ABSTRACT Climate change has become a major global concern and poses a significant threat to food security. To address this challenge, this study investigates the energy‐green finance‐food security nexus under environmental degradation and assesses how progress on SDG‐7 (Energy) and SDG‐13 (Climate) shapes SDG‐2 (Zero Hunger) in the ASEAN‐5 economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) during 2000 to 2023. This study employs several panel data econometric approaches, including Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) and Driscoll‐Kraay standard errors regression for long‐run analysis, together with quantile regression to examine the relationships across different quantiles. The long‐run estimates indicate that energy security, green finance, and the adoption of communication technologies significantly increase food production across the ASEAN economies. In contrast, climate change has a significant negative effect on food production. The MMQR results confirmed these findings. The findings support SDGs, particularly SDG‐2, by promoting sustainable food production and encouraging the adoption of green energy technologies to reduce emissions from agricultural practices. Furthermore, the study suggests that the banking sector should introduce climate‐related credit schemes that provide affordable financing to farmers, enabling them to adopt new technologies, address climate change challenges, and improve food productivity.
ABSTRACT Food insecurity persists among smallholder farming households in low‐income countries, yet the relationships between financial inclusion and agricultural productivity, severe hunger, and dietary diversity remain inadequately understood. This study investigates these relationships using primary survey data from 636 randomly selected smallholder households in southwestern Bangladesh. We construct a binary financial inclusion index using multiple correspondence analysis and employ instrumental variables (IV) estimation—with mobile phone ownership, distance to bank, and internet access as instruments—to address endogeneity. Outcome measures include log agricultural productivity (2SLS), three binary indicators of severe food insecurity from the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (IV probit), and Household Dietary Diversity Score (IV Poisson). Financial inclusion increases agricultural productivity by 11.8% (β = 0.112, p = 0.001), substantially reduces the probability of severe food insecurity, and improves dietary diversity by approximately 1.99 food groups (from a baseline of 3.87 to 5.86). Ordinary least squares estimates show negative, statistically insignificant associations, indicating severe downward bias. Instrument relevance and validity are confirmed through diagnostic tests. Disaggregated analysis reveals that credit services are associated with productivity gains, digital financial services with dietary diversity improvements, and insurance and savings with reduced food insecurity. However, a substantial proportion of financially included households still experience moderate‐to‐severe food insecurity. These findings suggest that financial inclusion is associated with enhanced agricultural productivity and nutrition and reduced acute hunger. Policies that expand digital financial infrastructure and link financial services to agricultural value chains can accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 2 in agrarian economies.
ABSTRACT Precision agriculture (PA) holds enormous potential for smallholder farmers in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), where agriculture remains central to economic development, employing more than half of the adult population and contributing significantly to GDP. However, adoption rates remain low. This communication examines the potential benefits, challenges and possible pathways for increasing uptake among smallholders in SSA. Drawing from recent initiatives and case studies, successful applications demonstrate that low‐cost, localised and gender inclusive PA innovations can increase adoption among smallholders. However, challenges such as high upfront technology costs, limited internet connectivity, low digital literacy, limited access to financial services and a lack of tailored training remain significant barriers. Addressing these barriers requires the co‐creation of affordable technologies and flexible financing schemes, the provision of support services, offline functionality and integrating PA into the educational curriculum and extension systems in SSA to build capacity to sustain adoption. Furthermore, promoting gender inclusivity and strengthening data management systems are equally important for long‐term success. By addressing these barriers, PA can drive sustainable agricultural production, improve food security and enhance climate resilience. This communication highlights the need for coordination among farmers, developers, researchers and policymakers to foster a robust PA ecosystem for smallholder farmers in SSA.
ABSTRACT Amorphophallus corms are important sources of konjac glucomannan (KGM) and starch, but species‐level differences in composition and polymer characteristics remain incompletely resolved. Mature corms of A. konjac, A. bulbifer, and A. paeoniifolius “Yellow” were collected at a common site during the same end‐of‐season harvest window in November 2023. Nutritional composition and KGM physicochemical properties were evaluated using three biological replicates per species, and three biological replicates per species were profiled by widely targeted liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–MS/MS) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. A. konjac and A. bulbifer contained 57.78% and 44.92% KGM, respectively, whereas A. paeoniifolius “Yellow” contained 6.06% KGM and 61.70% starch. Under identical comparison conditions, A. bulbifer KGM had a higher apparent viscosity than A. konjac KGM (33,000 versus 30,000 mPa·s) and higher number‐, weight‐, and z‐average molecular weights. Their dispersity indices were nearly identical, showing that relative distribution breadth and absolute molecular‐weight scale convey different information. Mass–size plots obtained by size‐exclusion chromatography coupled with multi‐angle light scattering and refractive‐index detection (SEC–MALS–RI) gave conformation slopes of 0.38 and 0.34 for A. konjac and A. bulbifer, respectively. These values provided no evidence that A. bulbifer chains were more expanded under the tested saline conditions. The processed MRM matrix contained 1598 annotated metabolites across 12 chemical classes; PC1 and PC2 explained 50.57% and 31.33% of total variance, respectively, and pooled‐QC correlations were 0.983–0.993. Carbohydrate‐related metabolites included UDP‐glucose, D‐mannose, D‐glucose‐1‐phosphate, D‐fructose 6‐phosphate, sucrose, maltose, and D‐maltotetraose. UDP‐glucose showed the highest relative MRM response in A. konjac, followed by A. bulbifer and A. paeoniifolius “Yellow”; however, relative peak areas do not establish pathway flux. Because KGM acetylation, carbon‐partitioning enzyme activity, and oxalate content were not measured, the observed associations should not be interpreted as single‐cause mechanistic or safety evidence. The results support species‐specific evaluation of Amorphophallus resources for KGM‐ and starch‐oriented applications.
ABSTRACT Groundnut, or peanut, is an industrial oilseed crop that serves the food and feed industries and provides income along the value chain. Pre‐ and post‐harvest aflatoxin contamination, caused by Aspergillus spp., hinders the food and feed value and market opportunities of groundnut products. Developing and deploying aflatoxin‐resistant varieties is the most sustainable and economic approach to control aflatoxin for human and animal well‐being. Variable resistance to Aspergillus infection and disease development has been reported, depending on cultivar susceptibility, crop management practices, and environmental conditions. Hence, understanding the physical, biochemical, and genetic basis of resistance mechanisms to Aspergillus infection is vital for the design and deployment of new varieties. Despite modest global efforts, notably in effective aflatoxin diagnosis and identification of the toxic secondary metabolites, there are limited breeding efforts that have bred and deployed aflatoxin‐resistant varieties. This review aims to present the impacts of groundnut aflatoxin contamination and the progress and opportunities in resistance breeding using current technologies and innovations. The first section presents the production status of groundnut and the extent and conditions of aflatoxin contamination. Aflatoxin control methods and components of resistance are described in the second section, followed by progress and opportunities of resistance breeding with advanced technologies, including omics‐assisted and gene‐editing approaches. Information presented in the review may guide breeding and genetic management of aflatoxin, targeting the development of new varieties with desirable product profiles and durable resistance to control aflatoxin contamination along value chains.
