Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Milk is highly perishable and can be a conduit for the transmission of zoonotic foodborne pathogens. This cross-sectional survey involving 159 farming households and 18 participant observations in participating farms was undertaken in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas in Oromia, Ethiopia to assess the adoption of food safety measures in smallholder farms. Adoption of food safety measures at the farm level influences milk quality and safety across the entire milk value chain, from “grass to glass”. This study considered the adoption of 36 different food safety measures (FSM) including animal health, milking hygiene, hygienic milk storage, and hygienic milking premises. A weighted food safety index (FSI, ranging from 0 to 100) was calculated for each household based on FSM adopted. Ordinary Least Squares linear regression was used to quantify the factors of FSM adoption by smallholder farmers. The overall food safety index ranged between 59.97—60.75. A majority of farmers may be classified as moderate adopters of FSM (index ranging between 30–70%). Farm and farmers’ characteristics such as herd size, farmer’s education level, farmer’s expertise in dairying, and participation of the farm in the formal milk value- chain, were shown to positively influence the level of adoption of FSM. Low farm-level adoption of FSM has food safety and public health implications as it can lead to milk contamination and, therefore, expose consumers to foodborne diseases. There is an imperative for policymakers to design and implement policies and intervention strategies that lead to increased farmer training related to livestock production and awareness of the important role that FSM adoption can play in improving food safety and public health.

In Nepal, international migration is a highly gendered phenomenon. Compared to global figures, where women make up about half of the world’s migrant population, 90% of Nepalese migrants are men. Many of these men migrate alone to earn wages abroad while their families stay behind. This level of male out-migration in Nepal occurs in a context characterized by widespread food insecurity. This paper examines the effects of male out-migration on household food security, especially on the women who stay behind, in the mountains of Far West Nepal. Our findings from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions suggest that male out-migration both alleviates and exacerbates households’ experiences of insufficient quantity and inadequate quality of food, and uncertainty and worry about food. Migration can benefit households that stay behind through remittances which help cover basic expenses, and by facilitating access to loans and credit, and alleviating anxiety about having enough to eat. However, it comes at high costs. Men report undignified, unsafe, and difficult working conditions in India. Women bear additional childcare, fieldwork, and housework responsibilities. Limited male agricultural labor also hampers agricultural productivity and increases households’ reliance on markets to meet basic needs. Drawing on gender- and caste-specific findings, our study highlights the importance of looking beyond the financial aspects of migration when examining its effects on food security.

This paper evaluates the impact of maize and pigeonpea market participation and the level of participation on household welfare measured by consumption expenditure in rural Tanzania. The study used cross-sectional farm household level data collected in 2010 from 700 randomly selected households in northern and eastern zones of Tanzania. Propensity score matching and endogenous switching regression techniques were employed to address the welfare impacts of market participation for binary treatment, while linear regression was employed to address the welfare impacts of the level of market participation. Maize and pigeonpea market participation and the level of participation had positive and significant impacts on the welfare of rural households. On average, maize and pigeonpea market participation increased consumption expenditure per capita in the range of 19.2–20.4 % and 28.3–29.4 %, respectively. Similarly, a one unit increase in the predicted level of market participation increased per capita consumption expenditure by 0.5 and 0.3 %, for both maize and pigeonpea, respectively. This confirms the potential role of market participation and the level of participation in improving rural household welfare, as higher consumption expenditures from market participation also mean improved food security and reduced poverty. Policies aimed at reducing the transaction costs of accessing markets such as improved market information, rural infrastructure and household capacity to produce surplus production are critical to the improvement of household welfare.

The production of sweet potato has the potential to address food insecurity and malnutrition in the context of climate change. However, sustainable production of sweet potato is hampered by poor access to quality seed. We assess the level and determinants of farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for clean seed among smallholder sweet potato farmers and compare the estimated WTP with the cost of seed multiplication. Data for the paper were collected from 383 sweet potato farmers and 30 sweet potato seed multipliers in Kenya. WTP was estimated using the double bounded contingent valuation method while the determinants of WTP were analysed using an ordered probit regression model. Results show that the mean WTP for clean seed was KES 578.94 (about US$ 5.68) for a 90 kg bag with variations in WTP observed across geographical regions and prior use of clean seed. Results further show that WTP increases with prior use of clean seed and experience in sweet potato production. The net cost of clean seed multiplication was KES. 444.81 (US$ 4.36), which is lower than the estimated WTP. These results suggest that seed multiplication business may be economically viable but this will depend on other transaction costs and establishment of efficient distribution systems.

Iraq’s food security has been profoundly affected by its oil-based economy, over three decades of conflict and its politics that have been shaped by authoritarian rentierism. The article outlines the political economy of food security in Iraq and how it has been shaped historically. It identifies various conditioning factors such as oil, conflict, environment, agricultural development strategies and institutional setups, such as the Public Distribution System (PDS), the world’s largest public food program. It then disentangles these factors in an analysis of data from Gallup, Iraq Body Count and various international organizations to give an appreciation of the Iraqi food security situation since the end of the Saddam regime. Finally, it takes a look at views of Iraqi experts on current food security issues in Iraq, using the results of an online survey that was conducted from May–October 2015 among 152 Iraqi experts from academia, ministries and NGOs. Iraqis overwhelmingly identify political instability and bad governance as major challenges to food security; it is unlikely that mere technocratic policy prescriptions can improve food security in the absence of political stability and improved governance.