Household food security and income play central roles in sustainable development at the global, national, and local levels. Smallholder vegetable farming systems are widely regarded as crucial contributors to enhancing household food security and income in the developing world. Comprehensive whole-farm analysis of smallholder vegetable farming systems points out greater diversity and heterogeneity driven by interactions of socioeconomic and biophysical factors such as land profiles, land use, farm assets, enterprise income, off/non-farm activities, and household structure and expenditure. However, three distinct farm typologies exist (Resource and Livelihood Constrained Off-farm Dependent/Supplemented–RLCOD farmers, Resource and Livelihood Abundant and Commercial Oriented–RLACO farmers, and Medium Resources and Livelihoods Constrained Market Oriented–MRLCMO farmers), exhibiting significant differences and variability in structural and functional factors. The production of maize, groundnuts, soybean, and bean crops remains the primary source of livelihood for all farm typologies. Similarly, vegetable production is vital for farmers’ livelihoods in all farm types, yielding more income than food needs. However, both crop and vegetable productivity and production are still low and below the national and potential target across farm typologies. Small-scale irrigation offers one alternative solution in the context of increasing climate change. Small livestock (chickens, goats, and pigs) play a significant role in the livelihood of vegetable farmers despite their low productivity. Disparities exist across farm typologies in available arable and irrigable land, available household labor, capacity to hire additional labor, farm assets, and inputs, as well as participation in off-farm and non-labor-farm activities. While vegetable production and its proportion sold and earned income emerge as critical factors affecting household food accessibility and acquisition, additional factors such as crop production, proportion of crops sold, daily food expenditure, livestock income, and TLU significantly influence household access for different farm typologies, requiring consideration to achieve food security in vegetable farming systems.

Food security in sub-Saharan Africa is one of the major issues confronting the continent. Innovative use of fresh water, the world’s scarcest food production resource, is vital for family-run small-holder agricultural systems, which supply up to 80% of the world’s food. Agriculture employs 70% of Tanzania’s rural population and supplies 95% of the country’s food. The goal was to measure the impact of smart drip irrigation kits on smallholder farmers’ resilience and rural poverty in Tanzania. A household survey was conducted using an exploratory sequential design in four districts (Babati, Hai, Kasulu, and Kilosa) in Tanzania. A total of 383 respondents (Micro-investing (MI) farmers, n = 195; control, n = 187) were randomly selected from a pool of 3444 farmers. Partial budgeting and enterprise economic analysis were used for the calculation of gross margins, and multivariate analysis was used for poverty analysis. Gross margin analysis showed that communities using drip-irrigated vegetable farming are more profitable. Partial budgeting analysis showed that micro-irrigation increased the revenue generation for most vegetable varieties. However, multivariate analysis was unable to confirm that household poverty was markedly reduced through the adoption of this technology. Half of the MI farmers could afford an education for their children due to the extra income generated from MI. This investment strategy has the potential to improve smallholder livelihoods and resilience to climate change.

Agri-environmental policies in Europe are failing to sufficiently address ongoing environmental degradation, biodiversity decline, climate impacts, and societal demands for sustainability. To reverse this, policymakers, practitioners, and farmers need better guidance on which specific agricultural practice/s should be promoted and how to adapt current practices to reach the desired objectives. Here we use social valuation tools to elucidate the relationship between agricultural practices and the provision of key ecosystem services in mountains, including maintenance of scenery from agricultural landscapes, conservation of biodiversity, regulation of climate change through carbon sequestration, production of local quality products, maintenance of soil fertility, and prevention of forest wildfires. We use as case studies two contrasting but representative mountain agroecosystems in the Mediterranean and Nordic regions of Europe. We analyze the best agricultural practices in both agroecosystems to reach the targeted environmental outcomes under three plausible policy scenarios. We find significant differences in the average contribution of agricultural practices to ecosystem services provision, which suggest the need for regionalizing the research efforts and, consequently, the design of agri-environmental policies. However, we also identify practices for ecosystem service delivery across policy scenarios and agroecosystems. Among these, grazing and silviculture practices such as extending the grazing period, grazing in semi-natural habitats, grazing in remote and abandoned areas, adapting stocking rate to the carrying capacity, and moving flocks seasonally, stand out for their relevance in all policy scenarios. These results highlight the potential of adequate grazing and silviculture practices to deliver bundles of ecosystem services. Our study provides guidance to design agri-environmental policies in Europe that focus on rewarding farmers for their sustainable management of natural resources, climate change mitigation and adaption and biodiversity conservation.

Agriculture is vital to global food production. Around 550 million smallholding households produce most of the world's food, and many rely on livestock rearing for a living. Smallholder farms must survive and thrive to maintain and increase food production. Baseline information is vital for further extension service interventions. The goal of this Malawian study was to collect quantitative baseline data on crop and livestock production, agriproduct sales, and other indicators through a household survey, and to compare the efficacy (in terms of income) of using the concept of "Lead and Follow" farmer training programs. The baseline study survey was carried out in 44 sections of 11 extension planning areas from Malawi's five districts (Dowa, Kasungu, Mchinji, Mzimba, and Rumphi). In total, 1131 smallholder households were interviewed. Crop production, livestock farming, and providing casual labor for others were all identified as significant sources of income for smallholders, implying that all agriproducts (the whole-farm approach) is equally important for improving smallholder livelihoods. On the one hand, the whole-farm approach should improve smallholders' resilience regarding climate change and poverty. Lower agriproduct sales, on the other hand, indicated that links to the market were frequently poor but an increased market focus should help smallholders sell their produce at a fair margin. In terms of best practices adoption, both Lead and Follow farmers adopted similar farm practices (crops and livestock) to increase income. In general, no significant difference in income was calculated from many farm enterprises for both Lead and Follow farmers. However, the income from pigs and firewood was significantly higher for Follow farmers than for Lead farmers. Lead farmers reported significantly higher off-farm income sources. Significant changes are proposed to the "Lead farmer extension approach".

https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfab058 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com © Wynn Mitscherlich, Voss, Bhatti, Eik, Behrendt, Wynn Feature Article Balancing international trade and local production for food and nutrition security: animal-sourced foods’ contribution to human welfare

Although Norway is the largest sheep meat producer in Scandinavia and Norwegian Muslims are expected to double in population in the next decade, the overall local per capita red meat consumption is still low. Meanwhile, Norwegian Muslims' purchasing preferences on lamb meat products have not been investigated. This paper presents the results of a choice-based conjoint survey which would help stakeholders to understand the niche Muslim immigrant halal meat market and potentially increase meat consumption. Post-hoc market segmentation was performed using latent class analysis, and factors affecting consumers' purchase intentions were studied within each segment. Results show that purchasing halal meat from a butcher was the top preference while there was a higher willingness to purchase from national supermarkets among younger second-generation Pakistanis. In order to benefit from niche halal meat market, Norwegian supermarkets are recommended to adapt some of the services that halal butchers are offering to their consumers.

Effects of finishing Norwegian lambs of grazing forage rape on carcass and meat quality were studied. A total of 59 Norwegian short tail lambs (126 days old, 36.15 kg BWT) were randomly allotted to three groups. T1 group lambs grazed on grass pasture for three weeks before slaughter; T2 group grazed on grass and forage rape for two weeks and then withdrawn to grass only for one week. T3 group was maintained on grass and forage rape grazing for three weeks before slaughter. Carcasses from T2 lambs had lower (P < 0.05) conformation scores than T1, which was comparable to T3. Meat from lambs grazed on forage rape had higher (P < 0.05) content of n-3 PUFA but lower n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio than ones grazed on grass. Meat from T3 lambs had higher (P < 0.05) sweet odour and cloy taste than T1 lambs. It is concluded that lighter Norwegian lambs after mountain grazing can be finished by feeding on forage rape for three weeks without the risk of producing unacceptable flavour.

Dairy goats with improved genetics for milk production were recently introduced onto small-scale farms in Zanzibar through governmental and non-governmental projects.These projects were meant to support small-scale farmers by improving both income and household nutrition through milk production.No follow up had been conducted to understand what effects dairy goat keeping had on these small-scale farms, or how they could be improved.A survey of 193 dairy goat farmers in Zanzibar was conducted, including 30% and 60% of all dairy goat farmers on Unguja and Pemba, the two largest islands, respectively.The objective was to understand the impact keeping dairy goats has on small-scale farming systems, current husbandry practices including feed supply (production and environmental concerns), perceived benefits and challenges of dairy goat keeping (economics), and how to design appropriate extension programs to increase sustainability (education).The survey with 116 questions explored topics including dairy goat feeding practices, goat health, current milk production practices, sale and family consumption, and education.Qualitative and quantitative information from the survey led to a more holistic understanding of dairy goats in the farm system.The survey established the key challenges limiting dairy goat production to be diseases (57% of respondents), feed shortage during dry season (49%), economic constraints (21%), lack of healthcare (18%), and lack of dairy goat husbandry information which would help farmers address the other challenges listed above (14%).Two challenges identified through later workshops were uncontrolled crossbreeding and lack of records.Key benefits of dairy goat keeping are increased income from selling live animals and milk (35%), manure (33%), milk (18%), and improved household nutrition (15%).Twelve percent of respondents reported no benefit from keeping dairy goats.Average milk production for dairy goats was 0.92 L per day for three months of the year, whereas local meat goats milk production peaks at about 0.3 L per day, only enough milk to feed their young.To make dairy goat keeping worthwhile, small-scale farmers need access to appropriate animal health care, milk markets, and additional dairy goat husbandry training.The findings of this survey will guide design of education and improvements to the overall profitability and sustainability of dairy goat integration in Zanzibar and provide a model for the humid tropics.

The morphological and productive aspects of Norwegian sheep have developed over time and adapted to the diverse environment of the country. Before 1900, native Norwegian sheep were crossed with UK breeds to attain higher body weight and reproductive efficiency. Subsequent selection programs eventually led to the creation of the heavier (adults often >90 kg) Norwegian White Sheep (NWS), today constituting 70% of the recorded ewes. The modern Norwegian (White) Spæl (NS) sheep, mostly <75 kg and accounting for 10% of the recorded ewe population, originated from the native short-tailed breeds that are smaller and are believed to prefer grazing at higher altitudes than NWS. Other registered breeds of the short-tailed spæl type account for another 12% of the recorded sheep. Rugged Norwegian terrain with rich summer pastures makes the NS a complementary breed to the NWS. Increasing demand for year-round fresh meat requires changes at the farm level. Efficient use of local feed resources by extensive feeding of smaller size ewes is an opportunity for attaining economic gains and for year-round fresh meat production. The NS has a lighter bodyweight, requiring less housing space, is efficient in grazing rangeland and local pastures, and is better suited to outdoor winter grazing in coastal and fjord areas. In this paper, we compare the farm profitability (gross margin) of two Norwegian sheep breeds (NS and NWS) using a linear programming model designed for the coastal and fjord areas. The impact of ewe body weight, housing capacity, and meat produced per unit of concentrate are discussed.

This study compared the meat sensory profile of lambs (5 months old) and hoggets (17 months old) from two sheep breeds, Norwegian White Sheep (NWS) and Norwegian Spel (NS). The loin (left and right) samples (M longissimus thoracic et lumbontm) from 50 carcasses were analysed for 23 sensory attributes by a trained sensory panel using quantitative descriptive analysis evaluated on an unstructured line scale from 1 (lowest intensity) to 9 (highest intensity). There was an effect (P < 0.05) of animal age on the attributes: odour (fried roasted, sheep and intensity), flavour (fried roasted, gamey, sheep, rancid and liver), hardness, tenderness, fatness, and coarse fibre structural unit. The loin muscles of lambs were scored significantly lower compared to that from the hoggets in all the sensory attributes except rancid odour, flavour, and juiciness. Sheep odour, hardness, and coarse fibre intensity differed between breeds (P < 0.05) - the NWS breed obtained a higher score than the NS breed. Meat from lambs of both breeds and the hogget NS breed was similar in tenderness while that from the NWS hoggets was scored lower by the panel. For the attribute hardness, lambs and hoggets were similar within each breed, except the NS hoggets were similar to NWS lambs. There was an interaction between animal age and breed (P < 0.05) for the fried roasted and gamey odour. The results indicate that animal age has a lower impact on eating quality for the NS breed than for the NWS breed. In the Norwegian scenario, the NS hoggets appear more suitable for supplying fresh out-of-season meat. Results should be confirmed with a larger sample size of both breeds.

This edited volume discusses sustainable productivity and natural resource management in African agriculture, assesses innovative technologies for use on smallholder farms, and addresses some of the key Sustainable Development Goals to improve ecosystem resilience for better livelihoods.

Norway has vast rangeland resources (292,361 km2) with an estimated carrying capacity of nearly four million sheep and lambs, twice the current number. However, the intensive production system currently applied has led to more concentrate dependency, resulting in heavier animals in addition to poorer utilization of rangelands and homegrown feed. Intensive feeding systems indirectly influence the sustainability of ecosystems by promoting intensive cropping that can deplete soil fertility and threaten landscape preservation and biodiversity. By contrast, extensive grazing systems can produce environmentally and animal-friendly food products and contribute to regulating soil health, water and nutrient cycling, soil carbon sequestration, and recreational environments. In this paper, the economics of current sheep feeding practices in Norway, using a linear programming model, were compared with more extensive systems which allow for higher usage of on-farm feed resources. Changes in current sheep farming practices have the potential to increase lamb meat production relative to mutton production, in addition to improving the year-round supply of fresh meat. The investigated alternatives, using the Norwegian White Sheep (NWS) breed, suggest that delayed lambing is useful only on farms with abundant pastures available for autumn feeding. Lambs achieve a better market price than hoggets and mature sheep. Therefore, based on the current Norwegian meat market and price offered per kilogram of meat for lamb, an increase in NWS lamb production improves farm profits. On the other hand, when the aim is on greater use of homegrown feed and rangelands, this can be achieved through hogget production, and the quantity of concentrates required can be reduced substantially.