Introduction: Food well-being of the population is one of the priorities of the Togolese government, which relies on the agricultural investment and food security Programme to increase national food production. In addition, the country relies on food imports to make up the shortfall. At the same time undernourishment and malnutrition remain high among the country’s population. This research analyzes food supply and its implications for household consumption in Grand Lomé, Togo. [Methods] The methodology used documents, a survey of 963 heads of household randomly sampled households and semi-structured interviews with 10 households and with Togolese food safety agency (ANSAT). Quantitative data were processed and analyzed using Excel spreadsheets R and R-Studio, while content analysis was applied to the verbal applied to the verbal statements collected. Results: Firstly, the results show that domestic agricultural production contributed an average of 91% of food supply between 2014–2017. The deficit is made up by food imports, which rose from 13.5% in 2014 to 15.4% in 2017. This translated into an acceptable food energy consumption of 2337 Kcal/head/day in 2017. Secondly, 81% of respondents recognize a strong food presence at consumer markets, except that the chi-square test applied to the data at the 5% threshold shows (p-value < 2.2 × 10⁻¹⁶), indicates that this satisfaction is a function of place of residence. Despite this, persistent shortages affect more staple crops, livestock and dairy products, leading households to deprive themselves and buy food at affordable prices. Finally, we observe non-diversified diets marked by regular consumption of “cereals/legumes”, vegetables and beverages to the detriment of “tubers/roots”, “meat/fish”, “fruit” and “dairy products”. Conclusion: This research shows that food supply, although adequate, is not sufficient to ensure balanced, nutritious and culturally appropriate food consumption by urban households. Recommendations: To meet these challenges, the central government, in collaboration with urban communes and consumer advocates, must mobilize resources to create urban agricultural farms, strengthen food protection systems, distribute staple products directly to households and limit the importation of food that is hazardous to health.

The doctrine of the mean reflecting Confucian wisdom is an impartial, not extreme attitude and code of conduct, pursuing a mode characterized by stable, coordinated, and sustainable development. The doctrine of the mean emphasizes that people should “be kind to nature”. It attaches great importance to the building of a society in harmony with nature. Therefore, it has great enlightenment on the relationship between man and nature.

This study intends to explore the idea of a vocational village strategy to foster sustainable rural development. Vocational villages, offering targeted skills training and economic opportunities, present a compelling soft approach to rural development, addressing the need for sustainable livelihoods and community empowerment. Drawing upon the collaborative governance (the penta-helix model); underpinning the social capital perspective; and highlighting the economic, institutional, cultural, environmental, technological, and institutional dimensions of sustainable development, a vocational village strategy is expected to level up village capacities and facilitate modernization. The research was narratively developed through a qualitative methodology using primary and secondary data sources. Primary empirical data was employed to analyze vocational village practices in Panggungharjo Village, Yogyakarta, Indonesia as a representative example. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) framework provided secondary data to present comparative literature on vocational village development. The findings determined a four-staged vocational village model includes initiation, training, business development, and independence. The success of this model is contingent upon political, bureaucratic, and sociocultural factors (social capital), as well as the effective collaboration of government, academia, industry, and community (penta-helix). This research contributes to the urgency of vocational village practices and models as a viable strategy for achieving equitable and sustainable rural development.

Surrogacy has opened new doors for many people who need children but are infertile or unable to have children. Through modern scientific technology, couples or mothers can find women to ask them to be surrogates using their eggs or sperm. The nature of surrogacy is reproductive support, but the complexity of the surrogacy procedure causes a lot of controversy not only in the field of criminal law but also regarding its implementation in practice. The article uses qualitative analysis to study current commercial surrogacy formulas. The main goal of this study is to clarify the legal aspects of commercial surrogacy in the world and in Vietnam. The article also concludes that Vietnam and other countries need to agree or develop common principles to avoid cross-border surrogacy as well as establish legal tools to prevent surrogacy for sexual purposes trade to protect human rights and prevent child trafficking.

In this time of ambiguity, change, and conflict, integrating teacher leadership into initial teacher education (ITE) programs is crucial. However, complexities exist regarding ITE quality globally and in Vietnam specifically. This study explores the perceptions of different ITE stakeholders in Vietnam towards teacher leadership and factors that impact prospective teachers’ preparedness for teacher leadership based on the Teacher Leadership Model Standards. Using mixed methods, data were collected from surveys with pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators in various universities that offer ITE programs in Vietnam. Statistical analysis was deployed to identify similarities and differences in the perceptions of the three groups of participants, highlighting that while pre-service and in-service teachers share similar viewpoints toward teacher leadership, those of teacher educators are significantly different in some key areas. Furthermore, thematic analysis of qualitative responses from in-service and pre-service teachers was employed to shed light on their beliefs about the importance of teacher leadership and explore how the ITE programs support or hinder pre-service teachers’ preparedness in developing and validating their leadership skills. The findings of this study will have ramifications for the potential to restructure the ITE programs in Vietnam to better prepare the nation’s future leaders for the education system and society as a whole.

The technological development and growth of the telecommunications industry have had a great positive impact on the education, health, and economic sectors, among others. However, they have also increased rivalry between companies in the market to keep and acquire new customers. A lower level of market concentration is related to a higher level of competitiveness among companies in the sector that drives a country’s socioeconomic development. To guarantee and improve the level of competition, it is necessary to monitor the concentration level in the telecommunications market to plan and develop appropriate strategies by governments. With this in mind, the present work aims to analyze the concentration prediction in the telecommunications market through recurrent neural networks and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index. The results show a slight gradual increase in competition in terms of traffic and access, while a more stable concentration level is observed in revenues.