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Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture
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Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2023) | Viewed by 10590

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maria José Palma Lampreia Dos-Santos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
ISCTE-Institute, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: sustainability; sustainable agriculture; short supply chains of food
Dr. Fernando Mata

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Research and Development in Agrifood Systems and Sustainability. Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo
Interests: sustainable animal production, animal welfare, epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today, we face huge challenges worldwide due to climatic changes and more frequent extreme weather events, which directly affect food security and agricultural production. This compromises livelihoods that are under pressure. Indeed, the increasing global population is putting more pressure on the food production sector worldwide.

Global agrifood systems are defined by economic, social, environmental, and institutional patterns that form the process of food production, distribution, and consumption. Today, the increasing global population and the corresponding food needs, climate change, natural resource and land degradation, rural decline associated with limited resources of land, water and fossil energy, and environmental degradation are the major challenges we face worldwide. To address these challenges, shared action must be taken by researchers from different and complementary fields, namely the fields of food, food security, food and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, agricultural economics and environmental efficiency agricultural systems, agricultural sustainability, food science, and management and marketing related to the food sector. This will enable researchers to more effectively address the adjustment of circuits of food production, processing, distribution, consumption, marketing and governance according to the Sustainable Development Goals in order to promote food quality, health and nutrition, and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable agriculture directly contributes to the achievement of food security and nutrition through the production of food but also contributes indirectly to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), which are mainly composed of carbon dioxide, methane, etc. Indeed, eco-efficient and increased environmental efficiency in agricultural production is needed to achieve the respective SDGs and targets. 

Greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced in agriculture through the use of agricultural systems that are more adapted and resilient to the climatic changes that promote the efficient use of scarce resources in developing or developed countries to achieve food security and social and economic welfare. While the production of food is fundamentally important, according to the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations, it is also important to ensure that the coming generations will also be able to access natural resources.

This Special Issue, entitled “Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture”, aims to gather expertise in the different complementary and non-complementary fields related directly to food security, food security and nutrition, the sustainable production of foods, and the eco-efficiency of agricultural systems. Indeed, papers that analyze the supply chains of foods and the ethical concerns of production and consumption are also welcome. The main aim is to solve the above challenges and provide new insight into research, presenting directions to tackle the present concerns based on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Herein, the Sustainable Development Goals are used as a framework of the topics contextualizing the scope of this Special Issue. Papers should be based on primary research and should have international relevance.

Dr. Maria José Palma Lampreia Dos-Santos
Dr. Fernando Mata
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • consumer attitudes
  • food production
  • food production and nutrition
  • environmental efficiency of the agricultural sector
  • eco-efficiency of agricultural production
  • sustainable production
  • sustainable agriculture
  • sustainable aquaculture
  • sustainable aquaponics
  • short supply chains of food
  • supply chains of food

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4135 KiB  
Article
Do Wealth and Market Access Explain Inconsistent Relationships between Crop Diversity and Dietary Diversity? Evidence from 10 Sub-Saharan African Countries
by Isabel Juliet Curtin, Daniel Tobin and Travis Reynolds
Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 1040; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031040 - 25 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1106
Abstract
Despite the robust literature base that has explored links between household crop diversity and children’s dietary diversity, evidence continues to yield mixed results regarding the efficacy of crop diversity in improving childhood dietary outcomes. Given the variance in the association between agrobiodiversity and [...] Read more.
Despite the robust literature base that has explored links between household crop diversity and children’s dietary diversity, evidence continues to yield mixed results regarding the efficacy of crop diversity in improving childhood dietary outcomes. Given the variance in the association between agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity, we identified wealth and distance to markets as potential factors that may impact these relationships. Through a series of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regressions, this study examines the associations between crop diversity and dietary diversity among households at different levels of wealth in 10 sub-Saharan African countries. Drawing on the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series and Demographic and Health Surveys system, we find that the significance and direction of the association between crop diversity (as proxied using the Simpsons Diversity Index) and children’s dietary diversity (as measured using the Household Dietary Diversity Score) vary by wealth quintile across countries and households: in richer households, crop diversity has a negative effect on dietary diversity, and in poorer households, there is no significant effect. This study indicates the need to understand contextual factors that impact the relationship between agricultural diversity and dietary diversity to inform development policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture)
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12 pages, 3436 KiB  
Article
Improvement of Printability Properties of High-Protein Food from Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) Using Guar Gum for Sustainable Future Food Manufacturing
by Wares Chancharoen, Yossaphol Kaewkumpha, Wanassanan Chansataporn, Potiwat Ngamkajornwiwat and Jirapat Wannakee
Sustainability 2023, 15(24), 16937; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152416937 - 18 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1177
Abstract
Increasing the availability of alternative protein from insects is important for solving food shortages. Not only are insects a rich source of protein, but using insect as ingredients could reduce food waste. Insects are thus a potentially valuable ingredient for food industries and [...] Read more.
Increasing the availability of alternative protein from insects is important for solving food shortages. Not only are insects a rich source of protein, but using insect as ingredients could reduce food waste. Insects are thus a potentially valuable ingredient for food industries and even sustainable food. The three-dimensional production of food for future food has gained attention owing to its potential to reduce autonomous food production and produce sustainable food. This study investigated the printability and rheological properties of a high-protein food system derived from mealworms and guar gum used to improve printability. The stability and rheological properties were analyzed for various printing parameters. The results indicate that the yield stress of the mealworm paste dramatically increased (39 to 1096 Pa) with even a small guar gum concentration resulting in an increase (0 to 1.75%). Increasing the guar gum concentration thus resulted in a mealworm paste that had a more significant value of hardness and cohesiveness but reduced adhesiveness (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the addition of guar gum increased viscosity, and caused the paste to exhibit a shear thinning behavior and ability to support itself and was thus more stable. In summary, introducing guar gum resulted in a mealworm paste with rheological properties more suitable for printing in terms of printability and stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture)
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13 pages, 331 KiB  
Article
European Citizens’ Worries and Self-Responsibility towards Climate Change
by Fernando Mata, Meirielly Santos Jesus, Concha Cano-Díaz and Maria Dos-Santos
Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6862; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086862 - 19 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2457
Abstract
Attitudes and perceptions about climate change (CC) are crucial to public engagement and support in the promotion of mitigating actions and sustainable lifestyles embracing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. This study aimed to investigate how worried are European citizens about CC, and [...] Read more.
Attitudes and perceptions about climate change (CC) are crucial to public engagement and support in the promotion of mitigating actions and sustainable lifestyles embracing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. This study aimed to investigate how worried are European citizens about CC, and what is their willingness to assume self-responsibility in its mitigation. We used the European Social Survey, namely the answers to the questions “How worried are you about climate change?” and “To what extent do you feel a personal responsibility to try to CC?” and have related them with demography and individual perception of the society and its policies. We fit two statistical models to each of the questions studied and found the following: Model 1—people that trust in scientists are more worried about CC, people satisfied with the national government are more worried about CC, women are more worried about CC than men, and older and more educated people are also more worried about CC; Model 2—Women have higher levels of self-responsibility, people that trust in scientists feel more responsibility when satisfied with the economy and the health system of the country, and older people that trust in scientists also have more responsibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture)
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18 pages, 2801 KiB  
Article
Attitudinal and Behavioural Differences towards Farm Animal Welfare among Consumers in the BRIC Countries and the USA
by Fernando Mata, Maria Dos-Santos and Jack Cocksedge
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3619; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043619 - 16 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1938
Abstract
This study explores cross-cultural differences in consumers’ attitudes toward farm animal welfare (FAW) in BRIC countries. Questionnaires administered in each country contained the following questions: (i) “It is important to me that animals used for food are well cared for”, (ii) “The typical [...] Read more.
This study explores cross-cultural differences in consumers’ attitudes toward farm animal welfare (FAW) in BRIC countries. Questionnaires administered in each country contained the following questions: (i) “It is important to me that animals used for food are well cared for”, (ii) “The typical nationality thinks it is important that animals used for food are well cared for”, (iii) “Low meat prices are more important than the well-being of animals used for food”, and (iv) “The typical nationality thinks that low meat prices are more important than the well-being of animals used for food”. Answers were given on a Likert scale (from total disagreement to total agreement). Data fit multinomial logistic models using “Country” and “Gender” as factors and “Age” as a covariate. The results showed that women had stronger pro-animal attitudes. Statements on the perception of FAW importance had an agreement tendency that increased with age, while the opposite was true for meat prices. Brazil showed the highest levels of individual pro-FAW attitudes, and the same trend in relation to meat prices. Russia showed a slightly lower pro-FAW attitude, but the perception of the compatriots’ attitudes towards FAW showed the opposite. Russians in general disagree with low meat prices in exchange for the detriment of FAW. Indians were the least supportive of FAW and, together with the Chinese, were the least supportive of an increase in meat prices to improve FAW. The Chinese showed prominent levels of neutrality towards FAW. These results may contribute to the definition of food and trade policies and help to adjust the supply chain to consumers’ socio-cultural and economic differences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture)
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13 pages, 1080 KiB  
Article
Corncob as Carbon Source in the Production of Xanthan Gum in Different Strains Xanthomonas sp.
by Meirielly Jesus, Fernando Mata, Rejane A. Batista, Denise S. Ruzene, Ricardo Albuquerque-Júnior, Juliana C. Cardoso, Manuela Vaz-Velho, Preciosa Pires, Francine F. Padilha and Daniel P. Silva
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2287; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032287 - 26 Jan 2023
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2704
Abstract
Xanthan gum (XG) is a biopolymer obtained in fermentation and used as a rheology control agent in aqueous systems and in stabilizing emulsions and suspensions. XG, together with other polysaccharides, can form soft, cohesive composite gels. The carbon source in the fermentative process [...] Read more.
Xanthan gum (XG) is a biopolymer obtained in fermentation and used as a rheology control agent in aqueous systems and in stabilizing emulsions and suspensions. XG, together with other polysaccharides, can form soft, cohesive composite gels. The carbon source in the fermentative process is responsible for one-third of the production costs, and the search for less expensive and sustainable alternatives is ongoing. The use of agricultural residues such as the corncob is highly suggestive due to their abundance. This study aims to evaluate the use of derived hemicellulose fractions from the alkaline extraction of corncob as a carbon source in the production of XG in trials using four strains of Xanthomonas sp. (629, 1078, 254, and S6). The results indicate that strain 629 provides the higher yield (8.37 ± 5.75 g L−1) while using a fermentation medium containing a carbon source of saccharose (1.25%), hemicellulose fractions (3.75%), and salts. In this same medium, the strain 629 produces gum in 3% aqueous solution, showing the higher apparent viscosity (9298 ± 31 mPa s−1) at a shear rate of 10 s−1 at 25 °C. In conclusion, corncob is proven to be a promising sustainable alternative carbon source in the obtention of XG, improving the economic viability of the process within a biorefinery context. Saccharose must, however, also be included in the fermentation medium. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Security and Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture)
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