Esta dissertação analisa os conteúdos e interesses presentes no processo de construção da noção de segurança alimentar da comunidade quilombola Maçambique, localizada no município de Canguçu, do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, a partir das ações de intervenções dos mediadores sociais, vinculados ao quadro de funcionários da empresa de assistência técnica e extensão rural - EMATER e do Centro de Apoio ao Pequeno Agricultor-CAPA. Parte-se do pressuposto de que esta elaboração oculta uma disputa entre estas duas instituições, em torno dos referenciais da “nova orientação” para as ações de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural no Brasil. Busca-se, a partir de dados empíricos, analisar as condições e estratégias de acesso aos alimentos pelos agricultores, que contribui para a formação simbólica deste referencial incentivada pelos mediadores sociais. Para isto, utiliza-se o conceito de arena, grupos estratégicos e mediação. Trata-se, portanto, de trazer para o centro da análise os conflitos, interesses e conteúdos presentes e um processo vivo de formação desta idéia, a partir da percepção dos diferentes agentes envolvidos. Nesse sentido, procurou-se identificar os saberes e práticas alimentares dos agricultores quilombolas, a partir de uma abordagem antropológica e social. São algumas dimensões empíricas que foram consideradas para o desenvolvimento das análises aqui postas. Assim, identificou-se que as estratégias usadas pelos agricultores na obtenção dos alimentos estão vinculadas a uma rede social, sustentada em princípios de reciprocidade, configurando uma relação didática. Também verificou-se diferentes conteúdos e interesses nas atuações dos mediadores neste processo, ocorrendo uma disputa em torno da percepção da segurança alimentar dentro da comunidade, polarizando duas teses: tecnificação versus exotização por parte dos mediadores. Chega-se a conclusão que estas duas orientações geram uma violência simbólica; além de uma relação de dominação entre mediadores e mediados. / This dissertation, analyzes the contents and interests present in the concept of alimentary safety, as a process of construction in a community quilombola Maçambique, localize in county of Canguçu, on the state of Rio Grande of South, base on work and interventions of the social mediators that belong to the group of workers of the company of attendance technique and extension rural-EMATER and to the Center of Support to Small Farmer-CAPA. It starts with the presupposition that this elaboration, hides one dispute among these two establishments, around of ideas about “the new orientation” for the actions of Attendance Technique and Extension Rural to the Brazil. It looks for, to begin, from empirical data, to analyze the conditions and strategies of accessing the foods by the farmers, which contribute for the formation of symbolic referent, motivate by the social mediators. For this, I use the arena concept of the groups strategic and mediation. So, it’s necessary to bring to the center of the analysis the conflicts, interests and contents present in one system, alive, on formation of that knowledge, to start with the perception of this different agents involved. On this sense, it wants to identify the knowledge and uses alimentary by the quilombolas farmers’, from one anthropological and social approach. They are some of the empirical dimensions that were taking into account for the developments of the analyses considered here. So, it recognizes that the strategies used by the farmers for obtained the foods; it’s connected to one social net, sustained in foundations of reciprocities, which configured one ‘diática’ relationship. Also it verified different contents and interests on the actuations of mediators’ on this process, occurring one dispute around the perception of alimentary safety inside the community that polarize two theses: technicality versus exoticism from the mediators. I arrived to the conclusion that this two guidance’s generate a symbolic violence, beyond one relationship of domination among mediators and mediated.

Demand for both food and water are projected to increase substantially in the next four decades. Water scarcity is also projected to increase in scale and complexity. Climate change is projected to increase temperatures, spatio-temporal variability in rainfall, frequency and severity of droughts and soil water stresses to crops. Due to the crucial role of water in crop growth and yield formation, prolonged or severe soil water deficits in crop producing areas can result in substantial yield penalties. The potential of food trade to help address food insecurity as a result of insufficient water availability for crop production has been rationalized in the virtual water concept. The aim of this thesis was to improve the evidence base for understanding and evaluating the relationships between future water availability for crop production and food trade (or virtual water flows), and the utility of the virtual water concept to inform policy and management decisions on water-food security. The UK and barley were used as a model country and crop, respectively. Three crop growth simulation models (AquaCrop, CropWat and WaSim) were evaluated for their abilities to estimate the water use of 10 barley genotypes. Subsequently, the effect of projected climate change on UK barley yields in the 2030s, 2040s and 2050s was simulated using the high, medium and low emission scenarios data from the UK Climate Projections 2009 (UKCP09). Projections of total UK feed barley supply and demand were performed to quantify potential virtual water flows and to analyse the implications for food security and policy. The results show that the predicted water use of barley differed between the models but not among the genotypes. Predicted seasonal water use of the barley genotypes ranged from 241.4 to 319.2 mm. Based on the root mean square error (RMSE) and the index of agreement (D-Stat) values, CropWat performed poorly while AquaCrop and WaSim performed excellently. Barley yields under projected climate change increased substantially over baseline yields in all UK regions. Projected mean barley yields for the UK ranged from 6.04 tons ha-1 (2030s) to 7.77 tons ha-1 (2050s). In spite of the projected increase in yields, the UK faces the risk of large deficits in feed barley and meat supply from the 2030s to the 2050s due to a combination of population growth, increased per capita meat demand and reductions in land area allocated to barley production. Finally, current water scarcity concepts were found to be incompatible with water availability and consumption in crop producing areas, a situation that diminishes the usefulness of the virtual water concept for policy. To address this deficiency, a framework for making water scarcity compatible with crop production was proposed. In conclusion, the poor performance of CropWat has implications for its wider use in quantifying global virtual water flows associated with crop trade. Even though UK barley yields are projected to increase under projected climate change, the projected deficits in feed barley and meat supply threatens to destabilize future UK food security. The UK can rely on import to offset the large deficits in feed barley and meat supply but can use the proposed framework to reduce the effect of its imports on water scarcity in the exporting countries. The proposed framework improves understanding and evaluation of the role and usefulness of the virtual water concept in water-food security policy and management decisions.

O Brasil possui posição privilegiada diante da Crise dos Alimentos: pode se tornar o maior exportador agrícola mundial, é reconhecido por suas políticas de Segurança Alimentar e possui vantagens estratégicas em termos de matriz energética. No entanto, essa posição é ameaçada por um ponto de estrangulamento no setor de fertilizantes. A contribuição do Direito para a superação deste gargalo é o tema desta tese. Defende-se que esse quadro decorre, em parte, da desorganização das ferramentas de jurídicas, que, ao longo da história, contribuíram positivamente para o desenvolvimento do setor. A reversão desse gargalo, portanto, exige a reorganização do ambiente institucional da indústria, por meio de ferramentas jurídicas de planejamento (III Plano Nacional de Fertilizantes), financiamento (investimento de Capital de Risco para o desenvolvimento de inovações tecnológicas sustentáveis) e regulação (reforma da legislação mineral). Assim, o Direito Econômico pode informar uma intervenção indutiva transformadora/pró-ativa, contribuindo para a superação do ponto de estrangulamento no setor de fertilizantes e para que o país aproveite as oportunidades geradas pela Crise dos Alimentos. / Brazil is in a leading position in the light of the Food Crisis: it may become the largest agricultural exporter in the world, is well renowned for its Food Safety policies, and also has strategic advantages in terms of its energy matrix. However, this position is now in jeopardy, due to a bottleneck in the fertilizer area. The contribution of Law to overcome this bottleneck is the theme addressed in this thesis. This work defends the idea that this situation is, in part, a result of the disorganization of the judicial tools that, throughout the countrys history, have made a positive contribution to the development of this segment. Hence, the reversal of this bottleneck situation may not do without a reorganization of the institutional environment, through judicial tools for planning (the 3rd National Fertilizer Plan), financing (investment of venture capital for the development of sustainable technological innovations) and also regulation (a rethink of legislation regarding minerals). In this way, Economic Law can inform a transforming or proactive inductive intervention, thereby helping towards the overcoming of the bottleneck in the fertilizer segment and also so that the country may take advantage of the opportunities generated by the Food Crisis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the needs and relationships of high-risk community members in Cocke County Tennessee to food sources. Cocke County was chosen as the representative county in this pilot study due its high percentage of residents living at or below the poverty level, which can lead to hunger and food insecurities. A community food assessment was conducted among residents participating in a commodities disbursement program in Cocke County. Two hundred seven individuals participated in this survey. The results of the surveys were posted and analyzed using an online statistical analysis software program. With the needs of the Cocke County community identified, steps will be taken to implement a plan of action and the results from this study will also be used as a model to identify needs in both Greene and Hancock counties as well as other counties in the Northeast Tennessee region.

Non-profits that do community-led food justice work with lower income communities face particular constraints and opportunities. This study examined those constraints and opportunities through participant observation of one such organization and interviews with four other organizations. Findings include the diversity of definitions for “community-led,” assets that can help or constrain the organization, and diversity in defining “scaling up” their organization models and missions. The organizations that heavily focused on lower income consumers noted tensions with the board of the non- profit and lack of engagement of consumers. I conclude by critiquing using language such as “models,” “scaling up,” or “replicating” when doing community-led food justice with lower income communities. I propose using the “scaling deep” framework (Moore, Riddell & Vocisano, 2015) and using Social Network Analysis as a tool for community development and developing alternative food initiatives with lower income individuals and communities.

Introduction: Food insecurity prevalence in Washington County, TN is 14.3% yet 61% of SNAP eligible residents are food insecure. Food insecurity is associated with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as increased risk of chronic disease. Tennessee ranks 47th in the Nation with only 6.7% consuming the recommended fruits and vegetable intake. The Farmacy Pilot Program was developed to encourage increased consumption of produce and to reduce food insecurity among SNAP recipients. Methods: This program provided vouchers to SNAP recipients and their families to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the farmers market and in the grocery store as a monthly prescription. Participants were recruited from a clinic and two community centers in Washington County. Participants were given $28 - $112 a month depending on household size. Participants were required to attend at least two nutrition classes. Baseline and 6-month follow up assessments were done of food intake patterns among 29 participants, and focus groups were held (n= 11) and a total of 22 interviews conducted. Mixed methods approach was used for analysis: survey data was analyzed on SPSS and thematic analysis conducted for the qualitative data. Results: Major themes that emerged were: decreased cost of produce, increased positive perception of fruits and vegetables, improved perception of their personal health after change in diet, and increased utilization of farmers markets. Barriers identified were cultural and language hurdles, market variability in cost and quality of produce, and transportation. Survey findings included increased intake of green vegetables (t= -2.13, p =.042). Other findings lacked statistical power to detect significance yet were of clinical significance: improvements in frequency of produce consumption, produce variety, and a reduction in food insecurity. Discussion: Providing additional funds targeted on fresh produce can increase food security and increased quantity, frequency and variety of fruits and vegetables consumed. Promoting utilization of farmers market offers a promising avenue for increased consumption of fresh produce and improved social connectedness in the community.

Transdisciplinary food systems research aims to merge insights from multiple fields, often revealing confounding, complex interactions. Computational modeling offers a means to discover patterns and formulate novel solutions to such systems-level problems. The best models serve as hubs—or boundary objects—which ground and unify a collaborative, iterative, and transdisciplinary process of stakeholder engagement. This dissertation demonstrates the application of agent-based modeling, network analytics, and evolutionary computational optimization to the pressing food systems problem areas of livestock epidemiology and global food security. It is comprised of a methodological introduction, an executive summary, three journal-article formatted chapters, and an overarching discussion section. Chapter One employs an agent-based computer model (RUSH-PNBM v.1.1) developed to study the potential impact of the trend toward increased producer specialization on resilience to catastrophic epidemics within livestock production chains. In each run, an infection is introduced and may spread according to probabilities associated with the various modes of contact between hog producer, feed mill, and slaughter plant agents. Experimental data reveal that more-specialized systems are vulnerable to outbreaks at lower spatial densities, have more abrupt percolation transitions, and are characterized by less-predictable outcomes; suggesting that reworking network structures may represent a viable means to increase biosecurity. Chapter Two uses a calibrated, spatially-explicit version of RUSH-PNBM (v.1.2) to model the hog production chains within three U.S. states. Key metrics are calculated after each run, some of which pertain to overall network structures, while others describe each actor’s positionality within the network. A genetic programming algorithm is then employed to search for mathematical relationships between multiple individual indicators that effectively predict each node’s vulnerability. This “meta-metric” approach could be applied to aid livestock epidemiologists in the targeting of biosecurity interventions and may also be useful to study a wide range of complex network phenomena. Chapter Three focuses on food insecurity resulting from the projected gap between global food supply and demand over the coming decades. While no single solution has been identified, scholars suggest that investments into multiple interventions may stack together to solve the problem. However, formulating an effective plan of action requires knowledge about the level of change resulting from a given investment into each wedge, the time before that effect unfolds, the expected baseline change, and the maximum possible level of change. This chapter details an evolutionary-computational algorithm to optimize investment schedules according to the twin goals of maximizing global food security and minimizing cost. Future work will involve parameterizing the model through an expert informant advisory process to develop the existing framework into a practicable food policy decision-support tool.

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks exposed vulnerabilities to U.S. homeland security and defense, leading U.S. officials to analyze threats to domestic and international interests. Terrorist attacks against food and water supplies (agro-terrorism), were deemed a national security threat because of the assessed fear, economic instability, and social instability that could occur following a food shortage. Research indicated a comprehensive response plan does not exist across the federal, state, and local levels of government to mitigate the public's possible responses to a perceived threat to food security and food shortages following an agro-terrorist attack. This ethnographic case study analyzed the perceived threats to food security and the possible responses to food shortages in Yuma, Arizona (the 'winter lettuce capitol of the world'). Coleman and Putnam's theories of social capital served as the theoretical framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews of nine residents and six experts from Yuma's departments of government to examine the relative atmospherics between the citizens and government officials. Findings indicated that a comprehensive plan does not exist, and perceived fears and the lack of knowledge about emergency preparedness in a society with high social capital and community resilience can still create the conditions for chaos and anomie. Recommendations include improving communication, education, and expectation management of citizens. Implications for social change include improving public awareness and individual responsibility for preparedness, as well as assisting policymakers in maintaining social capital to deter social disorganization and anomie during disasters.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The objective of the study is to evaluate the socio-economic impact of poverty alleviation and food security projects implemented by the Department of Agriculture in Limpopo Province. Data were collected from beneficiaries, stakeholders and literature. The analysis is based on the status of the projects before the intervention and the present status after the implementation of the programme. In most instances the beneficiaries and stakeholders were not part of the plenary for the programme. Observations also show that it seems interest and ability in agricultural activities was not tested before implementing the programme. Sustainability of a project depends on the involvement of all relevant key players, stakeholders and beneficiaries, from the initial stage through monitoring and evaluation stages, to closure of the project.

Food insecurity (FI) is a significant risk factor in malnutrition which can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes. The association of FI to undernutrition can additionally lead to impaired cognitive development in children. Nearly $100 billion is spent annually on federal nutrition programs yet FI still affects 1 in 8 American households pointing to the urgent need for the further refinement of our national/regional anti-hunger models. One notable and underutilized tool is the community food security assessment (CFA) which seeks to eliminate FI at the local level by improving food access throughout the community. A major limitation in knowledge about CFAs is the dearth of empirical studies of their effectiveness. The principal aim of this dissertation research was to statistically examine secondary data on U.S. counties where CFAs have been conducted and to determine whether they helped reduce individual FI over a two-year, post-test period. Repeated measures of ANOVA across the longitudinal time frame for n=66 counties revealed the main effect of FI was not statistically significant. A majority (56.9%) of 37 counties experienced a decrease in FI over the period. Linear regression found that unemployment was a significant influence in communities that experienced decreases in individual FI at the county level during the pre-test/post-test interval (β = .387 [.067], p<.01). This dissertation found that CFAs can be more effective in areas of higher unemployment as well as geographically where FI is initially higher, however further research is clearly needed in more communities over a longer time period. Also, the study suggests that proper development and structure of state and local-level food policy councils (FPCs) may lead CFAs to find better structure, funding and best practices to become more effective. Overlays prepared with ArcGIS mapping demonstrate that, in general, CFAs are not being performed in areas of highest FI when measured at the county level. The most important take-away from the visual mapping is the dearth of studies performed in the southeastern and southwestern regions of the country where county-level FI is higher, on average, than the rest of the country. These regions coincide with much of the Southern Black Belt and areas where Hispanic or Latino populations are most prevalent suggesting that communities in these regions may be able to benefit from the intervention.