A study was conducted at Donbi watershed, Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia to identify, describe and evaluate different introduced soil and water conservation practices and to assess farmers’ perceptions about soil erosion and conservation measures. The necessary data were generated through field measurements and structured questionnaire survey, group discussion and transect walk. The structures were evaluated by comparing the field measurement result with the recommended dimensions. The results obtained showed that level soil bund and fanya juu were the dominant structures identified in the watershed. The technical evaluation of the structures showed that generally the spacing of soil bund was wider than the recommended while in most fanya juus within the acceptable range. Similarly, the channel depth of the structure in different parts of the watershed was smaller than the recommended. Farmers in the watershed are aware of the problem of soil erosion and the importance of conserving soil. They have also developed their own judgments about the relationship between different dimensions of bunds and soil erosion as a result of long field experience in their locality.

Food consumption and nutrition intakes it seem as a major problem in rural area of White Nile state in Sudan, in spite of this area is rich of food production resource, through this study we had tried to know the pattern of food consumption and nutritional intaking in this area by taking six groups of food. The measurement of food security in the State was assessing through a household survey data. The author used Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (AL-AIDS) to estimate food price and expenditure elasticities and also used the nutrient demand model, in addition to the impact of the household characteristics on food and nutrition demand behavior; the result in term of cross price elasticity showed positive sign indicating response of substitution, in addition to the expenditure elasticities for all food groups showed positive signs excluding the oil group; generally, according to the nutrient demand model the result showed the household characteristics influence the nutrition intaking for all members of family, in other hand the regional factor appears to have negative impact between localities within the study area; finally, strongly recommended that the federal government strategy and policies for food security will be directed toward to the food supply and designed to increase income and procurement power.

At a Global scale, we are growing as much grain as possible to feed world population and domestic animals. As the world population grows in the coming decades, we may not have enough grain to feed the world population. The limiting factors are land suitable for cultivation or farming, environmental conditions and water available for plant growth/farming. Thus, the goal should be how much grain, e.g. corn or wheat we can grow per gallon of available water? If we focus on available water for agriculture, then evaporation loss from soil is the major mechanism for the loss of water.

Iron has many special functions in the body. More than 65 percent of the body’s iron is in the blood in the form of hemoglobin, which is a protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen to tissues in the body. A compound that carries oxygen to the muscle cells called myoglobin, also requires iron. In addition, iron has a role in many chemical reactions within the body that generate energy. A human body can store excess iron as a reserve. The World Health Organization reported that iron deficiency anemia is one of the most widespread nutrient deficiencies in the globe. Diverse factors may affect its absorption like low dietary intake of iron, deprived iron absorption, or too much blood loss. Moreover, polyphenolic compounds widely found in coffee and tea such as chlorogenic acids, monomeric flavonoids, and polyphenol polymerization products also strongly inhibit dietary nonheme-iron absorption. Children, adolescents, pregnant women, women of child-bearing age, athletes, and older adults are groups at greater risk for iron deficiency. The objective of this review paper is to review factors influencing iron absorption.