Abstract: Edible orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts) are major delicacies, especially across sub-Saharan Africa. Their promotion as food ingredients is increasingly gaining momentum.This study evaluates the nutritional profiles of three widely consumed orthopterans: Gryllus bimacu latus, Locusta migratoria, and Schistocerca gregaria after blanching and oven-drying. All three species had high protein (65.3, 54.2, and 61.4% on a dry matter (DM) basis for G. bimaculatus, L. migra...
Several catastrophes could block the sun, including asteroid/comet impact, super volcanic eruption, and nuclear war with the burning of cities (nuclear winter). Previous work has analyzed alternate food supplies (e.g., mushrooms growing on dead trees, bacteria growing on natural gas). This was shown to be technically capable of feeding everyone with macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and lipids) and minerals, although economics and politics remain uncertain. The present work analyzes vit...
This paper examined the causes, effects and measures for mitigating climate change to ensure adequate supply of food through crop production to address the food insecurity which has occupied a central focus of the Nigerian economy. Unfortunately, crop production is fraught with many ecological challenges including climate change. This climate change which occurs as a result of the buildup of Green House Gases (GHGs) occasioned by industrialization, technological modeling and agriculture, exer...
Gender issues have taken a global dimension in the recent times especially in Nigeria. Women are increasingly being involved in agricultural food value chain which contributes to economic development. Policy agenda has for decades given priority to the production sphere, where men generally predominate, and has largely neglected processing and marketing activities, where women often play a key role. The paper draws on available empirical literature evidence for the study. Aggregate data shows...
Abstract: Enset (Ensete ventricosum), is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the family Musaceae, along with banana and plantain. Despite wild populations occurring in eastern, central and southern Africa, it is only in Ethiopia that the crop has been domesticated, where it is culturally and agriculturally symbolic as a food security crop. Although an under-researched orphan crop, enset serves as a staple food for about 20% of the Ethiopian population, comprising more than 20 million p...
Abstract: The term 'locusts' refers to insect species which can aggregate into migratory swarms that cause wide-scale destruction of crops and pasture, causing significant effect to food security. This review assesses the potential of harnessing locust swarms for beneficial uses. Among 21 known locusts, ~10 species have been traditionally consumed by humans or fed to animals for millennia in 65 countries. Their nutritional composition is comparable or superior to that of conventional meat. H...
The scope of nanotechnology is increasingly covering every facets of life, with applications to food taking a lead. Starting from the first-generation passive nanomaterial and now, the energetic nanotechnology to food and food systems is growing exceedingly, although nano foods are in growing stage. Applications include utilization of nanotechnology in Food safety and food safety assurance, production of nanoparticles which are better biologically active than large sized particles, neutraceut...
Fermentation has been employed as a traditional means of improving the shelf life and nutritional contents of foods, thus making fermented foods and beverages functional and therapeutic. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) plays a major role in determining the health benefits of fermented milk and related products. This review takes into cognizance numerous investigations reporting certain microbial strains and mixes to contribute safety, quality, stability, health and organoleptic properties to ferme...
Abstract: Quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum secret sharing play a pivotal role in securing con dential information. QKD allows legitimate parties to create a cryptographic key which they can use to communicate privately without being intercepted by a malicious eavesdropper. QKD exploits the laws of quantum mechanics such as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, the no cloning theorem and the principle of entanglement to detect any eavesdropper who tries to gain the knowledge of the ...
Presently, Nigeria is among the nations that are technically unable to meet their food supply needs from rain-fed production at a low level of inputs and appear likely to remain so even at intermediate levels of inputs at some point’s time between 2000 and 2025 (FAO 2002). For the rural areas of semi-arid Northern Nigeria, which experiences significant climatic and anthropogenic changes that have exacerbated food insecurity in the region, floodplain agriculture is critical to the survival...
Abstract: The unfavorable soil (low supply of nutrients, high levels of toxic elements, salinity, compaction) and climatic (drought, waterlogging, high temperature, low temperature) conditions reduce plant and crop productivity (Pereira, 2016). Low fertility soils, and extreme weather events resulting from climate change, are a major threat to global food security (Evans, 2009). Plants have evolved sophisticated adaptive mechanisms to withstand the multiple abiotic stresses to which they are...
Abstract: In this era of global climate change, intrinsic rapid and evolutionary responses of invasive agricultural pests to thermal variability are of concern given the potential implications on their biogeography and dire consequences on human food security. For insects, chill coma recovery time (CCRT) and critical thermal minima (CTmin ), the point at which neuromuscu-lar coordination is lost following cold exposure, remain good indices for cold tolerance. Using laboratory-reared Spodopte...
Abstract This study attempt to ascertain the influence of the intra-regional and extra-regional actor’s reshape security and political development under pressure in the middle east and north Africa states on how it affects livelihood and security issues. The study relies on secondary source of data collection and analyzes same using qualitative descriptive method. Some of the findings revealed in the study is the outcome of the clashes resulted...
Weaning food was produced from the blends of sprouted and unsprouted sorghum–Irish potato, and groundnut flour. In the developed weaning foods, moisture content ranged from 8.44% to 12.70%, crude protein (7.40%–14.53%) crude ash (1.53%–1.77%), crude fiber (6.65%–6.88%), crude fat (3.31%–3.73%) and carbohydrate content (65.10%–69.15%). Sprouting and protein supplementation with groundnut improved the protein content of the formulated meals with values comparable to commercial sam...
Farming risk is a security challenge that reduces the actual outcome from farmersexpected outcome. Predominant farming risk is the reason for deviations from plannedproduction in Imo State. Food supply gap becomes reduced if the farming risk associatedwith vegetable production is reduced and the effect on output increased through thisstudy. A total of 152 farmers from 10 communities across three (3) local governmentareas of Orlu agricultural zone were used for data analysis. Data were obtaine...