Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi et al., 'The Water?Energy?Food Nexus as a Tool to Transform Rural Livelihoods and Well-Being in Southern Africa', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 16(16), p.2970, MDPI AG, 2019 | About 60% of southern Africa�??s population lives in rural areas with limited access to basic services and amenities such as clean and safe water, affordable and clean energy, and balanced and nutritious diets. Resource scarcity has direct and indirect impacts on nutrition, human health, and well-being of mostly poor rural communities. Climate change impacts in the region are manifesting through low crop yields, upsurge of vector borne diseases (malaria and dengue fever), and water and food-borne diseases (cholera and diarrhoea). This study applied a water�??energy�??food (WEF) nexus analytical livelihoods model with complex systems understanding to assess rural livelihoods, health, and well-being in southern Africa, recommending tailor-made adaptation strategies for the region aimed at building resilient rural communities. The WEF nexus is a decision support tool that improves rural livelihoods through integrated resource distribution, planning, and management, and ensures inclusive socio-economic transformation and development, and addresses related sustainable development goals, particularly goals 2, 3, 6 and 7. The integrated WEF nexus index for the region was calculated at 0.145, which is marginally sustainable, and indicating the region�??s exposure to vulnerabilities, and reveals a major reason why the region fails to meet its developmental targets. The integrated relationship among WEF resources in southern Africa shows an imbalance and uneven resource allocation, utilisation and distribution, which normally results from a �??siloed�?? approach in resource management. The WEF nexus provides better adaptation options, as it guides decision making processes by identifying priority areas needing intervention, enhancing synergies, and minimising trade-offs necessary for resilient rural communities. Our results identified (i) the trade-offs and unintended negative consequences for poor rural households�?? livelihoods of current silo approaches, (ii) mechanisms for sustainably enhancing household water, energy and food security, whilst (iii) providing direction for achieving SDGs 2, 3, 6 and 7

With a rapidly growing urban population in Kumasi, Ghana, the consumption of street food is increasing. Raw salads, which often accompany street food dishes, are typically composed of perishable vegetables that are grown in close proximity to the city using poor quality water for irrigation. This study assessed the risk of gastroenteritis illness (caused by rotavirus, norovirus and Ascaris lumbricoides) associated with the consumption of street food salads using Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA). Three different risk assessment models were constructed, based on availability of microbial concentrations: 1) Water — starting from irrigation water quality, 2) Produce — starting from the quality of produce at market, and 3) Street — using microbial quality of street food salad. In the absence of viral concentrations, published ratios between faecal coliforms and viruses were used to estimate the quality of water, produce and salad, and annual disease burdens were determined. Rotavirus dominated the estimates of annual disease burden (~10−3Disability Adjusted Life Years per person per year (DALYs pppy)), although norovirus also exceeded the 10−4DALY threshold for both Produce and Street models. The Water model ignored other on-farm and post-harvest sources of contamination and consistently produced lower estimates of risk; it likely underestimates disease burden and therefore is not recommended. Required log reductions of up to 5.3 (95th percentile) for rotavirus were estimated for the Street model, demonstrating that significant interventions are required to protect the health and safety of street food consumers in Kumasi. Estimates of virus concentrations were a significant source of model uncertainty and more data on pathogen concentrations is needed to refine QMRA estimates of disease burden.

With a rapidly growing urban population in Kumasi, Ghana, the consumption of street food is increasing. Raw salads, which often accompany street food dishes, are typically composed of perishable vegetables that are grown in close proximity to the city using poor quality water for irrigation. This study assessed the risk of gastroenteritis illness (caused by rotavirus, norovirus and Ascaris lumbricoides) associated with the consumption of street food salads using Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA). Three different risk assessment models were constructed, based on availability of microbial concentrations: 1)Water — starting from irrigation water quality, 2) Produce — starting from the quality of produce at market, and 3) Street — using microbial quality of street food salad. In the absence of viral concentrations, published ratios between faecal coliforms and viruses were used to estimate the quality of water, produce and salad, and annual disease burdens were determined. Rotavirus dominated the estimates of annual disease burden (~10-3 Disability Adjusted Life Years per person per year (DALYs pppy)), although norovirus also exceeded the 10-4 DALY threshold for both Produce and Street models. The Water model ignored other on-farm and post-harvest sources of contamination and consistently produced lower estimates of risk; it likely underestimates disease burden and therefore is not recommended. Required log reductions of up to 5.3 (95th percentile) for rotavirus were estimated for the Street model, demonstrating that significant interventions are required to protect the health and safety of street food consumers in Kumasi. Estimates of virus concentrations were a significant source of model uncertainty and more data on pathogen concentrations is needed to refine QMRA estimates of disease burden.

With a rapidly growing urban population in Kumasi, Ghana, the consumption of street food is increasing. Raw salads, which often accompany street food dishes, are typically composed of perishable vegetables that are grown in close proximity to the city using poor quality water for irrigation. This study assessed the risk of gastroenteritis illness (caused by rotavirus, norovirus and Ascaris lumbricoides) associated with the consumption of street food salads using Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA). Three different risk assessment models were constructed, based on availability of microbial concentrations: 1)Water — starting from irrigation water quality, 2) Produce — starting from the quality of produce at market, and 3) Street — using microbial quality of street food salad. In the absence of viral concentrations, published ratios between faecal coliforms and viruses were used to estimate the quality of water, produce and salad, and annual disease burdens were determined. Rotavirus dominated the estimates of annual disease burden (~10-3 Disability Adjusted Life Years per person per year (DALYs pppy)), although norovirus also exceeded the 10-4 DALY threshold for both Produce and Street models. The Water model ignored other on-farm and post-harvest sources of contamination and consistently produced lower estimates of risk; it likely underestimates disease burden and therefore is not recommended. Required log reductions of up to 5.3 (95th percentile) for rotavirus were estimated for the Street model, demonstrating that significant interventions are required to protect the health and safety of street food consumers in Kumasi. Estimates of virus concentrations were a significant source of model uncertainty and more data on pathogen concentrations is needed to refine QMRA estimates of disease burden.

(1) Background: In response to the notification made by an elementary school authority that reported a number of elementary school children being absent in three schools as a result of gastroenteritis symptoms on 4 July 2018, in Gyeongsangbuk-Do Province, South Korea, an epidemic investigation was carried out to determine the extent, cause, and source of the outbreak in order to prevent secondary cases and make recommendations to prevent future recurrences. (2) Methods: In this epidemiologic study, a total of 106 human subjects (school children, staff members, and cooks) who had consumed the possibly contaminated foodstuffs were enrolled retrospectively. Human specimens from clinically defined cases, food and drinks, supply and storage of them, and environmental and sanitary conditions were also assessed by observation, laboratory tests, and survey questionnaires&mdash:where and whatever applicable. The attack rate and positive rate for human specimens were first presented followed by the calculation of the relative risk ratio (RR) with 95% CI (confidence intervals) in order to identify the exposure and outcome relationships. (3) Results: The attack rate was 12.26% (13/106) for those who had ingested the food items at the three schools and the positive rate of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) was 15.38% (2/13). The relative risk (RR) of developing food poisoning of those who consumed the cucumber chili with ssamjang and seasoned cucumber and chives were 4.55 (95% CI 1.05&ndash:19.54) and 9.20 (95% CI 1.24&ndash:68.22), respectively. In addition, within the human specimens as well as the water and environmental samples different strains of diarrhoeagenic enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) were detected. (4) Conclusions: Provision of safe and wholesome water access to all elementary schools by concerned authorities, especially during the likely seasons of water source contamination, as well as health education promotion about foodborne outbreaks to all school stakeholders is therefore recommended.