Abstract: Field experiments were conducted at Dry Land Research Sub-station of Sher-e Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu during rabi (winter) (winter) season of 2008-09 to kharif (monsoon)(monsoon) season of 2010 on the same site and layout. The experimental field was well drained upland with bulk density of 1.46 Mg/m³. The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam with low in organic carbon (0.42%), available nitrogen (174.2 kg/ha) and medium in available phosphorus (16.5 kg/ha), potassium (124.0 kg/ha) and sulphur (20.4 kg/ha). The study was conducted with the objective to identify the most suitable and promising mustard-maize intercropping sequence in changing climate scenario under kandi areas of Jammu region. The two years experimental findings revealed that the system productivity (47.0 and 49.1 kg/ha/day), production efficiency (59.6 and 62.3), nitrogen build up (18.7 kg/ha)and net returns (Rs.71608 and Rs.71090 /ha) with a benefit –cost ratio of 2.54 and 2.32 during the year 2008-09 and 2009-10,respectively were higher in the sequence where mustard was intercropped with fieldpea when succeeded by maize grown in association with cowpea followed by the sequence mustard+fieldpea succeeded by maize in association with moongbean intercropping sequences.

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.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to provide a framework in order to analyze the relation between trade liberalization and food security in Africa. From the 80s, the Bretton Woods institutions consider trade liberalization as a solution to achieve food security in Africa. In this study, the analysis of food security indicators is based on: availability, accessibility and stability / volatility. The situation is that several years after the application of this trade policy, the goal is still not achieved. Thus, reforming agricultural policies in Africa, a fair multilateral trade, the necessary facilities for the African countries to access international markets, and maintaining complementarity between Multilateralism and Regionalism are necessary conditions to promote food security in Africa.

Abstract: We examined associations between cotton cropping, women’s empowerment, and household food insecurity in Burkina Faso. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2012 pre-harvest period. Socioeconomic characteristics and agricultural production data were collected using a questionnaire. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) questionnaire was used to assess household food insecurity. Four villages of western Burkina Faso were selected for the study. In total, 275 farmer’s households, who had at least one child between the age of 6 and 59 months, participated in the survey. Food insecurity affected 67% of households. HFIAS score was negatively correlated with the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) (r = - 0.40, P = 0.000006). Cotton cropping was not directly associated with the HFIAS score, while women’s workload (positively) and income-generating activities (negatively) were. Interestingly, the only village where women could own cotton fields was negatively associated with the HFIAS score. An intensive cotton production was positively associated with the amount of time women spent fetching water and was tendentiously associated with women’s working time in cotton fields. Finally, the size of cotton farms was positively associated with the practice of petty trading. The relationships between cash cropping, women’s daily activities, and food insecurity are dynamic, behaviour related, and should be targeted for appropriate behaviour change intervention in order to alleviate food insecurity.

Abstract: Soumbala is an African fermented locust beans used as a food condiment in Burkina that it quality could be affected due to hygienic practices. The present study aimed to show the implication of traditional process on hygienic quality of soumbala. Soumbala a fermented condiment was collected in six ethnical groups of Burkina Faso. A total of 120 samples were analysed using standards methods of microbiology. The microbial analysis showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) among microorganism groups following to the synthetized diagrams (A and B). Significant difference (p < 0.05) was established among microorganisms targeted in diagram A versus diagram B comparing separately the amount of Bacillus sp. (18.77 ± 0.29% VS 37.22 ± 0.076%), Micrococcus sp. (17.52 ± 0.65% VS 10.68 ± 0.38%) and Staphylococcus sp. (19.63 ± 0.35% VS 14.49 ± 0.2%), Yeasts and Molds (34.74 ± 0.098% VS 37.6 ± 0.26%), Total coliform (9.1 ± 0.16% VS 0). The results indicated that samples of soumbala contain various microorganisms due the impact of processing.

Abstract: The isolation and identification of food pathogens from freshly milled palm oil as well as the effect of steam sterilization on some quality parameters of palm oil was evaluated. Microbial isolations and quality parameters were carried out at day 0, day 14 and day 28. Biochemical parameters such as Peroxide value, Anisidine value, Free fatty acid, Deterioration of bleachibility index (DOBI) and Carotene value was analyzed in the same samples using the digital Palmoiltester. The most frequently isolated bacteria from the unsterilized samples were Pseudomonas aerugenosa, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus aerogenes, Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Micrococcus varians while the most frequently isolated fungal species were Aspergillus niger aggregate (IMI number 503810), Cochliobolus sp. (anamorphic state: Curvularia) (IMI number 503811), Penicillium citrinum (IMI number 503812) and a yeast, Meyerozyma guilliermondii (IMI number 503813). The fungal count in the unsterilized samples from day 0 to day 28 was in the range of 2.17 x 10³ to 5.0x10⁶ while the bacteria count ranged from 4.08 x 10² to 9.0x 10⁸. The sterilized sample showed no microbial contamination throughout the 28 day storage. However, sterilization caused significant changes when compared with unsterilized sample as thus; significant (p<0.05) increases in peroxide value of up to 5.14% and 15.99% after the 14^th and 28^th day respectively, significant (p<0.05) increases in anisidine value of up to 170% and 200% for day 14 and day 28 respectively, significant (p<0.05) decreases in carotene content of up to 11.84% and 15.79% for day 14 and day 28 respectively, significant (p<0.05) decreases in DOBI value of up to 37.46% and 37.73% for day 14 and day 28 respectively and no significant (p>0.05) changes in free fatty acids.