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21. Twin peaks: the seasonality of acute malnutrition, conflict, and environmental factors

Author:
Helen Young, Anastasia Marshak, and Aishwarya Venkat
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Abstract:
This report highlights major new findings on the seasonal patterns of child malnutrition and their links to climate variability, conflict, and livelihood systems in Chad, Sudan, and South Sudan. Contrary to long-held assumptions about acute malnutrition escalating in the lean season, our data show that there are two peaks of acute malnutrition. The first and larger peak occurs at the end of the dry season, followed later by a second, smaller peak after the lean season. Our analysis demonstrates a significant relationship between acute malnutrition, conflict trends, and environmental factors. The findings underscore the importance of environmental variability and the persistence of climate, conflict, and other shocks in relation to livelihood resilience and transformation over time. The findings raise specific considerations for data collection, future research, programming, and policy, which are detailed in the report and briefing paper.
Topic:
Food, Children, Food Security, Youth, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, Chad, and South Sudan

22. Constraints and Complexities of Information and Analysis in Humanitarian Emergencies: Evidence from Yemen

Author:
Daniel Maxwell, Peter Hailey, Lindsay Spainhour Baker, and Jeeyon Janet Kim
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Abstract:
Since 2014, Yemen has been engaged in a civil war between the Houthi group and supporters of Yemen’s internationally recognized government. By the end of 2018, the UN estimated that 15.9 million people—more than half the population—were facing severe acute food insecurity and in need of immediate food assistance. This report analyzes the challenges facing famine analysis in Yemen, including the Famine Risk Monitoring system recently put in place, and the integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, used globally. The IPC is managed by a technical working group with the support of the food security and nutrition clusters and close involvement of the Yemeni authorities. Following the analysis, the report offers recommendations for ways to improve data collection and analysis on famine and famine risk in Yemen.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, War, Food, Food Security, Refugees, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Middle East, Yemen, and North Africa

23. From Scarcity to Security: Managing Water for a Nutritious Food Future

Author:
Mark Rosegrant
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
From Scarcity to Security: Managing Water for a Nutritious Food Future MARCH 21, 2019 By: Mark W. Rosegrant, Nonresident Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture The world is running out of clean, fresh water to feed—and nourish—a growing global population. Approximately 2.4 billion people—more than one-third of the global population—currently live in water-scarce regions, and projections indicate that by 2050 over one-half of the world’s population could be at risk due to water stress. At the same time, global demand for water will continue to increase, driven by population growth, rising consumption, urbanization, and energy needs. The stakes are high for protecting and effectively managing this vital resource, as increasing water scarcity threatens to undermine the progress that has been made on global food and nutrition security. Failure to treat water as a strategic, valuable, and limited resource will accelerate water insecurity, even for historically water-secure populations, and may threaten the economic and political security of nations, including the United States.
Topic:
Security, Water, Food, and Scarcity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

24. Driving Growth and Innovation in the Food Industry: Lessons from the Automobile Industry’s CAFE Standards

Author:
Hank Cardello
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Hudson Institute
Abstract:
Poor dietary patterns are the leading cause of noncommunicable disease in the U.S., and they are creating a significant burden on the economy and on quality of life. Diet-related disease is having a large impact on health outcomes among children and adults, leading to increasing healthcare costs, which has led to a focus on regulatory measures to curb the rising tide. Regulation has largely focused on the U.S. food system, as it provides low-cost, calorie-dense foods, which have been linked to a substantial increase in calories in the food supply and excessive calorie consumption. Substandard eating habits are linked to a number of health conditions, such as diabetes and obesity. Diabetes rates in the U.S. have more than tripled since 1970, and nearly 40 percent of adults are categorized as having obesity. The cost to the healthcare system is significant, and a myriad of health issues are linked to its pervasive spread in the country. Particularly concerning are increasing obesity rates among children, amidst continued public health interventions at the local, state, and national levels. Public health officials continue to advocate for additional regulation to shift dietary patterns. Policy efforts have ranged from voluntary commitments by the food industry to government-driven regulations such as taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages and package-labeling provisions. Most of the government regulatory approaches to date have been piecemeal, typically led by local government bodies and focusing on a specific type of food or beverage for taxation, or tending to address a particular component, such as food package labeling. For example, Berkeley, CA passed a sugar-sweetened beverage tax in 2014, and the FDA has mandated changes to food labels to increase transparency about calories and added sugars. This paper seeks to open the discussion on a broader policy approach to reduce excessive consumption of calories, sugars, saturated fats, and sodium, which are linked to conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. It will do this by exploring Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, an automobile industry “cap and trade” regulatory model.
Topic:
Economics, Food, Governance, Culture, Regulation, Economic growth, Innovation, Public Health, Society, and Obesity
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

25. The Helmand Food Zone: The Illusion of Success

Author:
David Mansfield
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
This study documents how the Helmand Food Zone was developed, its origins and architects, as well as the different actors involved in the implementation and the subsequent challenges of delivery. Initially presented as a drug control project, the Helmand Food Zone came to be accredited for supporting stabilisation and governance in the Helmand province between 2008 and 2012. Driven by political demands rather than evidence, the program became a flagship in Helmand, and lauded as a success, despite evidence to the contrary. The study builds on in-depth fieldwork and high-resolution satellite imagery collected before, during and after the implementation of the Helmand Food Zone, as well as interviews with some of the main protagonists in the donor community. In total, 4,122 household interviews took place with farmers over an 11-year period in either all or some of the 28 research sites in Helmand province, in areas both north and south of the Boghra canal. The latest body of fieldwork was conducted in spring 2018 and consisted of 310 interviews in the same research sites, supplemented with a further 52 interviews with women who resided in former desert areas.
Topic:
Food, Governance, Women, and Drugs
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and South Asia

26. Environmental Politics in the Middle East

Author:
Center for International and Regional Studies
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International and Regional Studies: CIRS
Abstract:
This report provides a summary of the "Environmental Politics in the Middle East" research initiative, which explores the geopolitics of natural resources in the Middle East in an attempt to expand the focus to include the region’s many natural resources other than natural gas, such as land, air, water, and food. Some of the issues under investigation include a focus on water scarcity, which is a global issue but one that is particularly acute in the Middle East; its impacts are examined through a case study on Yemen. Food security is studied in the case of Syria, which before the civil war began, in 2011, was one of the region’s notable food exporters. Aside from acute food shortages within Syria, the conflict has had ripple effects on the region and has led to rising food prices in neighboring states, such as Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources, and Food
Political Geography:
Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, Yemen, Syria, and Jordan

27. Venezuela’s Crisis Is Now a Regional Humanitarian Disaster

Author:
Moises Rendon and Mark L Schneider
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The Issue Venezuela has been subjected to an unprecedented man-made humanitarian crisis, including extreme food and medicine shortages, thousands of children dying of malnutrition, and malnourished people contracting formerly eradicated diseases. While Venezuela’s dictatorial regime has repeatedly rejected humanitarian aid from the outside, the country’s humanitarian, economic, social, and institutional collapse, along with fierce political repression, have caused 1.2 million Venezuelans to flee the country over the past two years, with hundreds of thousands more and possibly millions expected to flee in the future. Our Recommendations Encourage the United States and other like-minded countries to provide leadership on the diplomatic and assistance fronts to help respond to this crisis. Work to build consensus within the international community on the urgency of the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis and to agree on steps to address the crisis, including convening a high-level task force. Develop a comprehensive policy response that includes immediate relief efforts on Venezuela’s border with Colombia and within Venezuela using innovative mechanisms due to the current limited humanitarian access. Provide immediate technical assistance to help estimate the level of need and identify available resources. Support and engage civil society and local actors, including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, and entrepreneurs, as well as the Venezuelan diaspora community, to help limit the suffering of the Venezuelan people. Encourage host countries to grant temporary protected status to Venezuelans and create a broader burden-sharing arrangement in the region for processing those seeking refuge, following the recent guidelines by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Support the use of innovative technology tools, such as blockchain and digital currencies, to facilitate distribution of aid within and beyond Venezuela.
Topic:
Health, Poverty, United Nations, Food, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
United States, South America, and Venezuela

28. Berry Brothers & Rudd: Family, Reputation, and the Cultivation of the European Wine Trade

Author:
Douglas Ajram, Charlie Harris, and Christopher McKenna
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxford Centre for Global History
Abstract:
There is no better testament to the longevity of Berry Bros. & Rudd than its rich history of, and great capacity for, reinvention. The family firm began life as a grocery store in 1698, founded by a woman now known only as the Widow Bourne. It is now Britain’s oldest wine and spirits merchant, and one of the nation’s ten oldest family-run businesses, boasting six Masters of Wine – the most of any company in the world – as well as two Royal Warrants, a mark of recognition for tradespeople that provide goods or services to the British royal family.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, Food, and Capitalism
Political Geography:
Europe

29. Fracture In Food And Agriculture As Urban And Rural Areas Integrate: Searching For New Horizons Where The Old Stalls

Author:
Bediz Yılmaz
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
We are at a time when old definitions are being shaken up. Here I will track these splits and try to see what traces are shaping in their place. Let’s start with the city and the rural area. There is a credo of a definition in urban sociology. Despite changes in the social reality and notwithstanding those sociological approaches with a critical perspective, this definition does not change and is repeated through generations. The definition says: “City is the place where nonagricultural economic activities take place.” It is difficult to assert the validity of this definition in any particular time in history, and one does not know where to begin to explain that it does not stand today either. If you live in a medium-sized city like Mersin it is especially difficult to tell apart the city and rural areas, which one violates the other, what exactly is a rural area and which way it falls.
Topic:
Agriculture, Food, Food Security, Economy, Urban, and Rural
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

30. Veganism: An Elegant Solution to a Host of Global Problems?

Author:
Nina Gheihman
Publication Date:
02-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The year 2016 was hailed the “Year of Veganism.”[1] In the last year alone, Google searches for the term “vegan” increased by 32 percent; the World Health Organization classified processed meat as a carcinogen in the same class as cigarettes[2]; and a survey by Nutrition Business Journal found that more than a third of people consume dairy and meat alternatives regularly.[3] While many people still see veganism—the non-consumption of products derived from animals—as an extreme cultural practice, it is clear that veganism is no longer a marginalized social movement. This brings up the intriguing sociological question: How does a fringe cultural practice become mainstream? Cultural and organizational sociologists have long studied why people join social movements, how social movements grow, and their consequences. However, less well understood are the microdynamics by which social movements become culturally meaningful. In my preliminary research I argue that the primary driver of the increased interest in veganism over the last five years can be attributed to the emergence of a new class of promoters I call “cultural brokers” who have transformed what it means to be an activist today. These brokers have a foot in several worlds—some in the corporate realm, others in the media, and still others in academia. Given their position in these intersecting fields, they are able to draw on ideas and resources from various spheres, and therefore change the collective societal image we have of veganism. At the same time, given that veganism is an increasingly global movement, these brokers must be strategic to target their work in particular ways across social contexts, since what is effective in one society may not resonate in the same way in another setting. Why practice veganism? There are the proven health benefits of cutting out animal products, the huge environmental costs of meat, and the ethical issues of modern-day factory farming and food security. From a health perspective, plant foods have the potential to improve human health and reduce healthcare costs globally by preventing lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes, and certain site-specific cancers.[4] From an environmental perspective, according to a 2006 UN Report, livestock are responsible for approximately 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions[5], more than the entire global transportation sector.[6] Animal agriculture is also a dominant contributor to concurrent environmental problems such as land use, freshwater pollution, food waste, species extinction, deforestation and native habitat destruction, erosion, and pesticide usage for monoculture feed stocks.[7]
Topic:
Environment, Food, Social Movement, and Veganism
Political Geography:
Global Focus