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Global food solutions from the Asia-Pacific


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An agroforestry producer from the Roya community in Peru shows native specias for cooking. Photo by J. Carlos Huayllapuma/CIFOR
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Fish for sale in a local market in Jambi, Indonesia. Photo by I. Cooke Vieira/CIFOR

Finding more sustainable ways to feed the world at the EAT Food Forum in Jakarta.

Creating a more sustainable global food system demands innovation in food technologies, and collaboration at the highest levels of government. These demands were echoed by many prominent leaders who attended the recent EAT Asia-Pacific Food Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia.

More than 500 participants from 30 countries congregated at the Forum on October 30 and 31 to discuss progress on the latest food research, as well as ideas for how to transform food systems in Indonesia and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla warned in his opening remarks that “food can trigger political problems if not managed well.” He hoped that the “EAT Forum can reach a collective understanding through international collaboration among development actors from various sectors.”

After a steady decline for more than a decade, global hunger is again on the rise, affecting 11 percent of the world’s population, according to a recent UN report. The increased number of those going hungry — from 38 million people last year to 815 million people today — is reported to be mainly caused by civil conflicts, and exacerbated by climate-related catastrophes.

Gathering leaders from science, politics and business, the EAT Forum aimed to promote a more holistic approach to food, health and sustainability, filling knowledge gaps, pushing for integrated food policies and finding win-win solutions.

Read more: Feminism, forests and food security

An agroforestry producer from the Roya community in Peru shows native specias for cooking. Photo by J. Carlos Huayllapuma/CIFOR

A HIGH-LEVEL ISSUE

“We need more integrated knowledge on the links between food, planet and health, and clear science-based targets,” EAT Foundation President Gunhild A. Stordalen said in her opening speech.

“We need bold politicians collaborating across ministries to develop comprehensive policies linking food production and consumption. We need the private sector, from multinationals to local entrepreneurs, to create new products, services and sustainable business models,” she added.

Indonesian Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, said that “food security has become a prominent issue due to rapid growth in global population.”

“Food security, energy security and water supply are becoming key factors for many economic activities in the world. Improvements in technology and innovation are definitely going to create both opportunities and increasing productivity, but also challenges,” she said.

CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) scientist Terry Sunderland from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) commended the EAT forum for its success in gathering a large number of stakeholders in the food sector, including high-level politicians.

“Getting politicians to recognize the limitations of our current food systems is a great start. Things will not change overnight, but the event in Jakarta is raising awareness. People are listening,” he said.

Read more: Forests, trees and agroforestry for food security, nutrition and the SDGs; Research and partners, toward a joint action agenda

A HOLISTIC VIEW ON FOOD SECURITY

Amy Ickowitz, another CIFOR scientist who participated in the event, said the issues covered in the Forum are in line with CIFOR’s research. But while the Forum focused more on the impacts of food systems on land-use change, CIFOR’s Sustainable Landscapes and Food team “also focuses on the flip side — the impacts of land-use change on smallholder diets,” she said.

The team recently published a paper looking at the relationship between forests and tree-based agriculture, and the diets of children in Indonesia.

Sunderland added that when talking about food security in Indonesia, forests and fisheries play an integral role.

“Inland and marine fisheries stocks, and how they interplay with dietary and nutritional diversity, are important. We need to understand, what are the future demands for fisheries and how will this play out in terms food security? It supports we have done in the past five, six years in terms of moving towards dietary diversity,” he said.

“More support should be given to smallholder farmers so they can reduce their post-harvest waste, so they can trade in a market that’s fair and equitable. And slowly get that mindset that the transformation of our food system can be a positive thing.

Bringing in forestry and fisheries for a more holistic perspective, particularly in terms of how forests and trees contribute to agricultural production, is also very important,” he added.

By Nabiha Shahab, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News.


The EAT Forum was jointly organized by the Indonesian Government and the EAT Foundation.

For more information on this topic, please contact Terry Sunderland at t.sunderland@cgiar.org or Amy Ickowitz at a.ickowitz@cgiar.org.

This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.

This research was supported by UK aid from the UK government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).


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  • Global food solutions from the Asia-Pacific

Global food solutions from the Asia-Pacific


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An agroforestry producer from the Roya community in Peru shows native specias for cooking. Photo by J. Carlos Huayllapuma/CIFOR
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FTA COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

Fish for sale in a local market in Jambi, Indonesia. Photo by I. Cooke Vieira/CIFOR

Finding more sustainable ways to feed the world at the EAT Food Forum in Jakarta.

Creating a more sustainable global food system demands innovation in food technologies, and collaboration at the highest levels of government. These demands were echoed by many prominent leaders who attended the recent EAT Asia-Pacific Food Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia.

More than 500 participants from 30 countries congregated at the Forum on October 30 and 31 to discuss progress on the latest food research, as well as ideas for how to transform food systems in Indonesia and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla warned in his opening remarks that “food can trigger political problems if not managed well.” He hoped that the “EAT Forum can reach a collective understanding through international collaboration among development actors from various sectors.”

After a steady decline for more than a decade, global hunger is again on the rise, affecting 11 percent of the world’s population, according to a recent UN report. The increased number of those going hungry — from 38 million people last year to 815 million people today — is reported to be mainly caused by civil conflicts, and exacerbated by climate-related catastrophes.

Gathering leaders from science, politics and business, the EAT Forum aimed to promote a more holistic approach to food, health and sustainability, filling knowledge gaps, pushing for integrated food policies and finding win-win solutions.

Read more: Feminism, forests and food security

An agroforestry producer from the Roya community in Peru shows native specias for cooking. Photo by J. Carlos Huayllapuma/CIFOR

A HIGH-LEVEL ISSUE

“We need more integrated knowledge on the links between food, planet and health, and clear science-based targets,” EAT Foundation President Gunhild A. Stordalen said in her opening speech.

“We need bold politicians collaborating across ministries to develop comprehensive policies linking food production and consumption. We need the private sector, from multinationals to local entrepreneurs, to create new products, services and sustainable business models,” she added.

Indonesian Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, said that “food security has become a prominent issue due to rapid growth in global population.”

“Food security, energy security and water supply are becoming key factors for many economic activities in the world. Improvements in technology and innovation are definitely going to create both opportunities and increasing productivity, but also challenges,” she said.

CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) scientist Terry Sunderland from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) commended the EAT forum for its success in gathering a large number of stakeholders in the food sector, including high-level politicians.

“Getting politicians to recognize the limitations of our current food systems is a great start. Things will not change overnight, but the event in Jakarta is raising awareness. People are listening,” he said.

Read more: Forests, trees and agroforestry for food security, nutrition and the SDGs; Research and partners, toward a joint action agenda

A HOLISTIC VIEW ON FOOD SECURITY

Amy Ickowitz, another CIFOR scientist who participated in the event, said the issues covered in the Forum are in line with CIFOR’s research. But while the Forum focused more on the impacts of food systems on land-use change, CIFOR’s Sustainable Landscapes and Food team “also focuses on the flip side — the impacts of land-use change on smallholder diets,” she said.

The team recently published a paper looking at the relationship between forests and tree-based agriculture, and the diets of children in Indonesia.

Sunderland added that when talking about food security in Indonesia, forests and fisheries play an integral role.

“Inland and marine fisheries stocks, and how they interplay with dietary and nutritional diversity, are important. We need to understand, what are the future demands for fisheries and how will this play out in terms food security? It supports we have done in the past five, six years in terms of moving towards dietary diversity,” he said.

“More support should be given to smallholder farmers so they can reduce their post-harvest waste, so they can trade in a market that’s fair and equitable. And slowly get that mindset that the transformation of our food system can be a positive thing.

Bringing in forestry and fisheries for a more holistic perspective, particularly in terms of how forests and trees contribute to agricultural production, is also very important,” he added.

By Nabiha Shahab, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News.


The EAT Forum was jointly organized by the Indonesian Government and the EAT Foundation.

For more information on this topic, please contact Terry Sunderland at t.sunderland@cgiar.org or Amy Ickowitz at a.ickowitz@cgiar.org.

This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.

This research was supported by UK aid from the UK government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).


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  • Nutrition and Trees in sub-Saharan Africa: From forest to table

Nutrition and Trees in sub-Saharan Africa: From forest to table


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In the Luwingu district, in northern Zambia, women gather a wide variety of foods from the forest. Emelda, Jennifer and Belita show us all the food they collect from nearby forests: fruits, mushrooms, vegetables and caterpillars. They hope forests are preserved so their children and future generations can continue to eat the same traditional dishes. Wild foods are important sources of key nutrients. Caterpillars are an important source of protein, iron, and zinc. Leafy green vegetables such as ‘pimpa’ and ‘pupwe’ tend to be high in iron and vitamin A.

Between 2013 and 2017, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) conducted a research project called ‘Nutrition and Trees in sub-Saharan Africa’ in five sites across several countries, looking at the contribution that forests and trees in landscapes make to the diets of mothers and their young children. One of these sites was in Luwingu, in northern Zambia. At the end of the project, women from different villages came together to showcase their recipes of traditional foods in a food fair hosted by Zambia’s Ministry of Agriculture and CIFOR.

This video was produced by CIFOR.

This project was funded with UK aid from the UK government. This research is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.


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  • Nutrition and trees in sub-Saharan Africa: Jennifer’s secret

Nutrition and trees in sub-Saharan Africa: Jennifer’s secret


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Not even Jennifer’s children know where she hides the chikanda. Why? The small, brownish orchid tubers are highly valued as a cultural delicacy among the Bemba people who live in the Luwingu district of northern Zambia. Overharvesting of chikanda for sale is an important issue in East and southern Africa, but local women have a way to harvest it sustainably. Jennifer explains why chikanda is so important in her culture.

Between 2013 and 2017, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) conducted a research project called ‘Nutrition and Trees in sub-Saharan Africa’ in five sites across several countries, looking at the contribution that forests and trees in landscapes make to the diets of mothers and their young children. One of these sites was in Luwingu, in northern Zambia. At the end of the project, women from different villages came together to showcase their recipes of traditional foods in a food fair hosted by Zambia’s Ministry of Agriculture and CIFOR.

This video was produced by CIFOR.

This project was funded with UK aid from the UK government. This research is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.


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  • Fruit tree genetic diversity in Central Asia: a spatial threat analysis

Fruit tree genetic diversity in Central Asia: a spatial threat analysis


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Our spatial analysis framework aims to predict, at the population level, where multiple threats (overexploitation, overgrazing, landslides, fragmentation and predicted climate change), superimposed on patterns of genetic and nutritional diversity, are likely to have negative impact on important indigenous fruit and nut tree species.


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  • Shaping a stronger global agenda for forests, trees and agroforestry at CFS44

Shaping a stronger global agenda for forests, trees and agroforestry at CFS44


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A farmer fertilizes his rice field in Rammang-rammang village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo by T. Saputro/CIFOR
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Trees and forests play critical roles in landscapes and value chains, contributing to sustainable agricultural development. They are also key to achieving food security and nutrition, and thus the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At the recent Committee on World Food Security (CFS) 44, the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) coorganized two side events: one on feminism, forests and food security and one on sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition, where panelists discussed how to move forward on the implementation of the recent High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) report on sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition and CFS policy recommendations.

Read more: High Level Panel of Experts launches landmark report on sustainable forestry

The latter side event, organized with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the government of the Netherlands, Tropenbos International, the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative (SIANI) and MARS, Incorporated, honed in on priorities relating to research for development.

Titled Forests, trees and agroforestry for food security, nutrition and the SDGs: Research and partners, toward a joint action agenda, the discussion on Oct. 11 contributed to CFS44’s discussions on sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition, and aimed to shape a stronger global agenda for forests, trees and agroforestry.

A village in Mount Halimun Salak National Park, West Java, Indonesia. Photo by A. Erlangga/CIFOR

In particular, the event sought to show how major initiatives intend to position themselves, enhance their synergies, and better work with all stakeholders to implement the CFS recommendations on sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition. The discussion also aimed to contribute to knowledge sharing and clarifying stakeholder expectations in terms of priority demands toward research and development partners. Furthermore, FTA hoped to identify ways and means for better articulation between major international initiatives, and identify priority demands as the program continues in its second phase.

The well-attended talk illustrated how key research for development points will be used in FTA’s prioritization process, with FTA considered well-placed to address the implications of the HLPE report. After introductions by FAO’s Eva Muller and myself, a number of panelists discussed the topics at hand, while audience members both in the room and online also had the opportunity to participate in the discussion.

Of the many key points to emerge was the need for responsible investments in value chains, including the fundamental role of the private sector. The panelists agreed upon the need for knowledge about how to incentivize responsible business models, and for reviews and guidelines on different inclusive business models.

Actors must quantify the constraints involved in integrating trees into farms and landscapes, despite a lack of information on successful examples, new techniques, seeds and sourcing. Social inclusiveness and gender are also vital facets of finding solutions, including the need to facilitate women’s participation and empowerment in rural development as well as food security and nutrition.

Ambassador Hans Hoogeveen of the Netherlands, who sat on the panel, outlined the need for a forward-looking perspective and cited agriculture as among the drivers of deforestation. He asked what agriculture can do for forests, and what land use can do for forests. Hoogeveen suggested that actors should focus on the private sector rather than governments. Getting a company like IKEA on board, for example, could create a transformational change, he said.

Muller then followed up on what agriculture and land use can do for forests, stating that an upcoming conference organized by FAO would look at Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 on sustainably managing forests, combating desertification, halting and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss, as well as the more ambitious goal of increasing forests by 3 percent by 2030. FAO will disseminate knowledge and provide technical support, she said, adding that countries would need support, data, knowledge and innovative governance solutions.

In my role in the discussion, I described the HLPE as a stocktake mechanism, which has presented us with questions about how to move forward. We need to look at the role of trees to address food security and nutrition, climate change and the SDGs. Indeed there is a need for an integrated approach to agriculture and forestry, including the restoration of land and looking at sustainable value chains. FTA aims to inform and support stakeholders from a research perspective.

Read more: Forests as food: New report highlights important relationship between forest landscapes and healthy diets

Moderating the side event, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Director General Peter Holmgren highlighted the need to work on rights, inclusiveness, value chain connections, entrepreneurship, investments, livelihoods and food security. That is where forestry should move, he said, adding that FTA’s partners could act as a coalition in this manner.

Cecile Ndjebet, President of the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF), highlighted the role of women in particular, saying they were key actors to combat hunger, poverty and climate change. Other priorities include investing in underutilized nutritious foods, and linking non-timber forest products to markets.

Rene Boot, Director of Tropenbos International, focused on inclusive business development and business models, as smallholders produce 75 percent of food worldwide. There is clearly a need for inclusive and responsible investments, he said, adding that how to best connect investors was an issue.

A woman picks maize near Yangambi, DRC. Photo by A. Fassio/CIFOR

Kerstin Cisse of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) said agroforestry was a recognized technology and was economically viable. She also highlighted women’s central roles in rural development and food security and nutrition. One challenge was how to make research results available and usable, especially for small-scale farms, she said. Youth and women hold untapped potential that needs to be developed, she added, before outlining the need for new thinking and new questions. 

Additionally, Agusdin Pulungan, President of the Indonesian Farmer and Fisher Society Organization (WAMTI), highlighted challenges for farmers including a lack of information on successful examples, information on new techniques, competing land uses, a lack of equipment, insufficient land availability, and a lack of seeds. It can be difficult for farmers to invest without reserves, he explained, and they need incentives to introduce trees. The role of research for development should be to provide information on incentive schemes, while farmers could be more motivated through good examples and discussion, he said.

The panelists and audience members thus helped to outline a range of issues that will help to prioritize research – relating to integration, protecting forests, intensifying agriculture and working on drivers of land-use change, most of which are outside forests. Demand is growing for agriculture products and the renewable material of wood, so we need to understand how plantations can be sustainable and we need to fight institutional boundaries. 

Indeed, as Holmgren mentioned, this involves the involvement of all stakeholders – from private sector and civil society to communities, as well as governments.

Read more: Sharing better, for better research

The other major messages gained from the side event included that there is a need to invest in underutilized nutritious food crops. Meanwhile, plantations are needed to ensure the growing supply of wood and other products. There is an overall need for integration, as most drivers of change, such as land-use change, exist outside forests.

To devise solutions, actors must integrate agriculture and forestry. A key challenge in this light is how to make research results available and usable, especially for small-scale farms, in light of knowledge and development gaps.

Ultimately, to implement the CFS agenda and achieve global food security, the panelists agreed that countries will need support, data, knowledge and innovative governance solutions, with the involvement of all partners. 

By Vincent Gitz, FTA Director.


The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, ICRAF, INBAR and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.


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  • Guiding the conservation of food tree species in Burkina Faso with a threat-mapping approach

Guiding the conservation of food tree species in Burkina Faso with a threat-mapping approach


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Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) in agroforestry parkland. Photo by H. Gaisberger/Bioversity International
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A shea tree in agroforestry parkland. Photo by H. Gaisberger/Bioversity International

Agroforestry parklands are among the most widespread traditional land-use systems in sub-Saharan Africa, where scattered individual trees occur on cultivated fields. Over the last decades, agroforestry parklands in Burkina Faso have come under increasing demographic and climatic pressures, which are threatening indigenous tree species that contribute to rural households’ income and nutrition.

In a paper published in PLOS ONE, FTA researchers from Bioversity International and the World Agroforestry Centre analyzed 16 important food tree species in Burkina Faso and six key threats to them: overexploitation, overgrazing, fire, cotton production, mining and climate change. This analysis is crucial to plan for timely and more selective and efficient conservation actions.

Figure 2: Combined threat magnitude levels ‘high’ and ‘very high’ for all species across all threats and protected areas. Photo by H. Gaisberger/Bioversity International

Our species-specific threat model, developed with national and international partners, combines freely accessible datasets, species distribution models (SDMs), climate models and expert survey results. The model is able to predict, at a fine-scale, where multiple threats are likely to have a negative impact on the availability of suitable habitat in the present and near future. This approach helps to determine which threat contributes most to high-threat levels in certain areas of the country. This is fundamental to guide specific conservation actions such as ex situ conservation, active regeneration and tree planting.

We have found that all 16 species face serious threats throughout much of their distribution in Burkina Faso, and that climate change is predicted to be the most prevalent threat in the long term, whereas overexploitation and cotton production are the most important in the short term.

More than 55% of the distribution of ten of the species is under high or very high threat (Figure 2). Conservation plans – prioritizing the species and if possible, the populations, that are most important to local people – should be urgently developed.

For example, Vitellaria paradoxa, a multipurpose tree with a wide range of food and medicinal uses, is very highly threatened by climate change along its northern margin (Figure 3). Valuable seed sources in this area may be lost unless seed is collected for planting in more suitable climate and/or for ex situ conservation. Populations highly threatened by overexploitation in the central part of Burkina Faso should be prioritized for assisted regeneration as they grow in areas where predicted future climate would produce suitable habitat.

Figure 3: Threat magnitude levels of ‘Climate change’ for shea tree. Photo by H. Gaisberger/Bioversity International

Knowing the regions where threats are most serious allows decision-makers to plan actions at the population level to maintain the genetic diversity across the species’ distribution range. High genetic diversity is important to ensure growth and resilience to site conditions now and in the future.

In the same way, recommendations can be derived from threat maps of the other selected food tree species such as Parkia biglobosa, Adansonia digitata, Boscia senegalensis and Detarium microcarpum.

This approach can be easily used with other species and in other countries, and applied at different scales, from local to continental level, as long as appropriate spatial data and knowledgeable experts are available.

Using maps to visualize threats and their predicted impact is very powerful – it makes results easily accessible and understandable to decision-makers from private and public agencies, who can take action to conserve vulnerable species.

The GIS threat layers to create the threat maps are accessible on Dataverse.

Read the paper: Spatially explicit multi-threat assessment of food tree species in Burkina Faso: A fine-scale approach.

By Hannes Gaisberger, originally published by Bioversity International.


This study was carried out within the framework of the project ‘Threats to priority food tree species in Burkina Faso: Drivers of resource losses and mitigation measures’, financed by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and through contributions from the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.


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  • Spatially explicit multi-threat assessment of food tree species in Burkina Faso: A fine-scale approach

Spatially explicit multi-threat assessment of food tree species in Burkina Faso: A fine-scale approach


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Abstract

Over the last decades agroforestry parklands in Burkina Faso have come under increasing demographic as well as climatic pressures, which are threatening indigenous tree species that contribute substantially to income generation and nutrition in rural households. Analyzing the threats as well as the species vulnerability to them is fundamental for priority setting in conservation planning.

Guided by literature and local experts we selected 16 important food tree species (Acacia macrostachya, Acacia senegal, Adansonia digitata, Annona senegalensis, Balanites aegyptiaca, Bombax costatum, Boscia senegalensis, Detarium microcarpum, Lannea microcarpa, Parkia biglobosa, Sclerocarya birrea, Strychnos spinosa, Tamarindus indica, Vitellaria paradoxa, Ximenia americana, Ziziphus mauritiana) and six key threats to them (overexploitation, overgrazing, fire, cotton production, mining and climate change).

We developed a species-specific and spatially explicit approach combining freely accessible datasets, species distribution models (SDMs), climate models and expert survey results to predict, at fine scale, where these threats are likely to have the greatest impact. We find that all species face serious threats throughout much of their distribution in Burkina Faso and that climate change is predicted to be the most prevalent threat in the long term, whereas overexploitation and cotton production are the most important short-term threats. Tree populations growing in areas designated as ‘highly threatened’ due to climate change should be used as seed sources for ex situ conservation and planting in areas where future climate is predicting suitable habitats. Assisted regeneration is suggested for populations in areas where suitable habitat under future climate conditions coincides with high threat levels due to short-term threats.

In the case of Vitellaria paradoxa, we suggest collecting seed along the northern margins of its distribution and considering assisted regeneration in the central part where the current threat level is high due to overexploitation. In the same way, population-specific recommendations can be derived from the individual and combined threat maps of the other 15 food tree species. The approach can be easily transferred to other countries and can be used to analyze general and species specific threats at finer and more local as well as at broader (continental) scales in order to plan more selective and efficient conservation actions in time. The concept can be applied anywhere as long as appropriate spatial data are available as well as knowledgeable experts.


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  • Research team looks at changing landscapes, from forests to food

Research team looks at changing landscapes, from forests to food


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A woman picks edible leaves. Photo by M. MacDonald/CIFOR
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A woman picks edible leaves. Photo by M. MacDonald/CIFOR

New work challenges conventional wisdom on agricultural expansion.

The growing demand for food — demand that is expected to double by 2050 — has led to widespread agricultural expansion, primarily at the expense of forests.

It is estimated that between 1980 and 2000, more than half of new agricultural land across the tropics was developed on forested land and a further 28 percent opened up on secondary forestland. Despite this expansion and significant progress made to reduce hunger, the UN estimates that more than 840 million people worldwide remain hungry and undernourished.

Food security is increasingly linked to a range of sectors such as biodiversity, conservation, maintenance of ecosystem services, food production, sustainable livelihood provision, and climate change mitigation.

Numerous theories have been put forward that aim to find a balance between food security, conservation and livelihoods. But do these ideas work?

Twenty scientists from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and partner institutions representing a range of disciplines set out to answer that question.

Led by CIFOR scientist Terry Sunderland, the team looked at six pantropical landscapes, in Zambia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, to find out what is actually happening on the ground.

“We wanted to challenge conventional wisdom that as economies and people develop, we have to transition from forest to agriculture to manufacturing and service industries and assume the outcomes are always positive,” says Sunderland.

Food security is increasingly linked to a range of sectors such as biodiversity, conservation, maintenance of ecosystem services and food production. Photo by M. MacDonald/CIFOR

“We wanted to test if that is actually the case, particularly for rural dwellers, and if it really has a net benefit in the longer term,” he adds.

Sunderland says the research team wanted to get a broader perspective on the impact of this transition to agriculture in these forested areas. So they took a wider approach, looking at not only socio-ecological aspects but socio-economic factors as well.

“We found that it is not a linear process. This transition impacts in the short term and in the long term. It affects the environment, health, diet and social and cultural impacts too,” he says.

ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL

One of the strongest points that came out of the study is that when you look at rural communities in changing landscapes, you need to not only examine each factor, but how each relates to its specific circumstances. Sunderland says one of the problems is that people often generalize when it comes to the lives of local people living in these rural areas.

“We tend to come out with sweeping statements about forest dependence, forest reliance and diets and so on, but it really it depends on a whole range of other externalities like culture and economies, so the local context is really important,” says Sunderland.

One surprising finding emerged in Ethiopia, for example, where the scientists found that people who lived further away from the forest were actually poorer because they didn’t have access to fuel wood.  These communities were forced to burn manure as fuel instead of putting it on their crops.

“This situation led to decreases in crop yields and grazing lands and that led to these communities becoming considerably poorer,” says Sunderland.

One example of relying on assumptions comes from Indonesia, where there is the general argument that oil palm does great things for the local economy. Sunderland says that may be the case, but that this point has been oversimplified.

When the researchers spoke with oil palm workers they found a huge dietary transition from a very varied, nutritious diet, often from forest foods, to a very simplified diet that relies on sugar and fats.

“It’s an ‘instant noodleization’ of diets of sorts. When people have a bit more money in their pockets they tend to buy pre-packaged food. It’s a status thing, too. And it is these things that are usually never thought about,” says Sunderland.

He says food security shouldn’t be counted just in calories, but should also include people’s actual diets and hence nutrition.

THE MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION

So, how do we maintain economic growth and food security without ruining the environment?

“What this study is saying is it’s not about keeping people forest-dependent, but it is keeping people cognizant of the fact that forests play an important role in food security, for example in terms of ecosystems and their impact on forest agriculture,” says Sunderland.

He says once you are on the ground you quickly realize that many of these concepts such as land-sharing and land-sparing, are often more conceptual than anything, and imply a “grand design” at the landscape scale that simply is not there. He says there is a need to really get down to the complexities of these landscapes.

A Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) site is seen in Tigray, Ethiopia. Photo by M. Edliadi/CIFOR

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Over the years, critics have asked: how are you going to feed the world if you don’t have massive agricultural expansion across landscapes?  But the research shows it is not a question of ‘either/or’. Forests and trees have a key role to play.

The new study references previous research which estimates that over 1.3 billion people utilize forests, and that trees and forested landscapes generate significant income for local people who could earn as much from foraging forests and wild lands as from cultivating crops.

“There is now evidence of a clear dichotomy between the environment and food security. So it’s not as black and white as it seems,” says Sunderland.

Sunderland says that the impact on landscapes from climate change emphasizes this message, so there is a need to help farmers diversify in the future and do more with what they have.

“Farmers who are growing eight different types of crops are much less likely to suffer from the environmental or economic impact of climate change, as opposed to a farmer who is growing just wheat and he happens to have a catastrophic year and everything is lost,” he says.

The researchers also looked at aid projects that were being implemented in their research areas. These projects focused on issues like agriculture, sustainability and livelihoods, and lasted for a relatively short time, from three to five years.

“That’s great for short term, but not the long term. So we are advocating moving away from projects to more process-oriented interventions and even understanding how landscapes change over time and why,” says Sunderland.

Moving forward in this research, the team recognizes is a great need to take a multi-disciplinary approach — when social scientists work together with environmental scientists you get a much better outcome, Sunderland says.

“There’s no silver bullet. There’s only a complex reality and you really have to get a grasp on it to move on. We need to understand these landscapes before we can manage them,” he concludes.

By Suzanna Dayne, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News

For more information on this topic, please contact Terry Sunderland at t.sunderland@cgiar.org.


This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors

This research was supported by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).


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  • High Level Panel of Experts launches landmark report on sustainable forestry

High Level Panel of Experts launches landmark report on sustainable forestry


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Project Team Leader Terry Sunderland presents during the HLPE report launch at FAO Headquarters. Photo ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
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The HLPE launches its latest report at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, on June 27, 2017. Photo ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

The High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) launched on June 27 a landmark report on sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition (FSN). The HLPE is the independent science-policy interface of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS). It provides a comprehensive evidence base for the political, multistakeholder discussions at the CFS.

The launch marked the first time that the CFS discussed the contributions of forests and trees to world food security, and how to enhance them. This is a very significant debate at UN level.

The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) welcomes this report, and is proud to have significantly contributed to its elaboration by providing science and knowledge. The project team leader for the report, Terry Sunderland, a Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) scientist, is also a research cluster leader for FTA.

Forest and trees: key to food security and nutrition

FTA Director Vincent Gitz speaks during the launch of the HLPE report at FAO Headquarters in Rome. Photo ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

The report presents a very compelling argument for the contribution of forests across the four major dimensions of food security and nutrition, which are availability, access, utilization and stability.

Forests and trees contribute directly and indirectly to food security and nutrition in many ways: the provision of food, primary energy (wood fuel for cooking), employment and income, and ecosystems services such as water regulation, soil protection, pest control pollination, and protection of biodiversity, which are all critical for sustainable food security and nutrition.

In addition, they play an important role in climate change mitigation at the global level, and adaptation at the local level, particularly in certain areas of the world and especially for those communities, often the most marginalized, that rely on forests for their livelihoods.

A new perspective, beyond arbitrary divides

A novelty of this report is that it goes beyond and leaves behind the traditional and somewhat arbitrary divides and distinctions between forest types and definitions, toward a more holistic approach to the roles of forests and trees, and the diversity of situations and roles of trees in landscapes, agriculture, farms and food systems, as key contributors to sustainable development, food security and nutrition.

Recommendations

The report makes 37 recommendations, grouped under the following seven headings, which pave the way for an action agenda on forests and trees for food security and nutrition:

  1. Rapporteur Francois Pythoud (left to right), FAO Deputy Director-General Climate and Natural Resources Maria Helena Semedo, HLPE Chairperson Patrick Caron, CFS Chairperson Amira Gornass, Project Team Leader Terry Sunderland and HLPE Coordinator Nathanael Pingault launch the report at FAO Headquarters. Photo ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

    Develop and use policy-relevant knowledge on the direct and indirect contributions of forests and trees to FSN

  2. Enhance the role of forests in environmental processes at all scales without compromising the right to adequate food of forest-dependent people
  3. Support the contributions of forests to improve livelihoods and economies for FSN
  4. Promote multifunctional landscapes for FSN that integrate forests and trees as key components
  5. Acknowledge the importance and strengthen the role of forests and trees in enhancing resilience at landscape, community and household levels for FSN 
  6. Recognize and respect land and natural resource tenure and use rights over forests and trees for FSN
  7. Strengthen inclusive forest governance systems across sectors and scales for FSN

Implications for the research agenda, and for FTA

This report, at the same time as taking stock of the breadth of existing knowledge on the role of forests and tree-based systems for FSN and their potential contribution to reducing global hunger and malnutrition, also highlights the need for further data collection and analysis that will enable the case-by-case assessment all of these contributions, whom they benefit, and at which geographical and temporal scales.

Project Team Leader Terry Sunderland presents during the HLPE report launch at FAO Headquarters. Photo ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

The HLPE report also shows the need for a better understanding of the drivers of change, and of the dynamics at play in landscapes — all areas that are at the heart of FTA research.

Situations are very diverse, socio-economical contexts are very different, and this shows the need for options-by-contexts to make the most of this potential. In FTA, we have good examples of what works, and how this can work in partnership for impact.

FTA can provide the evidence and tools to generate, pilot and, with partners (governments, the private sector, foresters and farmers), to scale-up and scale-out a range of solutions, according to a diversity of contexts.

We look forward to the discussion and the expressions of need in relation to research that will be discussed in the CFS policy convergence process, which will lead to decisions at the upcoming CFS 44 plenary on October 9-13, 2017.

We will use the results of that process to inform FTA’s future research priorities, and to fine-tune these to the needs of stakeholders for even greater relevance, legitimacy and effectiveness in the work we do.

By Vincent Gitz, FTA Director.


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  • Forests foods and healthy diets

Forests foods and healthy diets


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A woman prepares wild edible mushrooms from Zambia’s miombo woodlands for drying, Northwestern Zambia. Photo by Fiona Paumgarten for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
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Forests are a crucial source of nutritious food for a myriad of rural communities across the world. Photo: CIFOR

By Jack Hewson, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News

New research by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) shows that forests play an important role in the diets of many households and communities living in close proximity to tropical forests.

The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence that suggests deforestation and forest conversion to crops pose a threat to communities that receive their nutritional requirements from forests.

The study, led by Ph.D. scholar Dominic Rowland, is the first to use standardized survey methods across multiple different sites to quantify the consumption of forest foods and compare them with dietary guidelines. The research team examined wild forest food consumption in smallholder-dominated forests in 37 sites across 24 tropical countries.

According to Rowland, even though there have been many studies looking at the links between forest food and nutrition, there has not yet been an application of uniform criteria to provide a globally comparative perspective.

“As far as we’re aware, this is the first of its kind,” he says. “We tested the hypothesis that the consumption of forest foods can make important contributions to dietary quality in a wide range of sites across the tropics.”

Drawing on data collected by the Poverty and Environment Network (PEN) — a collaborative research project led by CIFOR — the research team was able to estimate the contributions of forest foods to nutrition by comparing intake with various dietary recommendations and average consumption patterns.


“There are all kinds of foods that come from the forest, including anything from land snails to wild fruits and primates,” Rowland says. “We focused on nutritionally important food groups that are often lacking in the average diets in these countries. For these food groups, primarily it is bushmeat, fish and fruit for which the forest is relied upon, as well as vegetables.”

According to Rowland, the study likely underestimates the quantities of forest foods consumed, as it only analyzes the consumption of those foods that were collected by households, and does not include foods collected for trade purposes, or those given as gifts and bartered — practices that are common in many forest communities.

A woman prepares wild edible mushrooms from Zambia’s miombo woodlands for drying, Northwestern Zambia. Photo by Fiona Paumgarten for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

VARYING RESULTS

While the dietary contribution of forest foods to nutritional requirements at many survey sites was substantial, results varied significantly.

The top quartile of forest food users at some sites obtained as much as 106 percent of their requirements for meat and fish from the forest. But for other communities, the contribution was negligible.

Due to the global scope of the study, it is perhaps unsurprising that a large variety of forest food consumption patterns were identified, with very few uniformities. However, Rowland and his fellow researchers created rough categories to simplify their findings, which included communities that are “forest-food dependent” on one hand, and those that have “limited forest use” on the other.

“You can’t say that forest foods are universally important. But you also can’t say that forest foods don’t make much difference to diets. There are no overarching generalizations to be made, as it really depends on the local context.”

Another recent CIFOR study focusing on forests and diets in Indonesia also found substantial differences across regions.

LAND USE CHANGE IMPACTS ON DIET

However, in areas where there is a heavy reliance on the forest for nutrition, deforestation or wholesale conversion to crops can harm the diets of local people.

“The scale and importance of wild food use must be taken into account when making landscape-scale land-use decisions,” Rowland says.

According to research conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization, it is often the poorest who are most reliant on forests for food. Those who live near the poverty line may be subject to food insecurity in times of food shortage, famine, or when stocks from the previous season are exhausted. For these people, forests provide a crucial safety net.

Landscapes that are converted from mixed crops to monoculture may also become at risk of food insecurity, leaving residents unable to receive proper nutrition.


For example, another study conducted by CIFOR in south Cameroon highlighted concerns that wholesale conversion of land to palm oil was threatening local food security. While some smallholder producers of palm oil welcomed the conversion to the high-yield crop, others residents were unable to profit from it, and with limited income, found it difficult to access food.

“Our findings suggest that deforestation and land-use change may have unforeseen consequences on the quality of local people’s diets,” Rowland says.

“I think the policy implications are that when decisions are made about agriculture, you need to take into account the impact on local people’s diets because monoculture might not provide people with sources of nourishing food.

“Research like this increasingly underscores the validity of the ‘landscape approach’ — which champions the establishing of mixed-use landscapes.”

For more information on this topic, please contact Dominic Rowland at dominicrowland@gmail.com or Amy Ickowitz at a.ickowitz@cgiar.org or Terry Sunderland at t.sunderland@cgiar.org.
This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.
This research was supported by DFID-KNOWFOR

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  • Challenges to governing sustainable forest food: Irvingia spp. from southern Cameroon

Challenges to governing sustainable forest food: Irvingia spp. from southern Cameroon


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Authors: Ingram, V.; Ewane, M.; Ndumbe, L.; Awono, A.

Across the Congo Basin, bush mango (Irvingia spp.) nuts have been harvested from forest landscapes for consumption, sold as a foodstuff and for medicine for centuries. Data on this trade however are sparse. A value chain approach was used to gather information on stakeholders in the chain from the harvesters in three major production areas in Cameroon to traders in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Equatorial Guinea, the socio-economic values, environmental sustainability and governance. Around 5190 people work in the complex chain in Cameroon with an estimated 4109 tons harvested on average annually in the period 2007 to 2010. Bush mango incomes contribute on average to 31% of harvester’s annual incomes and dependence increases for those further from the forest. Customary rules govern access to resources. Although regulations exist, most trade is illegal, with corruption and collective action governing access to markets. The majority of nuts harvested are sustainably collected. Although 51% of the harvest is sourced from the forest, trees are also managed on cultivated land. Forest degradation and deforestation threaten the species. Policy measures such as linking stakeholders, promoting cultivation, pragmatic regulation, and supporting processor groups may make trade in this forest food more sustainable.

Topic:

Geographic: Cameroon

Publication Year: 2017

ISSN: 1389-9341

Source: Forest Policy and Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2016.12.014


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  • Nutrition and landscapes

Nutrition and landscapes


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A woman farming in Burkina Faso. Photo credit: CIFOR
A woman farming in Burkina Faso. Photo credit: CIFOR

By CIFOR, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News

CIFOR: What kind of research are you carrying out on nutrition and landscapes?

Amy Ickowitz: Our research started by looking at the relationship between forests and diets. We linked a a very large demographic health data set with information on diets — with data on more than 90,000 children under five —from 21 African countries with data on tree cover.

We found that children who lived in communities where there was more dense tree cover had higher dietary diversity, which means that they ate from more food groups than children living in areas without forests. Dietary diversity is recognized by nutritionists as an important indicator of healthy diets. We also found that children ate more fruits and vegetables in forest-covered areas.

So we thought this was enough preliminary evidence that there is a relationship between forests and diets , but it was still unclear what was behind this relationship — is it related to agriculture practiced in forest areas? Is it from income from forest products that is used to buy more food? Is it from people directly collecting food from forests?

Our next step was to secure the support of DFID KNOWFOR. In Africa we looked at five countries with different types of forest : Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. And we collected data on the quantities of food and sources of food that were eaten by mothers and children in forested and not forested areas to compare the quality of their diets. The results from this research are not in yet.

CIFOR: Why are forests important for diets?

Ickowitz: Forests can provide direct provisions to communities; people can pick wild fruits, hunt wild meat — meat is one of the most important and limited food groups for poor people in developing countries. In Burkina Faso, people eat a lot of leaves from trees, and these are important sources of micronutrients.

Then there are the ecosystem services provided by forests – agriculture may be more productive in areas which are forested, or the types of agriculture that are practiced in forested areas such as shifting cultivation and agroforestry may be conducive to healthy diets since they usually produce a variety of foods rather than just one staple crop. They tend to intercrop staples with legumes and vegetables and maintain fruit trees in fallows. They also manage fallows for hunting small game. The diversity in their fields is reflected in the diversity in their diets.

CIFOR: What are some of the problems that deforestation can cause for nutrition security?

Ickowitz: If you are deforesting to produce more rice and corn, but you are sacrificing fruit trees and vegetables and hunting, you might be gaining in calories but the overall quality of your diet may go down.

Even if your income goes up and you can buy food in the market, people may buy less healthy food — food higher in sugar and fat, white rice versus red rice — and some of the healthy foods you had before might not be available in the market, or might be too expensive. It is perhaps easier to kill and smoke an animal yourself than to buy meat, particularly in areas with poor infrastructure.

CIFOR: You are now moving your research focus to Indonesia. Why?

Ickowitz: Indonesia is undergoing a rapid transformation of traditional agriculture to oil palm and other cash crops. This reflects a growing economy, and it’s clear that diets have been changing very quickly.

Our working hypothesis is that traditional agriculture in forested areas tends to result in healthier diets than commercial plantation agriculture. If this is the case, then we think this is important for policy makers to take into account when they are thinking about land use policy

If you frame it as that we need to sacrifice forests for food security, you might be improving food security for people in other countries or urban areas by giving them more access to staple foods, but for local people you might be sacrificing their nutritional security by taking away access to diverse nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, meat and fish.

Deforestation is occurring for the purposes of intensive agriculture so you need policy makers to think about the full picture.

You need to be aware of  what you are giving up, and come up with alternative policies – make sure that local people have a substitute for the lost access to nutritious foods. Thus we are not saying that there shouldn’t be intensive agriculture if it gives local people benefits, but that there also needs to be thought given to the potential costs in terms of nutritious foods that local people may be giving up and how they can replaced if Indonesia’s nutrition situation is not to worsen further.

For more information on this topic, please contact Amy Ickowitz at a.ickowitz@cgiar.org.
This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.
This article was produced with the financial assistance of USAID, DFID KNOWFOR

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  • Eat your vegetation: Linking landscapes to children's diets in Indonesia

Eat your vegetation: Linking landscapes to children’s diets in Indonesia


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Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko
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Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko
Could a child’s diet be influenced by the type of landscape it lives in? Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko/CIFOR

By Catriona Croft-Cusworth, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News

Children need a healthy diet to grow strong bodies and minds, and to protect against deadly infections. In Indonesia, getting kids to eat healthy foods is a vital step toward overcoming problems of stunting and child mortality.

But could your child’s diet be influenced by the type of landscape you live in?

This question was addressed in a recent study by scientists at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), which looked at children’s diets and landscapes across Indonesia.

The study found that kids living in tree-dominated landscapes had healthier diets than kids living in the same regions without trees. The biggest contrast was found in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, where diets were found to be far healthier for kids living near swidden and agroforestry landscapes than for kids living elsewhere in the province.

These findings suggest a need for a change in thinking on policies related to child nutrition, food security and land use.

WHAT IS A HEALTHY DIET?

A healthy diet has as much to do with quality as it does with quantity.

The typical Indonesian diet relies heavily on rice as the main national staple, making consumption of food from other groups essential for sourcing micronutrients. Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko/CIFOR
The typical Indonesian diet relies heavily on rice as the main national staple, making consumption of food from other groups essential for sourcing micronutrients. Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko/CIFOR

Staple foods have long been the traditional focus of food security, with policies aiming to increase crop yields and calorie intake among a population. But foods rich in micronutrients are just as important for health, especially among children.

“There are more people in the world suffering from micronutrient deficiency than from hunger,” said lead researcher Amy Ickowitz.

One key micronutrient for child health, immunity and cognitive development is Vitamin A, which the body converts from beta-carotene (the pigment found in orange-colored fruits and vegetables). Another is iron, found in animal-source foods, legumes and green leafy vegetables. Vitamin A and iron help to boost immunity, which is important for children to be able to fight off potentially deadly infections and illness.

Variety in diets is also important. Heavy reliance on staple foods leads to an unbalanced diet high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates is a type of macronutrient, but it lacks micronutrients like vitamins and minerals.

The typical Indonesian diet relies heavily on rice as the main national staple, making consumption of food from other groups essential for sourcing micronutrients.

Plenty of local foods provide rich sources of Vitamin A and iron. Fruits like mango and papaya are a great source of Vitamin A, while iron can be found in legume-based foods, including peanuts, tofu and tempeh, as well as animal-source foods like meat, fish and eggs.

In West Kalimantan, children living in swidden and agroforestry landscapes eat meat, fruit, vegetables, green leafy vegetables and legumes more often than children in other landscapes in the province. Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko/CIFOR
In West Kalimantan, children living in swidden and agroforestry landscapes eat meat, fruit, vegetables, green leafy vegetables and legumes more often than children in other landscapes in the province. Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko/CIFOR

The study examined how often children ate from micronutrient-rich food groups, based on data from the 2003 Indonesian Demographic Health Survey (DHS). This was the most recent DHS survey in Indonesia that included data on the approximate spatial location of communities.

WHAT’S THE LINK TO LANDSCAPES?

The researchers used the provided GPS coordinates from the DHS and linked these with satellite information on different types of land use in Indonesia. They were then able to investigate the relationship between children’s consumption patterns and different types of tree-dominated landscapes.

Four Indonesian provinces were chosen to represent each type of landscape: Central Sulawesi for natural forest, Central Java for timber plantations, Riau on the island of Sumatra for agricultural tree crops like oil palm, and West Kalimantan for swidden and agroforestry practices.

The results showed very different eating patterns for children living near these types of landscapes in each of the four provinces. Children living near timber plantations in Central Java ate meat more frequently than those away from plantations. In Riau, Vitamin-A-source vegetables were eaten more frequently by children living near agricultural tree crops, while children near natural forests in Central Sulawesi scored high for fruits, vegetables and leafy greens.

The biggest difference was found in West Kalimantan, where children living in swidden and agroforestry landscapes were found to eat meat, fruit, vegetables, green leafy vegetables and legumes more often than children in other landscapes in the province.

The reason why might be found in the intrinsic character of swidden landscapes. The rotations of swidden farming create a diverse mosaic of land uses. For instance, staple crops are typically intercropped with vegetables and fruit trees are grown so that forests and fallows can become a source of game meat and wild greens.

“It seems that swidden farmers are not just growing rice and buying everything else. Rather, they’re growing rice with beans, with leafy vegetables, and keeping fruit trees, as well as hunting for small game in their older fallows,” Ickowitz said.

A NEW NARRATIVE

For policymakers, the findings question prevailing narratives about nutrition, food security and land use.

“If we’re telling people in West Kalimantan to convert their swidden fields to oil palm or some other intensified system because we think that their incomes are going to go up and that their food security is going to improve, we might want to think again — at least from a dietary perspective. This may actually make their children worse off,” Ickowitz said.

Evidence for the dietary benefits of being close to trees suggests a rethink of the assumption that forests must be sacrificed for food security. Policy pushes for intensifying rice production, or to ban swidden agriculture, must also be reconsidered.

To overcome Indonesia’s problems of stunting and child mortality, more research is needed on how to plan for better landscapes to improve children’s health.


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  • Forests, Trees, and Micronutrient-Rich Food Consumption in Indonesia

Forests, Trees, and Micronutrient-Rich Food Consumption in Indonesia


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Authors: Ickowitz, A.; Rowland, D.; Powell, B.; Salim, M.A.; Sunderland, T.C.H.

Micronutrient deficiency remains a serious problem in Indonesia with approximately 100 million people, or 40% of the population, suffering from one or more micronutrient deficiencies. In rural areas with poor market access, forests and trees may provide an essential source of nutritious food. This is especially important to understand at a time when forests and other tree-based systems in Indonesia are being lost at unprecedented rates. We use food consumption data from the 2003 Indonesia Demographic Health Survey for children between the ages of one and five years and data on vegetation cover from the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry to examine whether there is a relationship between different tree-dominated land classes and consumption of micronutrient-rich foods across the archipelago. We run our models on the aggregate sample which includes over 3000 observations from 25 provinces across Indonesia as well as on sub-samples from different provinces chosen to represent the different land classes. The results show that different tree-dominated land classes were associated with the dietary quality of people living within them in the provinces where they were dominant. Areas of swidden/agroforestry, natural forest, timber and agricultural tree crop plantations were all associated with more frequent consumption of food groups rich in micronutrients in the areas where these were important land classes. The swidden/agroforestry land class was the landscape associated with more frequent consumption of the largest number of micronutrient rich food groups. Further research needs to be done to establish what the mechanisms are that underlie these associations. Swidden cultivation in is often viewed as a backward practice that is an impediment to food security in Indonesia and destructive of the environment. If further research corroborates that swidden farming actually results in better nutrition than the practices that replace it, Indonesian policy makers may need to reconsider their views on this land use.

Publication Year: 2016

ISSN: 1932-6203

Source: PLoS ONE 11(5): e0154139

Also published at Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)


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