Food insecurity and malnutrition have worsened despite numerous commitments by African governments and their leaders to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition as captured in the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa's Agenda 2063. Africa's 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods set out the need to increase agricultural expenditure to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition. However, analyses of the impact of public expenditure on agriculture in Africa have focused on poverty reduction and economic growth, with very little analysis of the impact on food security and nutrition. This study sought to fill this gap with respect to countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). A panel data analysis for the years 2000 to 2016 was employed using a fixed-effect generalised least squares estimation. Four food security indicators were used, namely, the average dietary energy supply adequacy; the prevalence of undernourishment; the prevalence of stunting; and per capita food production variability. The share of public agriculture expenditure in total public expenditure was used as a proxy for government expenditure on agriculture. The results showed that public expenditure on agriculture was associated with a significant positive impact on the average dietary energy supply adequacy and per capita food production variability. In the study, increased government expenditure on agriculture was associated with a decline in the prevalence of undernourishment over this period. There was no sufficient evidence to show that government agriculture expenditure on agriculture was associated with changes in the prevalence of stunting. The nine SADC countries included in the analysis need to put more effort into acting on their commitments, strengthening strategies to address the issue of food insecurity and malnutrition. The nine SADC countries need to promote nutrition-sensitive agriculture and the diversification of agricultural production to improve nutrition. They also need to increase the development and use of biofortified food crops. As food security is essentially a public good, public resources are needed to stimulate research and development, the adoption of technologies and practices and sharing the knowledge of the benefits of these practices among communities. / Dissertation (MSc Agric (Agric Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / University of Pretoria Mastercard Foundation African Economic Research Consortium Collaborative Masters in Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) programme / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics) / Unrestricted

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The glassy-rubbery state of bread polymers has been proposed as a key factor contributing to staling. Glassy-rubbery states of bread components as measured by Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA) in meal-ready-to-eat (MRE) bread exhibit three thermal transitions: two moisture dependent ($-70\sp\circ$C and $-12\sp\circ$C) and one moisture independent (10 to 40$\sp\circ$C). One moisture dependent transition ($-70\sp\circ$C) was attributed to the humectant. The other had a tan delta peak and dropped in storage modulus (E') at $-12\sp\circ$C. The independent transition, was attributed to fats. Over storage, the MRE bread significantly decreased in the tan delta peak height but the Tg temperature remained relatively unchanged, indicating no sign of maturation of the polymer network. Standard white pan bread (SWB) showed only one moisture-dependent transition (T1) and over storage (with moisture loss), there was a dramatic decrease in the tan delta peak amplitude and an increase in the T1 peak temperature with firming. T1 has a relationship with the presence of unfrozen water detected by Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). The amount of "freezable" water did not change in MRE bread during storage, however, SWB lost almost 50% of its "freezable" water, had an increase in Tg, and a dramatic increase in Instron compression resistance. MRE bread displayed only a small increase in firmness, until 82 months. Fifteen month old MRE bread was found to be softer than SWB stored 3 months. The MRE curve was linear (within 0-50% compression range) and required much less stress to compress 50% ($<$10KPa), whereas the SWB curve was sigmoidal and required approximately 30KPa. Both aged MRE and SWB showed a significant increase in amylopectin crystallization with time compared to fresh (MRE, slightly higher). MRE bread remained soft over time (at least 47 months) indicating that the softening effect from added glycerol and retention of moisture over storage had a greater impact on the texture than amylopectin crystallization. Thus, it could be concluded that firming of bread during staling is not mainly caused by starch retrogradation. This is based on the experimental bread formula, processing, and storage conditions done in this work.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Food Technology, 1960. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-248). / by Myron Solberg. / Ph.D.

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