3Producing enough food to meet the needs of a growing population has always been the greatest 4 concern of food policy-makers around the world. Given the increasing attention to organic 5 farming (OF), we conducted this study to investigate the main opportunities and challenges of 6 the food production system of small-scale farmers in developing countries with an emphasis on 7 their livelihoods. The study showed that the most significant advantages of OF are 8 environmental protection and a higher resilience to environmental changes, increasing farmers' 9 income and reducing external input cost, enhancing social capacity and increasing employment 10 opportunities. A s well as enhancing food security primarily by increasing the food purchasing 11 power of local people. However, the main challenges of this food production system include 12 lower yields in comparison to conventional systems, difficulties with soil nutrient management, 13 certification and market barriers, and the educational and research needs of small-holders. The 14 paper concludes that even though OF might present some significant challenges to small-scale 15 farmers, it could/should still be considered as a part of the solution and means of improving 16 their livelihoods.

This study aimed to understand the major drivers of urban sprawl and its impacts on land use conversion in the peri-urban kebeles of the Dukem town, Central Ethiopia. GIS software was used to create status and location maps of industries out of the GPS data. The results from qualitative data obtained from interviews and focus group discussions showed that more land was used beyond the total size of land allocated initially planned for. Furthermore, urban sprawl has also caused an extensive agricultural land conversion (ALC) that has seriously affected agricultural production. Industrialization, residential expansion and infrastructure development were identified as the leading drivers of ALC that negatively affects the size of cultivated land and food crop production in the hinterlands. In contrast with government policies and community expectations, most converted lands had a very low development status and some of them were underdeveloped and demonstrated leapfrog sprawling.

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Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) with or without condom use on the risk of sexual transmission of HIV. Methods A search of the literature was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, SCOPUS and EMBASE databases for studies dating back to 2008. The results were summarized as relative risks and incidence rates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The effect sizes were pooled using random‐effects models and heterogeneity was evaluated using the Cochrane Q test and I2. Results Of the 1424 studies retrieved in the initial search, 10 met the eligibility requirements. ART was associated with a 52% reduction in transmission risk compared to no ART, with a relative risk of 0.48 (95% CI 0.439–0.525) (Q = 0.524; I2 = 0.0%; overall effect Z = 15.99, P < 0.0001). ART vs. no ART caused a reduction in the risk from 5.6 person‐years (95% CI 3.26–9.62 person‐years) (Q = 0.771; I2 = 0.0%; overall effect Z = 6.25, P < 0.0001) in the untreated group to 0.85 person‐years (95% CI 0.28–2.99 person‐years) (Q = 0.038; I2 = 76.7%; overall effect Z = 0.11, P = 0.772) in the treated group, but not significantly so, which is equivalent to an 84% reduction in the risk of sexual transmission. In accordance with the Swiss National AIDS Commission declaration, ART with suppressed viral loads was associated with a minimal risk of transmission, with a median time at risk of 0.00 person‐years (95% CI 0.00–0.00 person‐years) (Q = 1.00; I2 = 0.0%; overall effect Z = 6.80, P < 0.0001). Conclusions ART and condom use were found to cause a significant reduction in the risk of sexual transmission of HIV in both homosexual and heterosexual populations, based on previous systematic reviews and meta‐analyses.

This paper aims to review the impacts of drought on agricultural land conversion (ALC) on the one hand and the impacts of ALC on intensifying drought on the other. The paper further investigates coping strategies at three levels; i.e., micro (local), meso (national), and macro (international), in order to mitigate drought impacts that are classified as economic, social, and environmental. This paper shows that ALC, drought and coping strategies are in a reciprocal relationship and can have either a positive or negative influence on each other. The paper concludes that the complex and multidimensional nature of drought requires the development of an integrated approach that focuses on the governments' collaboration with different stakeholders. Such an integrated approach can improve drought risk management implementations, decrease vulnerability and construct resilience and coping capacity at all levels in order to deal with droughts.