The food supply chain in South Africa faces significant challenges related to transparency, traceability, and consumer trust. As concerns about food safety, quality, and sustainability grow, there is an increasing need for innovative solutions to address these issues. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising tool to enhance transparency and accountability across various industries, including the food sector. This study sought to explore the potential of blockchain technology in revolutionizing through promoting transparency that enable the achievement of sustainable food supply chain infrastructure in South Africa. The study found that blockchain technology used in food supply chain creates an immutable and decentralized ledger of transactions that has the capacity to provide real-time, end-to-end visibility of food products from farm to table. This increased transparency can help mitigate risks associated with food fraud, contamination, and inefficiencies in the supply chain. The study found that blockchain technology can be leveraged to enhance supply chain efficiency and trust among stakeholders. This technology used and/or applied in South Africa can reshape the agricultural sector by improving production and distribution processes. Its integration in the food supply chain infrastructure can equally improve data management and increase transparency between farmers and food suppliers.There is need for policy-makers and scholars in the fields of service delivery and food security to conduct more research in blockchain technology and its roles in creating a more transparent, efficient, and trustworthy food supply chain infractructure that address food supply problems in South Africa. The paper adopted a qualitative methodology to collect data, and document and content analysis techniques were used to interpret collected data. 

This study examines the determinants of stunting prevention among toddlers in fishing families residing in the coastal areas of Bengkulu City. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, the research combined survey data from 70 respondents and in-depth interviews with 11 informants. Findings indicate that health behavior and genetic factors from health status, alongside education level and occupation from socioeconomic status, play pivotal roles in stunting prevention. Consumption patterns, particularly the consistent provision of animal protein and vegetables in daily meals, significantly contribute to the absence of stunting cases in the studied population. However, limited fruit intake persists due to economic barriers. The study underscores the necessity of integrated strategies, including nutrition education, enhanced access to nutritious foods, and economic support for fishing families, to sustain stunting prevention in coastal communities.

Background: Digital transformation in the sports industry has become increasingly crucial for sustainable development, yet comprehensive empirical evidence on policy effectiveness and risk management remains limited. Purpose: This study investigates the impact of policy support and risk factors on digital transformation in sports companies, examining heterogeneous effects across different firm characteristics and regional contexts. Methods: Using panel data from 168 sports companies listed on China’s A-shares markets and the New Third Board from 2019 to 2023, this study employs multiple regression analyses, including baseline models, instrumental variables estimation, and robustness tests. The digital transformation level is measured through a composite index incorporating digital infrastructure, capability, and innovation dimensions. Results: The findings reveal that policy support significantly enhances digital transformation levels (coefficient = 0.238, p < 0.01), while financial risks demonstrate the strongest negative impact (−0.162, p < 0.01). Large firms and state-owned enterprises show stronger responses to policy support (0.312 and 0.278, respectively, p < 0.01). Regional development levels significantly moderate the effectiveness of policy implementation. Conclusions: The study provides empirical evidence for the differential effects of policy support and risk factors on digital transformation across various firm characteristics. The findings suggest the need for differentiated policy approaches considering firm size, ownership structure, and regional development levels. Implications: Policy makers should develop targeted support mechanisms addressing specific challenges faced by different types of firms, while considering regional disparities in digital transformation capabilities.

With the vigorous development of international trade and the in-depth advancement of economic globalization, China is facing the increasingly serious problem of invasive alien species, which poses a major threat to China’s ecological environment, economic development and human health. At present, although China has a comprehensive institutional norms in the prevention and control of invasion of alien species, but in the face of the challenge of invasion of alien species, China is still facing problems such as insufficient legal basis and imperfect specific legal system. Based on this understanding, this paper discusses the prevention and control of invasive alien species legal regulation, that although in recent years China has made certain achievements in the field of prevention and control of invasive alien species, but still faces a number of problems to be solved, should promote the relevant legislative amendments, and combined with the experience of developed countries to summarize the perfect.

This study investigated the students’ perceptions of a self-paced fitness program that is integrated with SitFit, a fitness tracker that measures body inclination during sit-up exercises, and their acceptance of digital innovation in physical education. The data was gathered from a survey of 1001 Thai undergraduates. Results revealed that attitudes toward using the technology and the perceived ease of use were important predictors of behavioral intention to use the sit-up fitness tracker. consistent with previous TAM studies. Subsequently, SitFit was developed based on exercise principles and expert advice to enable users to exercise more effectively while reducing injury risk.

The problem of stunting is not only related to children’s short height, but also has an impact on high morbidity rates, due to long-term nutritional deficiencies. which hinders motor and mental development in children. The objectives of this research are: 1) to understand household food security, 2) to understand the eating habits of pregnant women and toddlers regarding existing belief systems and traditions, and 3) to understand resilience mechanisms in overcoming food emergencies to prevent stunting. The data collection process uses a mixed methods approach by combining qualitative and quantitative research. The research results show that the determining factor for the incidence of stunting in coastal areas of Indonesia is the lack of household food availability due to subsistence economic life which then has an impact on eating behavior in the household, namely the lack of quality and quantity of the types of food consumed. daily. Apart from that, there is still a lack of understanding by pregnant women regarding the importance of providing complementary breast milk food to toddlers, low literacy of food diversity among toddlers, and low public trust in the importance of immunization. Furthermore, the high rate of early marriage in society and the limited awareness of using clean water is caused by a philosophy that still considers rivers as a source of life, so the water is used for consumption. Apart from that, socio-cultural mechanisms as a strategy to resolve the problem of food shortages have not yet been implemented.