moreover, personal hygiene (frequent washing and disinfection), wearing gloves, and proper use of masks, clothes, and footwear dedicated to maintaining hygiene, provide on-site protections for food sector employees as well as supply chain intermediates and consumers. Finally, we emphasize the importance of following a healthy diet and maintaining a lifestyle that promotes physical well-being and supports healthy immune system function, especially when government movement restrictions ("lockdowns") are implemented.

Food Insecurity and Related Factors among Farming Families in Takhar Region, Afghanistan

Improved food security remains a major challenge for policymakers in Afghanistan. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence and drivers of food insecurity among farming households in the Takhar region of Afghanistan. Household questionnaire survey datasets were obtained from 262 farmers via multi-stage sampling across four districts. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was constructed to assess the prevalence of food insecurity, and an ordered probit econometric model was used to identify the factors influencing the prevalence rates in farming families. The findings indicate that 66.79% of the farming households were food insecure, whilst 30.53% were severely food insecure. After adjustment of socio-economic and demographic characteristics of families, the ordered probit results reveals that household head education, dependency ratio, farm income, access to non-agricultural income, livestock unit, group membership, borrowing, farm diseases, flood, and war significantly influenced farming households’ food insecurity in the study area. Our findings highlight the urgent requirement for policies and initiatives to support farmers to improve their overall food security. Such strategies should focus on introducing improved farming techniques, enhancing farmer education levels, livestock development programs, building and empowering farmers groups, creating credit access to households, and providing humanitarian food support.

Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Environment, Economy, Society, and Policy

Agri-food systems (AFS) have been central in the debate on sustainable development. Despite this growing interest in AFS, comprehensive analyses of the scholarly literature are hard to find. Therefore, the present systematic review delineated the contours of this growing research strand and analyzed how it relates to sustainability. A search performed on the Web of Science in January 2020 yielded 1389 documents, and 1289 were selected and underwent bibliometric and topical analyses. The topical analysis was informed by the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) approach of FAO and structured along four dimensions viz. environment, economy, society and culture, and policy and governance. The review shows an increasing interest in AFS with an exponential increase in publications number. However, the study field is north-biased and dominated by researchers and organizations from developed countries. Moreover, the analysis suggests that while environmental aspects are sufficiently addressed, social, economic, and political ones are generally overlooked. The paper ends by providing directions for future research and listing some topics to be integrated into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary agenda addressing the multifaceted (un)sustainability of AFS. It makes the case for adopting a holistic, 4-P (planet, people, profit, policy) approach in agri-food system studies.