Organic farming uses almost exclusively biological and natural materials and processes to produce food. The practice aims to protect human health and conserve, maintain or enhance natural resources, with the goal to preserve the quality of the environment for future generations while being economically sustainable. Organic farming has grown rapidly throughout the world in recent years. Currentl...

HIV/AIDS is devastating communities around the world and no more so than in SSA. It impacts equally in urban and rural areas, rich and poor. The rural poor – the nations’ food providers – are ill-equipped to draw together resources for mitigating these impacts. The extra expenses of medicines, and funerals, means that rural farming families are forced to sell their capital assets, such as lives...

Agriculture faces the unprecedented task of feeding a world population of 9 billion people by 2050 while simultaneously avoiding harmful environmental and social effects. One effort to meet this challenge has been organic farming, with outcomes that are generally positive. However, a number of challenges remain. Organic yields lag behind those in conventional agriculture, and greenhouse gas emi...

Modern bioenergy is seen as a promising option to curb greenhouse gas emissions. There is, however, a potential competition for land and water between bioenergy and food crops. Another question is whether biomass for energy use can be produced in a sustainable manner given the current conventional agricultural production practices. Other than the land and water competition, this question is oft...

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced mainly by Penicillium verrucosum and Aspergillus ochraceus. Although typically considered a cereal contaminant, it has also been detected in dried fruit, nuts, meat and derivatives. To estimate the quantity of ochratoxin A that might be ingested by Italian consumers from these foods, 211 cereal derivatives (flours and bakery products) were analysed by high-p...

Agroecology – as a scientific discipline and as an approach to sustainable farming practice – has objectives similar to those of organic agriculture. The paper sharpens the profile of both concepts and identifies strengths and weaknesses. The overarching challenge of both is to minimize trade-offs between food and fiber production on the one hand and non-commodity ecosystem services on the othe...