No abstract available / Thesis (DVSc)--University of Pretoria, 1948. / Includes bibliographical references. / Production Animal Studies / DVSc / Unrestricted

The food supply chain has gained impulse over the past few years induced by the rising global demand for food; therefore, much emphasis is placed upon examining this class of supply chains. It also faces constant production, storage, and distribution challenges, wherein the key link for proper operation is the farmer, who engages in the agricultural sector, heavily impacted by low crop productivity, which interfer with economic development at a national level. Consequently, it is important to assess those farmers who belong to micro and small enterprises in the agricultural sector. Due to the characteristics of the population, a nonprobability sampling technique was used to assess micro and small cocoa producers in La Convención Province, Cusco, Peru. To such end, a snowball sampling model with distance boundaries was adopted because the population is unknown and hard to reach.

Thesis(M.Sc.(Agriculture Horticulture)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Innovative methods of preserving the quality of traditionally processed green leafy vegetables are underway in Africa. Improvement of processing and preservation methods of leafy vegetables is another way of overcoming perishability restrictions and guaranteeing continued quality food supply in rural areas. The objectives of this study were: to determine the effect of time-based oven-drying on (1) mineral composition, (2) proximate composition and (3) microbial profiling of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Separate experiments were conducted for raw and cooked cowpea leaves with four treatments, viz 0 (sun dried), 24, 48 and 72 hours of oven-drying, arranged in a randomised complete block design with 5 replications. In raw cowpea leaves, relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying period 48hrs, significantly decreased Potassium (K), Manganese (Mn), and Sodium (Na) content in raw cowpea leaves by 6, 9 and 13%, respectively. Similarly, oven-drying period 72hrs significantly decreased Ca, Fe, Mg, Zn, P and S by 5, 11, 16, 18 and 57%, respectively. In cooked cowpea leaves, relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying period 24hrs significantly increased Na by 18%. Similarly 48hrs oven-drying periods increased Fe and K by 6 and 8%, respectively. Similarly, oven-drying period 72hrs significantly increased Ca, Mg and Mn by 8, 8 and 3%, respectively. In contrast, oven-drying period 72hrs significantly reduced Zn, P and S by 16, 10 and 39%, respectively. Relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying period 24hrs significantly increased fat by 46% in raw cowpea leaves, however oven-drying period 72hrs significantly decreased protein, moisture, ash, fibre and carbohydrate by 10, 29, 18, 0.5, and 7% respectively. In contrast, relative to control (sun-drying), 72hrs increased energy by 3%. In cooked cowpea leaves, relative to control (sun-drying), ovendrying period 24hrs significantly increased energy by 1%. In contrast, relative to control (sun-drying) 72hrs oven-drying period decreased energy by 1%. Similarly, oven-drying 72hrs significantly decreased protein, moisture, ash, fat, fibre and carbohydrate by 8, 14, 13, 19, 0.4 and 10% respectively. Relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying periods 24hrs significantly increased Staphylococcus spp. in raw cowpea leaves by 6%, respectively. Relative to control (sun-drying) 72hrs oven-drying period significantly decreased Shigella spp. by 92%, respectively. In cooked leaves, relative to control (sundrying), 72hrs drying periods decreased both Shigella spp. and Staphylococcus spp. by 99 and 21%, respectively. Total coliforms unit of Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp, and Bacillus cereus were absent and/or at an undetectable level according to the Tempo Biomerieux system results. In conclusion, cooked leaves retained most essential mineral elements as compared to raw when subjected to 72hrs of ovendrying as there was an improvement in the concentration of Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn and Na. However, in both raw and cooked cowpea leaves proximate composition was negatively affected as there was a decrease in protein content. Oven-drying period of 24 hours can be used to minimize the loss of protein. Cooked cowpea leaves subjected to 72hrs of oven-drying had least total coliforms for both Shigella spp and Staphylococcus spp, therefore have potential to serve as an alternative to sun-drying to reduce microorganism causing spoilage in leafy vegetables. Drying raw cowpea leaves under oven-drying periods less than 72 hours should be avoided as it reduces the mineral concentration and increase microbial count of microorganisms responsible for spoilage / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Thesis(M.Sc.(Agriculture Horticulture)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Innovative methods of preserving the quality of traditionally processed green leafy vegetables are underway in Africa. Improvement of processing and preservation methods of leafy vegetables is another way of overcoming perishability restrictions and guaranteeing continued quality food supply in rural areas. The objectives of this study were: to determine the effect of time-based oven-drying on (1) mineral composition, (2) proximate composition and (3) microbial profiling of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Separate experiments were conducted for raw and cooked cowpea leaves with four treatments, viz 0 (sun dried), 24, 48 and 72 hours of oven-drying, arranged in a randomised complete block design with 5 replications. In raw cowpea leaves, relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying period 48hrs, significantly decreased Potassium (K), Manganese (Mn), and Sodium (Na) content in raw cowpea leaves by 6, 9 and 13%, respectively. Similarly, oven-drying period 72hrs significantly decreased Ca, Fe, Mg, Zn, P and S by 5, 11, 16, 18 and 57%, respectively. In cooked cowpea leaves, relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying period 24hrs significantly increased Na by 18%. Similarly 48hrs oven-drying periods increased Fe and K by 6 and 8%, respectively. Similarly, oven-drying period 72hrs significantly increased Ca, Mg and Mn by 8, 8 and 3%, respectively. In contrast, oven-drying period 72hrs significantly reduced Zn, P and S by 16, 10 and 39%, respectively. Relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying period 24hrs significantly increased fat by 46% in raw cowpea leaves, however oven-drying period 72hrs significantly decreased protein, moisture, ash, fibre and carbohydrate by 10, 29, 18, 0.5, and 7% respectively. In contrast, relative to control (sun-drying), 72hrs increased energy by 3%. In cooked cowpea leaves, relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying period 24hrs significantly increased energy by 1%. In contrast, relative to control (sun-drying) 72hrs oven-drying period decreased energy by 1%. Similarly, ovendrying 72hrs significantly decreased protein, moisture, ash, fat, fibre and carbohydrate by 8, 14, 13, 19, 0.4 and 10% respectively. Relative to control (sun-drying), oven-drying periods 24hrs significantly increased Staphylococcus spp. in raw cowpea leaves by 6%, respectively. Relative to control (sun-drying) 72hrs oven-drying period significantly decreased Shigella spp. by 92%, respectively. In cooked leaves, relative to control (sundrying), 72hrs drying periods decreased both Shigella spp. and Staphylococcus spp. by 99 and 21%, respectively. Total coliforms unit of Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp, and Bacillus cereus were absent and/or at an undetectable level according to the Tempo Biomerieux system results. In conclusion, cooked leaves retained most essential mineral elements as compared to raw when subjected to 72hrs of oven-drying as there was an improvement in the concentration of Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn and Na. However, in both raw and cooked cowpea leaves proximate composition was negatively affected as there was a decrease in protein content. Oven-drying period of 24 hours can be used to minimize the loss of protein. Cooked cowpea leaves subjected to 72hrs of oven-drying had least total coliforms for both Shigella spp and Staphylococcus spp, therefore have potential to serve as an alternative to sun-drying to reduce microorganism causing spoilage in leafy vegetables. Drying raw cowpea leaves under oven-drying periods less than 72 hours should be avoided as it reduces the mineral concentration and increase microbial count of microorganisms responsible for spoilage. / National Research Foundation

The primary purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes of women toward the world food crisis, their roles, and the roles of their countries in its possible solutions. The data is based on a questionnaire administered to women from thirty countries who attended the International Women's Year Tribune in Mexico City, June 19 to July 2, 1975.

This thesis examines the functioning and implications of the food supply chain on countries food security by investigating one low, one middle, and one high-income country, represented by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, People's Republic of China, and the United State of America. While it is well understood that a high-income country has a more secure food supply chain than a low-income country, the multitude of reasons affecting this difference, and the severity of the difference is less clearly framed in literature. The first part explores and lays out the factors influencing all the key aspects of the food supply chain, and the second part then analyzing the selected countries through those. The third part explores some geopolitical trends of importance to the food supply chain. Through the analysis, the differences between the countries becomes apparent, and the results show a strong difference in food security for low income countries, compared to middle and high-income. The difference between middle and high-income countries is not as prevalent, but still meaningful.

No description available.

No description available.

This master thesis project aims to explore ICT solutions in agriculture and food systems, and to analyze their sustainability aspects. As a result, a comprehensive picture of existing and coming ICT solutions along the food chain is presented based on extensive literature review. Their enabled impacts are qualitatively analyzed for selected aspects of food security and environmental sustainability. Moreover, a few of ICT enabled solutions’ GHG emissions reduction potentials in agricultural and land use sector in the year 2030 are estimated quantitatively, ranging from 9 Mt to 31 Mt, depending on assumptions (6 to 50 Mt after sensitivity analysis). These results, which cannot be seen as a representation of the overall ICT potential to enable emission reductions in agriculture and the food chain, are discussed in light of earlier suggested overall ICT potentials in this area. Moreover, limitations and uncertainties of the study are further clarified. Overall, the qualitative analysis identifies a high number of solutions for ICT in the agriculture and food systems with an assumed potential to promote sustainable development. However, due to the lack of published quality data for these solutions, the predicted sustainability potential cannot be accurately estimated. / Detta masterprojekt syftar till att utforska IKT-lösningar inom jordbruks- och livsmedelssystem och att analysera sina hållbarhetsaspekter. Som ett resultat presenteras en omfattande bild av befintliga och kommande IKT-lösningar längs livsmedelskedjan utifrån en omfattande litteraturöversikt. Deras kvalificerade effekter analyseras kvalitativt för utvalda aspekter av livsmedelssäkerhet och miljöhållbarhet. Dessutom beräknas potentialen för minskning av växthusgasutsläppet inom jordbruket och markanvändningen år 2030 kvantitativt för ett fåtal IKT-lösningar, till att vara mellan 21 Mt till 76 Mt (6.11 till 49.6Mt efter känslighetsanalys), beroende på antaganden. Dessa resultat, som inte kan anses representera IKT´s fulla potential att bidra till utsläppsminskningar inom jordbruks- och livsmedelssystemen, diskuteras med bakgrund av tidigare estimat av IKT´s övergripande resultat inom detta område. Därutöver klargörs begränsningar och osäkerheter i studien. Sammantaget identifierar den kvalitativa analysen ett stort antal lösningar för IKT i jordbruks- och livsmedelssystemen med en antagen potential att främja hållbar utveckling. På grund av bristen på publicerade kvalitetsdata för dessa lösningar kan dock den förutspådda hållbarhetspotentialen inte beräknas exakt.

The feasibility of Less Developed Countries (LDC) using the U.S. wheat futures market as an alternative strategy to reduce the cost of maintaining a more stable supply of food grains was investigated. India was used as a case study. A technical trading strategy for wheat futures, involving moving averages, was employed. Results from this technical approach were compared with more traditional approaches involving storage operations, periodic buying of grain needs, and a hedging strategy based on reports of world and India crop expectations. Both hedging strategies reduced the cost of securing wheat to offset production shortfalls. The technical hedging strategy was the superior approach. / Master of Science