This paper synthesizes current knowledge on the impacts of the Gibe III dam and associated large-scale commercial farming in the Omo-Turkana Basin, based on an expert elicitation coupled with a scoping review and the collective knowledge of an multidisciplinary network of researchers with active data-collection programs in the Basin. We use social-ecological systems and political ecology frameworks to assess the impacts of these interventions on hydrology and ecosystem services in the Basin, and cascading effects on livelihoods, patterns of migration, and conflict dynamics for the people of the region. A landscape-scale transformation is occurring in which commodities, rather than staple foods for local consumption, are becoming the main output of the region. Mitigation measures initiated by the Ethiopian government—notably resettlement schemes—are not adequately buffering affected communities from food insecurity following disruption to indigenous livelihood systems. Therefore, while benefits are accruing to labor migrants, the costs of development are currently borne primarily by the agro–pastoralist indigenous people of the region. We consider measures that might maximize benefits from the changes underway and mitigate their negative outcomes, such as controlled floods, irrigating fodder crops, food aid, and benefit sharing. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-018-1139-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The doum palms are important noncultivated fruit-plants in the arid and semiarid districts of Turkana, Samburu and Marsabit of Kenya. The plant has many domestic and commercial uses. However, despite the central place it occupies in the diets of all pastoral age groups living along the banks of the major rivers, its fatty acid profile is lacking in the literature. This study was conducted in order to document its lipid profile. Lipid extracts of the nut of the Turkana doum palm, Hyphaene coriacea, were obtained and the major fatty acids in the mesocarp and kernel oil extracts were determined. It was shown that the nut has an oil content of 0.4 and 10.3% in the mesocarp and kernel, respectively. The kernel and mesocarp lipid extracts contained 55 and 66% long-chain saturated fatty acids, C 12-C 16 , and 76 and 66% total saturated fatty acids, respectively. The predominant fatty acids in declining order are lauric, oleic, myristic, palmitic and linoleic acid in the mesocarp, and lauric, oleic, capric, myristic, palmitic, linoleic and caprylic in the kernel. Both kernel and mesocarp oil extracts contained traces of stearic acid and no linolenic acid. Its hexane extract is therefore a typical lauric oil. The kernel oil extract had total monounsaturated fatty acids/total saturated fatty acids, total polyunsaturated fatty acids/total saturated fatty acids and total unsaturated fatty acids/total saturated fatty acids ratios of 0.29, 0.03 and 0.31, respectively. Due to the higher unsaturation, the oil extracts of the Turkana doum palm nut may be less stable with respect to oxidative deterioration than coconut and palm kernel oils. The knowledge of the nutrient composition of indigenous food plants such as the Turkana doum palm is important for the purpose of educating the public on the nutritional value of indigenous food plants available in their localities and for the purposes of conservation. The fatty acid profile of the lipid extracts of the nut of the plant showed that "eengol" is more unsaturated than coconut and palm kernel oils due to its higher oleic acid content. In this respect, it may be healthier to consume it in comparison to coconut and palm kernel oils.

Achieving food and nutrition security remains a tall order for developing countries. The FAO, IFPRI, WFP, UNICEF and other international bodies continue to provide active support in order to achieve global food and nutrition security. However, low technological capability, inefficient production, insignificant economic growth, increasing populations and lately climate variability, affect food production, leading to either stagnation or modest gains in food and nutrition security in different regions of the World. For African countries, food and nutrition security continues to improve, albeit at a slow pace, although the recent breakout of COVID-19 is bound to lead to a decline in food production, in the short and mid-term. In the East African Community, political stability, ambitious economic planning, the quest for higher agricultural productivity, improving educational achievement, improving sanitation and health, are contributing to the improving food and nutrition security. To hasten the process, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania embraced Vision 2030, Vision 2040 and Vision 2025, respectively. These grand, socio-economic plans bore Vision 2050 in the East African Community and Vision 2063 for the African Union. This chapter examines food and nutrition security in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and provides country-specific recommendations for achieving it. These include investing in agriculture, decelerating population growth, using adaptive research to solve farmer-problems, strengthening farmer-organizations and the formation of cooperatives.

Although obesity is a global epidemic that affects every socio-economic class, little is available in the literature on the status of the syndrome in Africa. This literature review was therefore written in order to highlight the causes, effects and potential mitigation measures of the syndrome with particular interest on the status of the condition in Africa. Obesity results from an incorrect energy balance leading to an increased store of energy, mainly as fat. The major factors that contribute to obesity include over-nutrition, physical inactivity, change of dietary habits, modernization, consumption of high fat, high carbohydrate foods, urbanization and in a minority of patients a physical condition or metabolic disturbance. Body mass index (BMI) is currently being used by competent authorities as an index of obesity. BMI differentiates classes of obesity, with class I, II and III being identified with BMI of ≥30 but <35, ≥35 but <40, and ≥40, respectively. A BMI of 18.5-25 is regarded as normal. However, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate obesity due to excess fat deposition and that due to muscle atrophy. Also, current procedures for estimating body fat percentage are not as accurate as they should and often give different results. Despite women tending to be more obese than men, they are less prone to hypertension, heart disease and type 2 diabetes than men before they reach menopause due to their fat deposition being predominantly sub-cutaneous rather than abdominal. In 2010, the WHO estimated that about 1.4 billion adults were overweight and obese, but 300-400 million were obese. The defining metabolic changes in obesity are decreased glucose tolerance, decreased sensitivity to insulin, hyperinsulinemia and reduced life expectancy. Obesity can be treated by restricting food intake and engaging in regular physical exercises. Other measures include the use of anorectic drugs and various forms of jejunoileostomy. Obesity is a controllable behavioural disorder, with regular exercise and sensible eating being the best ways to regulate body fat percentage and maintain a healthy body weight. As it is difficult to treat obesity, efforts should be directed towards prevention in order to keep it in check.

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Although animal food products are important sources of dietary protein in the diets of many African communities, questions are being raised concerning the role of animal meats and other animal products in chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases. This review of the literature was, therefore, conducted to provide information on the role of animal meats and their nutrients in cardiovascular diseases, with reference to sub-Saharan Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, infectious diseases are the current commonest cause of death, but cardiovascular diseases are set to surpass them as the major cause of mortality and morbidity. Although rare in the past, there are indications that coronary heart disease will become a burden to the health care system in sub-Saharan Africa. Diet is an important part of the control and management of cardiovascular diseases as most risk factors including diabetes mellitus, obesity, low-density lipoprotein and triacylglycerol levels, alcohol and blood pressure are all connected to diet. Animal meats can be significant sources of dietary saturated fatty acids and cholesterol due to their considerable lipid content. Dietary saturated fatty acids and cholesterol are significant influences on the development and progression of atherosclerosis, a major type of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease and high serum cholesterol also increase the risk of stroke. Although dietary protein is considered to be of minor importance in the aetiology of cardiovascular disease, epidemiological studies have shown the consumption of animal protein to be positively correlated with cardiovascular disease incidence, while that of vegetable protein is negatively correlated with cardiovascular disease mortality rates. Also, due to the higher content of cholesterol in organ meats compared to skeletal muscles, it is recommended that their dietary consumption be limited. It, therefore, seems beneficial to reduce the dietary intake of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol from meats and other high-fat, high-cholesterol animal foods, except fatty fish, since it is established on the basis of documented scientific evidence that reduction in serum cholesterol results in reduction of coronary morbidity and mortality. This review, therefore, recommends reduction in the intake of fatty red animal meat, while promoting consumption of portion-controlled lean white meats such as poultry, wild game and fatty fish. This can be achieved by integrating these recommendations into food and nutritional policy practice in Africa.

Nile perch, the most important commercial fish species from the Lake Victoria fishery, contributes about 67% of Kenya's total annual fish export earnings. Despite the Nile perch being an important foreign exchange earner, little information is available on its nutritional composition and shelf life on ice, information that is necessary for the development of methods to maintain its freshness, especially in view of the occasional rejection of exports of Nile perch products by the European Union. This study was, therefore, conducted using a set of physicochemical parameters to follow its deterioration profile in order to estimate its shelf life and freshness in the course of storage. These sensory parameters were correlated with selected biochemical and microbiological parameters to assess the suitability of the quality index scheme developed to determine the quality and shelf life of the iced Nile perch in the course of storage. The protein, lipid, moisture and ash contents were determined. The pH, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), TMAO and free fatty acids (FFA) contents were the biochemical parameters studied, while total viable counts (TVC) and hydrogen sulphide producing bacterial counts were the microbiological parameters studied at the various stages of storage. The results showed that protein in the edible tissue of the Nile perch varied significantly (p<0.05) between 19.8 and 17.7%; the lipid, ash and moisture contents which varied between 0.59 and 0.63%, 0.55 and 0.63%, and 78.5 and 79.5%, respectively, were not significantly related to storage time (p>0.05). The sensory characteristics selected for the quality index scheme increased from 3.3 demerit points to 18.1 points (out of 20) at the point of rejection by a sensory panel. The TVBN increased from 8.4±0.7 mgN/100g to 26.0±0.9 mgN/ 100g at the point of rejection. No TMAO was detected. The %FFA increased from 1.9 to 2.7% at the point of rejection, while the TVC and hydrogen sulphide producing bacterial counts increased from 6.6 log cfu/g to 8.0 log cfu/g and 4.3 log cfu/g to 7.3 log cfu/g, respectively. The study established that the ungutted iced Nile perch handled under normal conditions in this fishery with a delay of 3-4 hours before icing, had shelf life of 22 days, while the control which was iced on board had a shelf life of 28 days. The study is significant in designing programmes for reducing post harvest losses of this fish in the Lake Victoria fishery.

Despite receiving international technical assistance over many years, achieving food and nutrition security has remained elusive for many developing countries. Low technological capability, inefficient production systems, increasing populations and lately climate variability, affect food production, leading to stagnation or modest gains in food and nutrition security in many nations. For many African countries, food and nutrition security continues to improve, despite the slow pace. In the East African Community, political stability, ambitious economic planning, the quest for higher agricultural productivity, improving educational achievement, sanitation and health, are contributing to improving food and nutrition security. To support the process, Rwanda, established Vision 2020, while Burundi and South Sudan have yet to develop plans for a coherent development blueprint. The blue prints of the Member States bore Vision 2050 for the East African Community and Vision 2063 for the African Union. This chapter examines the status of food and nutrition security in Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. It gives country-specific recommendations for achieving it-including investment in agriculture and agribusiness, value addition of agricultural commodities, decelerating population growth, using adaptive research to solve farmer-problems, strengthening farmer-organizations and integrating variables that influence food and nutrition security achievement.