Zezza A, Tasciotti L (2010). Urban agriculture, poverty, and food security: Empirical evidence from a sample of developing countries Food Policy, Volume 35, Issue 4, pp. 265-273  Abstract Urban agriculture may have a role to play in addressing urban food insecurity problems, which are bound to become increasingly important with the secular trend towards the urbanization of poverty and of population in developing regions.

Burke M B, Lobell D B, Guarino L (2009). Shifts in African crop climates by 2050, and the implications for crop improvement and genetic resources conservation. Global Environmental Change, Volume 19, Issue 3, Pages 317-325.

This report [Rosegrant M. W., M. S. Paisner, S. Meijer, and J. Witcover. 2001. Washington D.C. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI 2001)] shows just how, and how much, certain policy decisions and social changes will affect the world’s future food security.

Because food is a basic necessity, the agriculture sector is showing more resilience to the global economic crisis than other industries. But the risks could increase if the economic downturn deepens. Falls in agricultural prices and in the production and consumption of farm goods are likely to be moderate as long as the economic recovery begins within two to three years. As the downturn lowers food prices, pressure is eased on recession-hit consumers who have less money to spend, it says.

Published by the Sustainable Development Commission, a new study undertaken by ADAS, starting with the premise that oil prices reach $100/barrel of oil, explores: The direct impact of increased energy prices upon UK farm businesses, with consideration to the potential for a change in farm practice. The wider impact of increased energy prices on the UK food supply chain, and hence the competitiveness of the UK agricultural industry. This report makes the following key findings:

SABMiller and WWF-UK have jointly published a report, Water Footprinting: Identifying & Addressing Water Risks in the Value Chain that explains the water footprint of the whole value chain for SABMiller beers in South Africa and the Czech Republic.

This is an interesting paper that seems to suggest that non-fish eating vegetarians and vegans can somehow convert plant-based omega-3 ALA to the long-chain EPA and DHA more effectively than their fish eating counterparts – ie that some kind of compensatory process goes on.