Improved food security remains a major challenge for policymakers in Afghanistan. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence and drivers of food insecurity among farming households in the Takhar region of Afghanistan. Household questionnaire survey datasets were obtained from 262 farmers via multi-stage sampling across four districts. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was constructed to assess the prevalence of food insecurity, and an ordered probit econometric model was used to identify the factors influencing the prevalence rates in farming families. The findings indicate that 66.79% of the farming households were food insecure, whilst 30.53% were severely food insecure. After adjustment of socio-economic and demographic characteristics of families, the ordered probit results reveals that household head education, dependency ratio, farm income, access to non-agricultural income, livestock unit, group membership, borrowing, farm diseases, flood, and war significantly influenced farming households’ food insecurity in the study area. Our findings highlight the urgent requirement for policies and initiatives to support farmers to improve their overall food security. Such strategies should focus on introducing improved farming techniques, enhancing farmer education levels, livestock development programs, building and empowering farmers groups, creating credit access to households, and providing humanitarian food support.

Food insecurity is a long-term critical problem in Afghanistan. In 2019, the food and agricultural organization (FAO) noted that more than 53.2% of Afghanistan citizens were food insecure, and a total of 11million habitants need food aid. The main focus of this paper to understand food security variation, mainly where and under what natural and socio-economic situations Afghanistan citizens become susceptible food insecurity. This article provides an overview of food security in Afghanistan with respect to the four principal components of food security, namely food availability, food access, food utilization, and food stability. It identifies the knowledge gaps in these four pillars of food security assessment and makes recommendations to advance the research policy linkage in Afghanistan Agriculture sector. This study also highlights Afghanistan's current food production capabilities and the impact of social-economic factors on the four pillars of food security and suggests different procedures and policies improve it. In conclusion, this study provides a foundation for policy development to advance understanding and qualitative discourse to improve Afghanistan's food security situation.

Water shortage and water pollution have become the key factors restricting the sustainable development of animal husbandry in China. In this study, the water footprint model was used to analyze the water resource carrying capacity and water environment bearing pressure of animal husbandry in 31 provinces of China from 2001 to 2019. The findings indicate that: (1) The development of animal husbandry has exacerbated the regional water deficiency problem. Shandong, Henan, Hebei, and Liaoning have become the most serious water deficit areas of animal husbandry in China. The decreasing water resource carrying capacity indicates that water resources are difficult in supporting the growth of animal husbandry; (2) the change of animal feeding structures has led to the decrease of gray water footprint and the alleviation of the water environment bearing pressure; however, the water environment of animal husbandry in northern China and the northwest is still overburdened, which poses a major challenge to the control of agricultural non-point source pollution; (3) furthermore, according to the spatial and temporal characteristics of the water resource carrying capacity and water environment bearing pressure, the main livestock-producing areas in the north are facing a profound “water-livestock” contradiction and showing an increasing trend. The research results will help decision-makers to adjust the development mode of animal husbandry, optimize resource allocation, and promote the sustainable development of resource-saving and environment-friendly animal husbandry.

The rise in antimicrobial resistance and heavy metal contamination poses major risks to human health and the environment. This study reports the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using a polar extract of Geranium wallichianum D. Don ex Sweet. to evaluate antibacterial activity and Hg ²⁺ -sensing. This is the first reported use of G. wallichianum as a dual reducing and stabilizing agent, enabling a rapid sunlight-assisted synthesis completed within 15 min. Characterization confirmed successful formation of AgNPs: UV–Vis spectroscopy monitored stability, FT-IR verified functional group interactions, PXRD confirmed the crystalline phase, SEM revealed an average particle size of 26 nm, and hydrodynamic size and zeta potential were 39 nm and − 28 mV, respectively. Antibacterial activity was assessed using 30 µg/mL AgNPs, 30 µg/mL erythromycin as a positive control, 30 µg/mL plant extract, and DI water as a negative control. All tests were conducted in triplicate and analyzed using one-way ANOVA ( p < 0.05). The biogenic AgNPs exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis (20 mm ZOI), Klebsiella pneumoniae (18 mm ZOI), and Escherichia coli (19 mm ZOI). The MIC and MBC values ranged from 15 to 30 µg/mL, confirming the dose-dependent antibacterial potency. Additionally, AgNPs showed excellent colorimetric response toward Hg ²⁺ , with a linear detection range of 1–100 µM and a limit of detection (LOD) of 6.68 µM. The sensor demonstrated high selectivity and practical applicability in real-water samples. Overall, the unique sunlight-driven synthesis strategy, coupled with the strong antibacterial potential and exceptional Hg ^{2 +} selectivity, underscores the novelty and sustainability of G. wallichianum -mediated AgNPs as a versatile nanoplatform for biomedical and environmental applications.