In this study, the water footprint (blue, green and grey WF) and virtual water theory were used to uniform measure the new challenges (population growth, population urbanization, dietary structure change, energy industry development, grain trade and climate change) of food security in Northwest China. Moreover, this study quantified the demand for new challenges to water resources from 2000 to 2016, and then evaluated their impact on water resources and food security in Northwest China. The results showed that in 2000–2016, population growth caused the food consumption WF to increase from 153.8 Gm³ to 159.6 Gm³, with an average annual growth rate of 0.4%. The ratio of per capita consumption of WF of urban residents to rural areas has increased from 80.3% to 120%. The per capita food consumption in the region increased by 1.3% annually due to changes in dietary structure. However, with the increase of water use efficiency, the WF decreased by 0.3% per year. Among them, the total consumption WF of food rations decreased by 51.9%, with an average annual decrease of 4.4%, and that of meat, dairy products and aquatic products increased by 2.4%, 10.8% and 3.0% per year, respectively. From the economic point of view, the development of the energy industry has increased the competition index of energy-grain to water resources from 0.22 to 0.49. Due to climate change, although the precipitation increased at a rate of 3.2 mm/yr, the increase in ET₀ was 3.3 mm/yr, and thus the demand for water resources in agricultural production increased. Based on the results, this paper suggests to carry out measures such as optimizes crop planting structure, adopts effective biological, agricultural technologies, guides healthy food consumption structure, strengthens international food trade and biofuel use and so on to reduce the WF of grain crops and energy industry. Ultimately, the goal of reducing regional water stress and ensuring food security is achieved.

Papers on mycobacteria in food, feed and water, published between 1945 and 2010 and indexed in the database Web of Science® (Thomson Reuters) were ranked according to authors, institutions, countries and source titles. The total number of papers on mycobacteria and food and mycobacteria and water were 1486 and 1419, respectively. More than 40% of papers have been published in the last five years. In addition to publications in peer reviewed journals the archives of ProMED-mail and the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed of the European Union were also searched. It is evident that much attention is being paid to mycobacteria in food, feed and water as they likely pose a public health risk.

Papers on mycobacteria in food, feed and water, published between 1945 and 2010 and indexed in the database Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), were ranked according to authors, institutions, countries and source titles. The total number of papers on mycobacteria and food, and mycobacteria and water were 1,486 and 1,419, respectively. More than 40% of papers have been published in the last five years. In addition to publications in peer reviewed journals the archives of ProMED-mail and the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed of the European Union were also searched. It is evident that much attention is being paid to mycobacteria in food, feed and water as they likely pose a public health risk.

Security measures of three resources; water, energy and food are analyzed for thirty two countries in the Asia Pacific region which are faced to Pacific Ocean, in terms of amounts of the resource, self-production, and diversity of sources of each resource. Diversity for all the three resources is also analyzed using surface water and groundwater for water sources; hydro power, geothermal power, solar, and biomass for energy; and cereals, vegetable, fruit, meat, and fish for food. We see high diversity of sources of water in the US and the Philippines, and a low diversity of sources of food in the US, Canada, and Indonesia. These security measures including water security show new hydrological insight for Asia-Pacific region.

Foraging behaviour of gregarious Mediterranean water shrew Neomys anomalus was investigated in 7 individuals. Shrews were tested individually and in a 4-animal-group in a terrarium. Shrew behaviour was recorded in darkness using 2 infra-red sensitive video-cameras. Two experimental variants, with and without natural structures in the terrarium, were established. When foraging individually, N. anomalus consumed only few food portions at the places of finding. Shrews hoarded most food in the nest and/or in hiding-places and ate it under cover. The presence of natural structures caused hoarding and eating of food in scattered hiding-places, instead of carrying it to the nest. During group foraging, N. anomalus did not hoard food communally, and preparation of individual stores almost ceased. In all tests, they ate successively more food items at the places of finding as the duration of foraging increased.

Many countries are exposed to malnutrition within their population, either in the form of undernutrition or obesity leading to dire affects for human health. As a consequence, a ‘Decade of Action’ was certified by the UN in 2016 to promote the need to end all types of malnutrition. Within food security objectives, this study evaluates the possibility to maximise the nutritional value of agricultural output through the optimal allocation of water and energy resources. Using a hypothetical case study in Qatar, two complementary multi-objective mathematical models are developed to solve various scenarios. Firstly, the goal programming minimises the expected value of negative deviation from the desired target in food groups and nutrients. Secondly, the linear programming model increases the expected value of self-sufficiency percentage in food groups and nutrients. The results indicate the specific dependency of increasing the self-sufficiency of different nutrients on the increased production of dates group and fish group, implying that dates and fish can be considered strategic crops in terms of their contribution towards food security, owing to the fact that they require the least quantity of water and energy resources for production. As poultry and meat groups require the largest quantities of water and energy resources, optimal results do not favour their production. The optimal production mix that increases the satisfaction of nutrients at 40% of the food groups self-sufficiency satisfaction with the same amount of energy and water are as follows: 52378, 47085, 111303 tonnes of dates, milk and dairy products and fish groups respectively. This production mix will achieve 29.18%, 100%, 90.8%, and 2.5% satisfaction percentage of carbohydrates, protein, fats, and fibres respectively.

South Korea’s food self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) dramatically decreased from 56 % in 1980 to 27 % in 2010, due to changes in food production and consumption patterns. Naturally, the changes in food self-sufficiency and consumption patterns will affect the world agricultural trade. This study aims to analyze trends in water footprints (WFs) on the basis of statistics for per capita food consumption in the last 25 years. The WFs for potential water requirements (WFsPWR) were estimated using food production and consumption scenarios for the targets of the SSRs in 2015 and 2020. The WFs for per capita food consumption (WFscₐₚ) were estimated at 512.9 m³ (1985) and 822.9 m³ (2010). Cereals and meats accounted for 36.3 and 21.5 % of the total WFscₐₚ in 1985, and 18.3 and 38.6 % in 2010, respectively. This implies that with economic development, Korea’s dietary patterns have changed from cereal to meat-oriented. To achieve the targets of 52 % (2015) and 55 % (2020) food SSR based on calories, additional WFsPWR are estimated to be 1255.5 Mm³ (2015) and 1923.9 Mm³ (2020). Results of this study are expected to be a useful basis for making long-term policies for sustainable agricultural production and water management from technical and social perspectives.