Assessing household food insecurity experience in the context of deforestation in Cameroon

Ngome, Precillia Ijang Tata; Shackleton, Charlie M.; Degrande, Ann; Nossi, Eric Joël; Ngome, Francis Ajebesone

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.02.003

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…While the above studies have helped to document the nutritional value of some indigenous tree species, their contribution to household nutrition and food security is poorly known. According to Tata-Ngome et al [261], this is because information on household consumption patterns and the use of indigenous tree products is lacking; hence, they are not properly captured in food and nutrition surveys with implications for policies and strategies concerning food security and health concerns.…”

Section: Nutritional Value Of Non-timber Forest Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indigenous fruits are consumed by the members of the majority of households in Cameroon, as they are recognized for their nutritious value [258][259][260]. In addition, the study examined the relationship between food insecurity and deforestation and found that rural people in the deforested agricultural areas close to towns and cities had the greatest food insecurity due to the absence of nutritious forest foods [261]. The consumption of wild forest food is not associated with any stigma of poverty [262].…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

Leakey¹,

Avana

Awazi

et al. 2022

Sustainability

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This paper follows the transition from ethnobotany to a deeper scientific understanding of the food and medicinal properties of African agroforestry tree products as inputs into the start of domestication activities. It progresses on to the integration of these indigenous trees as new crops within diversified farming systems for multiple social, economic and environmental benefits. From its advent in the 1990s, the domestication of indigenous food and non-food tree species has become a global programme with a strong African focus. This review of progress in the third decade is restricted to progress in Africa, where multi-disciplinary research on over 59 species has been reported in 759 research papers in 318 science publications by scientists from over 833 research teams in 70 countries around the world (532 in Africa). The review spans 23 research topics presenting the recent research literature for tree species of high priority across the continent, as well as that in each of the four main ecological regions: the humid zone of West and Central Africa; the Sahel and North Africa; the East African highlands and drylands; and the woody savannas of Southern Africa. The main areas of growth have been the nutritional/medicinal value of non-timber forest products; the evaluation of the state of natural resources and their importance to local people; and the characterization of useful traits. However, the testing of putative cultivars; the implementation of participatory principles; the protection of traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights; and the selection of elite trees and ideotypes remain under-researched. To the probable detriment of the upscaling and impact in tropical agriculture, there has been, at the international level, a move away from decentralized, community-based tree domestication towards a laboratory-based, centralized approach. However, the rapid uptake of research by university departments and national agricultural research centres in Africa indicates a recognition of the importance of the indigenous crops for both the livelihoods of rural communities and the revitalization and enhanced outputs from agriculture in Africa, especially in West Africa. Thus, on a continental scale, there has been an uptake of research with policy relevance for the integration of indigenous trees in agroecosystems and their importance for the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To progress this in the fourth decade, there will need to be a dedicated Centre in Africa to test and develop cultivars of indigenous crops. Finally, this review underpins a holistic approach to mitigating climate change, as well as other big global issues such as hunger, poverty and loss of wildlife habitat by reaping the benefits, or ‘profits’, from investment in the five forms of Capital, described as ‘land maxing’. However, policy and decision makers are not yet recognizing the potential for holistic and transformational adoption of these new indigenous food crop opportunities for African agriculture. Is ‘political will’ the missing sixth capital for sustainable development?

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Section: Nutritional Value Of Non-timber Forest Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

Leakey¹,

Avana

Awazi

et al. 2022

Sustainability

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“…Urban food systems research is lagging far behind the growing need for baseline data to identify opportunities to improve the resilience and sustainability of Cameroon's urban dwellers. Recent urban food research in Cameroon has focused on urban and peri-urban agriculture (Gwan & Kimengsi, 2020, p. 19;Karg et al, 2020;Ngome & Foeken, 2012;Prain et al, 2010;Tata et al, 2019), and the impact of food prices on dietary change (KC et al, 2018;Legwegoh & Fraser, 2017), with little detailed study of informal food-trading systems. There has been some work establishing the importance of "wild foods" to urban food systems and household food security, which documents the popularity and widespread availability of many NTFP foods in urban Cameroon (Sneyd, 2013).…”

Section: Urban Consumers Of Ntfp Foodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-timber Forest Products in Cameroon’s Food System and the Impact of Climate Change on Food Security in Dschang

Kamga

2022

Transforming Urban Food Systems in Secondary Cities in Africa

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Cameroon’s forests form an important component of forest block in the Congo Basin with about 20 million hectares containing over 8000 species of vascular plants of which about 150 are endemic. These forest resources are of significant economic value and many people earn their livelihood from the gathering and trading of food, fuel wood, fruits, leaves, medicinal products, and construction materials. Forest foods are vital to Cameroon’s food systems, including urban food systems, but they are threatened by the vulnerability of tropical forest ecosystem to climate change, a vulnerability exacerbated by recurrent past and the present problems related to poor natural resource management, conflict and inequality. Urban residents in Cameroon consume many forest foods and the trade in forest products creates employment for urban residents. This chapter draws together research conducted with forest communities, forest food traders and urban consumers to illustrate the importance of sustainable forest management for urban food security in Cameroon’s secondary cities.

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“…During the period between 2001 and 2015, 92% loss of land area covered by forests in Africa was attributable to expansion of smallholder farming (37). For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon have reported increasing deforestation associated with high levels of poverty and food insecurity (38). Annually, about 13 million hectares of forests are lost due to deforestation, partly by agriculture, logging, mining, and infrastructure development.…”

Section: Natural Resource Mismanagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unlocking the potential for achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 – ‘Zero Hunger’ – in Africa: targets, strategies, synergies and challenges

Atukunda

Eide

Kardel

et al. 2021

Food & Nutrition Research

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Background: The UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (‘Zero Hunger’) aims to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030. Thus, a range of different strategies are needed to facilitate the achievement of SDG 2 to overcome challenges and enable synergies between various SDG targets. Objective: The aim of this review is to highlight Africa’s progress toward SDG 2, including targets, strategies, synergies and challenges. Methods: We scrutinized published research articles in peer-reviewed journals, UN reports and in-country Africa reports (between 2015 and 2020) that were relevant to the current topic. Results: Several hunger indicators are showing slow progress or even deterioration in Africa. The prevalence of undernourishment in the general population was 19.1% in 2019 and is expected to increase to 25.7% by 2030. Improvements in child stunting in several regions in Africa are slow, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where about 34% of under-fives were stunted in 2012 and 31% in 2019. In Eastern Africa, stunting prevalence decreased from 38% in 2012 to 34% in 2019. Major drivers of hunger are poor governance and state fragility, war and conflicts, increasing inequality, weak economic development, climate change, biodegradation – and now lately the Covid 19 pandemic – factors that all increase food insecurity. Conclusion: Africa is off track to reach SDG – ‘Zero Hunger’ – by 2030. Current efforts and progress are insufficient. Africa must champion the SDG agenda on a national, regional and global level to facilitate synergies to unlock the potential for reaching ‘Zero Hunger’ throughout the continent.

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Assessing household food insecurity experience in the context of deforestation in Cameroon

Cited by 15 publications

References 21 publications

The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

Non-timber Forest Products in Cameroon’s Food System and the Impact of Climate Change on Food Security in Dschang

Unlocking the potential for achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 – ‘Zero Hunger’ – in Africa: targets, strategies, synergies and challenges

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