The nutrition and health impact of cash cropping in west Africa: a historical perspective

The impact of cash cropping in West Africa cannot be isolated from its social and historical background. Among the many changes brought to West African economies by cash cropping since the beginning of the century, the present document shows how the extension of trade with European merchants and colonizers created new sets of values and criteria for wealth. Food crops gradually lost their prominent cultural and economics roles to the benefit of export crops or goods. Traditional systems of agricultural production were profoundly disrupted by military actions. They imposed colonial rule and control of trade of tropical crops and goods. Forced labor and compulsory (poorly paid) work assignments were instituted for private and public enterprises: construction of roads, railways, public buildings and plantations. The main justification was the need for cheap labor to cultivate, transport and build roads for the extraction of raw materials. This in turn caused massive migrations from countries such as Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) to Ivory Coast. Cash cropping made systematic collection of taxes possible. An imposition on a per capita basis became the rule and the major incentive of small farmers to engage in commercial farming. Cash cropping made also possible extensive monetarization of West Africa. This results in both favorable and unfavorable effects on the quality of the diet. In profoundly disrupted traditional societies, the diffusion of new consumption patterns was easier and faster. It led to massive food imports of wheat, rice, sugar, alcohol, etc. Cash cropping was (and still is) practiced as a 'mining' agriculture, exhausting soils and deteriorating their fertility for extended periods of time. In the Sudanian and Sahelian zones cash cropping conflicted with the cultivation of grains because peak demands for labor were similar. Therefore, millet and sorghum production declined. Cash cropping was developed in response to the need of European economies for tropical products. However, colonization as a tool to obtain these raw materials was highly inefficient and associated with a considerable misuse of public funds. Together with cash cropping extension was created a network of intermediaries of large European corporations and shopkeepers who would efficiently drain all the earnings from cash cropping away from productive agricultural investments. It made possible the birth of local bourgeoisies and states dedicated almost exclusively to the extraction of a surplus value from the peasantry through cash cropping. It led to a displacement of the role of women; by attributing to them the less profitable food crops, the new production system managed to feed local cities and migrant workers at low cost. Cash cropping provides indirectly a new mean of exploiting women's labor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Distillation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states by selective information manipulation

Methods for distilling Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states from arbitrary entangled tripartite pure states are described. These techniques work for virtually any input state. Each technique has two stages which we call primary and secondary distillations. Primary distillation produces a GHZ state with some probability, so that when applied to an ensemble of systems a certain percentage is discarded. Secondary distillation produces further GHZs from the discarded systems. These protocols are developed with the help of an approach to quantum information theory based on absolutely selective information, which has other potential applications.

Entropy of classical histories

We consider a number of proposals for the entropy of sets of classical coarse-grained histories based on the procedures of Jaynes, and we prove a series of inequalities relating these measures. We then examine these as a function of the coarse-graining for various classical systems, and show explicitly that the entropy is minimized by the finest-grained description of a set of histories. We propose an extension of the second law of thermodynamics to the entropy of histories. We briefly discuss the implications for decoherent or consistent history formulations of quantum mechanics.

Vitamin A and carotenoid status in rural China

Vitamin A status of 260 groups of twenty-five males or twenty-five females, aged 35-64 years, surveyed in twenty-four provinces of the People's Republic of China, was assessed by measuring plasma retinol. retinol-binding protein and beta-carotene concentrations. Direct measurements of food intake over a 3 d period and questionnaire data on the frequency of consumption of vegetables, fruits, animal products and other dietary items were also used. Vitamin A status appeared to be low only in specific counties but in general was satisfactory or only marginally deficient. Plasma beta-carotene levels were strikingly low in comparison with Western levels despite generous vegetable consumption suggesting that intake of vitamin A precursors may have been adequate but not abundant enough to maintain high circulating plasma levels of beta-carotene. Plasma beta-carotene, for both males and females, was significantly correlated with the frequency of consumption of green vegetables. Plasma retinol, for males, was highly correlated with meat, fish, oil and alcohol consumption expressed both in quantity or frequency of consumption. Higher levels of plasma retinol, together with lower levels of plasma beta-carotene in males compared with females, suggest that men consume more animal products or may have higher retinol requirements and therefore a higher rate of conversion of beta-carotene to retinol.

Urinary riboflavin excretion after a load test in rural China as a measure of possible riboflavin deficiency

Urinary excretion of riboflavin was measured in 3318 adults 4 h after an oral dose of riboflavin. Male and female subjects aged 35-64 years were selected from 65 mostly rural counties located in 24 provinces of China. Counties were selected to represent a range of seven of the most prevalent cancer mortality rates in China and within counties households were selected at random. Urinary riboflavin excretion levels after a load test, erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity coefficients (EGR-AC), dietary riboflavin intakes, and a large number of other biochemical, dietary, and environmental parameters were measured. Mean dietary intake of riboflavin was 75 per cent of the Chinese recommended dietary allowances (CRDA). Mean meat intake per reference man was very low (26.4 +/- 23.7 g/d) in comparison to Western standards and milk was not consumed at all in most counties. Mean EGR activity coefficients measured on 'blood pools' for both males (1.47 +/- 0.14) and females (1.48 +/- 0.16) indicated that more than two-thirds of the population surveyed was in the medium or high risk category of riboflavin deficiency. Using current reference standards of less than 1.4 mg for 4-h urinary excretion of riboflavin after a 5 mg load, more than 70 per cent of the individuals examined exhibited low levels usually associated with high risk of riboflavin deficiency. In view of the lack of specificity for clinical indications of riboflavin deficiency and the tentative validity of the present CRDA, the interpretation of the data is problematic. We suggest that the present CRDA for this vitamin is set too high and requires critical review and possibly some revision.

The energy expenditure of female carpet weavers and rural women in Iran

The energy cost of individual activities and the daily energy expenditure of female carpet weavers and villagers were measured in Iranian villages and in the town of Isfahan as part of a series of studies to assess the validity for the population of past and present FAO recommended energy allowances. The energy cost of typical activities was measured by indirect calorimetry using Max-Planck respirometers. Daily energy expenditure was assessed using these figures combined with a 24-hr activity diary. The results of standard activity values are compared with other published values for Europeans and populations of countries with hot climates. The mean daily energy expenditure for both groups was in the order of 2000 kcal/day, below but close to the FAO recommendations which appear valid for rural women in a large part of the country but are probably an underestimate for areas where the participation of women in agriculture is greater.

Food intake and energy expenditure of male and female farmers from Upper-Volta

1. The energy balance of eleven male and fourteen female adult farmers was measured for 6 d after the harvest, in December-January. Their energy intake was recorded by weighing their food consumption and their energy expenditure was determined using indirect calorimetry. 2. Body-weight, expressed as percentage of expected weight-for-height was 91 and 86% of the Inter-departmental Committee on Nutrition for National Development (1963) standard for women and men respectively. 3. The staple foods were sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) and millet (Pennisetum typhoïdes); carbohydrates, fat and protein supplied approximately 80, 13 and 12% of the total energy of the diet respectively. 4. In the male group, the mean energy intake (9.0 MJ (2148 kcal)) was in good agreement with the average energy output (8.91 MJ (2130 kcal)). By contrast, in the female group, the mean energy expenditure (8.11 MJ (1941 kcal)) exceeded the mean energy intake (6.3 MJ (1515 kcal)) and the deficit was statistically significant. 5. This study allows an evaluation of the adequacy of food intake for subjects living in a particular hostile environment, by using their actual energy output instead of current standard values. The energy deficit found for female farmers whose energy intake was similar to that reported in other developing countries emphasizes the need for a better understanding of the regulation of energy balance in such conditions.

Duration of activities and energy expenditure of female farmers in dry and rainy seasons in Upper-Volta

1. Fifteen female farmers (aged 18--47 years) from two villages of the Mossi Plateau in Upper-Volta participated in a survey in which their daily activity pattern and their energy expenditure were assessed. Eight of the subjects were investigated twice, in March (dry season) when there is no agricultural activity, and in July--August (rainy season) when heavy physical work is performed: mostly hoeing, weeding and replanting sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) and millet (Pennisetum typhoïdes). 2. The mean height was 1.57 m and the mean weight 50.6 kg. The average percentage of body fat, calculated from skinfold thickness, was comparable to that of European females but the triceps skinfold was more than 60% below the standard value (Jelliffe, 1969). The type of activities and the period of time spent on each activity changed significantly with the season. The mean energy output rose from 9.7 MJ (2320 kcal) in March to 12.1 MJ (2890 kcal) in July--August for a 55 kg standard weight. 3. In this paper, the extent of both the daily activity pattern of women living in a subsistence agriculture and their energy output is estimated. The results suggest that during the rainy season, the energy requirements of female farmers are much higher than usually estimated.

The energy expenditure of Iranian agricultural workers

The energy cost of agricultural and standard activities and the daily energy expenditure of male agricultural workers were measured during different seasons in Iranian villages to assess the validity of past and present Food and Agricultural Organization recommended energy allowances for that population. Studies included low income farmers in a village representative of those around the central desert where harvesting takes place under conditions of extreme summer heat. Measurements were also made during the Moslem fasting period when no food may be eaten between dawn and dusk. Energy cost of typical activities was measured by indirect calorimetry using the Max-Planck respirometer and daily energy expenditure was assessed using these figures combined with a diary of activities throughout the 24-hr period. Results of individual activity values are compared with other published figures. Comparison of daily energy expenditure of fasting subjects and nonfasting after Ramazan showed no significant difference. No significant difference was found between values of standardized activities at high summer temperatures and moderate temperatures. Mean values of daily energy expenditure during winter when activity is low are around 2600 kcal/day and for the other seasons of high activity 3400 kcal/day. These figures suggest that past and present Food and Agricultural Organization standards are low for this population.

Growth hormone response to arginine infusion in malnourished children

Pituitary response to stimulation was assessed by intravenous arginine infusion in 17 malnourished children and 7 controls. Following stimulation, serum growth hormone levels increased from 6.6 +/- 1.2 to 14.9 +/- 2.9 ng/ml in the marasmic group and similarly from 7.3 +/- 1.8 to 11.9 +/- 2.7 ng/ml in the controls. By contrast, in kwashiorkor the mean growth concentration was high and remained unchanged (19.6 +/- 3.9 ng/ml before and 17.2 +/- 2.1 ng/ml after stimulation). No difference was observed between groups for serum insulin concentration. These results do not lend support to the suggestion that there might be atrophy or pituitary hypofunction in infantile malnutrition.