Abstract: Food access is one of the food security pillars. Food security encompasses physical and economic access to food. For most Mediterranean people affordability is a key factor determining access to food. Food affordability is dependent not only on food cost but also on the disposable income that can be spent on food. The paper aims at analysing food accessibility and affordability at household and country levels in the Mediterranean region. The paper uses secondary data from different sources (e.g. FAO, World Bank, the Economist, LABORSTA) to analyse the trends of different indicators: food affordability; food consumer price index; household food expenditure; cereals imports dependency; and Values of food imports over total merchandise exports. In March 2013, food affordability score of the Global Food Security Index ranged from 34.8 in to 86.5 in . The share of food consumption expenditure in total household expenditure is high e.g. 67.3% in and 43.9% in . During the period 2005-2011, the highest increase of the FAO food consumer price index was recorded in followed by and . FAO consumer cereal price index increased more than meat price index in the period 2004-2012. Cereals import dependency is high in all Mediterranean Arab countries; up to 80% in drought years in . In the and more than four-fifths of merchandise exports are dedicated to food imports. In the period 1990-92/2008-10, the coverage of food imports with total exports deteriorated especially in the , and . Adequate and consistent economic access to safe, nutritious and high quality food, even in times of crisis, is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable food and nutrition security in the . However, accessible and affordable diets should not be taken for granted in the Mediterranean region.

Abstract: Food security exists when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. Food security is built on four pillars: availability, access, utilization and stability. Food and nutrition security embraces meeting energy, protein and nutrient needs for healthy life. Food systems overlap with agricultural systems in the area of food production, but also comprise the diverse set of institutions, technologies and practices that govern the way food is marketed, processed, transported, accessed and consumed. The food system activities are grouped into four categories: producing food, processing and packaging food, distributing and retailing food, and consuming food. The review paper aims at highlighting the connections and linkages between food sustainability and food security. There are very strong linkages between food and nutrition security, responsible environmental stewardship and greater fairness in food management. They intersect in agricultural and food systems at the global, national and local levels. Today, the main concern for the food and agricultural sector is to provide simultaneously enough food, in quantity and quality, to meet the nutritional needs of a growing population and to conserve natural resources for future generations. A sustainable food system supports food security, makes optimal use of natural and human resources, is culturally acceptable and accessible, environmentally sound and economically fair and viable, and provides the consumer with nutritionally adequate, safe, healthy and affordable food for present and future generations. Changes in both food consumption and food production are important to ensure more sustainable food systems and to achieve food and nutrition security in the Mediterranean region. Since diets sustainability is of paramount importance for achieving food and nutrition security, there is an urgent need to design and implement appropriate policies to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the current food consumption patterns.

Abstract: Mercury (Hg) is a pollutant of global importance that adversely impacts ecological and human health. A total of 140 Thunnus albacores (yellowfin tuna) and 176 of Xiphias gladius (swordfish) samples collected from the Indian Ocean around Sri Lanka in the period of July 2009 to March 2010 were examined for total mercury content and used to evaluate the mercury intake of Sri Lankan population. Total mercury concentrations of muscular tissues of fish were determined using cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. The results indicated that the highest mercury concentration were noted in swordfish 0.90±0.52 mg/kg, wet weight and followed by yellowfin tuna (0.30±0.18 mg/kg, wet weight). The projected intake values of mercury through human consumption were calculated (µg kg^-1 body wt. weekly^-1) and were compared with those of provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) per kg body weight as stipulated by the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) and Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).The estimated PTWI were lower than for yellowfin tuna and swordfish stipulated guidelines and therefore, was not considered to pose adverse effects to the humans with the present fish consumption volume.

Abstract: Recent assessments concluded that 38% of the Palestinian population is food insecure. In addition, 11% and 16% of the population in West Bank and Gaza Strip respectively, are vulnerable to food insecurity. Increasing food production could be achieved either by increasing the agricultural productivity and/or expanding cultivable land. The main goal of this study is to provide an accurate guide for the unused lands in the Hebron Governorate on its suitability for reclamation and the best usage of these lands for cultivation via GIS techniques. According to the reclamation suitability level, the land was classified into four categories: most, highly, moderate, and least suitable. Main parameters included were landform class (slope, foot slope, hill crest, and drainage depression), slope degree, rockoutcrop percentage, aspect, and climate (arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid).Out of 106,700 hectare of the total area of the Hebron Governorate, only 30% is devoted to various agricultural practices and 62% is still unused and thereby available for land use. Additionally, the study results indicated that a total of 24,560 hectares were suitable for reclamation. Of this, 13%, 60%, and 27% were found to be mostly, highly, and moderately respectively suitable for reclamation. The present study is the first attempt to evaluate the land suitability for reclamation at Palestine level using GIS techniques.

Abstract: The potentials of Agro Industry towards nation's development can not be over-emphasized in any country, especially developing countries like . is among the highest producers of many crops, which could be processed into value added products (VAPs) to enhance foreign earnings. Many advantages abound when effective policies are enacted and implemented in the agriculture sector towards realising potentials. However, policy formulations and implementation have remained a major problem in the development of their Agro food Industry in the sub-Saharan African countries, including . The required processing techniques to convert crops and tubers into VAPs are usually hampered because of non availability of necessary processing facilities, and when available the power required to run them is lacking or grossly insufficient. Many other challenges are encountered in most developing countries of , some of which have been identified in the current report. Summarily, Nigeria, and indeed sub-Saharan African countries, could benefit immensely from the potentials inherent in the Agro Food Industry towards achieving food security, if the challenges currently confronting the sector are tackled headlong and the policy formulations are proactively implemented.