EDITORIAL: Forests, biodiversity and food security

Arnold, Michael L.; Powell, Bronwen; Shanley, Patrícia; Sunderland, Terry

doi:10.1505/146554811798293962

Cited by 107 publications

(117 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Wild foods from agricultural land make a larger contribution to the diet than wild foods obtained in the forest. Possible explanations for the limited use and contribution to nutrition of foods from the forest include: ecological requirements of the most commonly consumed wild foods; cultural preference for wild foods from agricultural land; limited access due to deforestation, the time needed to travel to the forest to obtain foods and, present and historical forest governance policies and practices (Arnold et al 2011;Woodcock 1995). Nevertheless, our data suggest that on days when foods from the forest are consumed, they contribute between 10% and 34% of the intake of various nutrients.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many wild foods from the forest were birds and mammals (figure 3 and table 2), which, although consumed infrequently, can make important contributions to micronutrient intake, even in small quantities (Arnold et al 2011;Murphy and Allen 2003). Only 6.1% of individuals had consumed any type of wild animal or bird in the last week, compared with 67.8% of individuals who had consumed domestic meat or fowl in the last Food items which were obtained from the forest < 10% of the time are in boldface.…”

Section: Wild Foods From the Farm And Forest In The Local Food Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wild Foods from Farm and Forest in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Powell

Maundu²,

Kuhnlein

et al. 2013

Ecology of Food and Nutrition

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wild Foods From the Farm And Forest In The Local Food Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild Foods from Farm and Forest in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Powell

Maundu²,

Kuhnlein

et al. 2013

Ecology of Food and Nutrition

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“…Many forest foods such as bushmeat, fish, fruits, leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds tend to be high in micronutrients (Vinceti et al 2008;Arnold et al 2011). As a result, they may be important for the dietary quality of people living in proximity to forests (Blaney et al 2009;Golden et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest foods and healthy diets: quantifying the contributions

Rowland

Ickowitz²,

Powell

et al. 2016

Envir. Conserv.

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SUMMARYForested landscapes provide a source of micronutrient rich food for millions of people around the world. A growing evidence base suggests these foods may be of great importance to the dietary quality of people living in close proximity to forests -especially in communities with poor access to markets. Despite widespread evidence of the consumption of forest foods around the world, to date, few studies have attempted to quantify the nutritional contributions these foods make. In this study we tested the hypothesis that the consumption of forest foods can make important contributions to dietary quality. We investigated the dietary contributions of wild forest foods in smallholder dominated forested landscapes from 37 sites in 24 tropical countries, using data from the Poverty and Environment Network (PEN). We compared quantities of forest foods consumed by households with dietary recommendations and national average consumption patterns. In addition, we compared the relative importance of forests and smallholder agriculture in supplying fruits, vegetables, meat and fish for household consumption. More than half of the households in our sample collected forest foods for their own consumption, though consumption patterns were skewed towards low-quantity users. For high-quantity consuming households, however, forest foods made a substantial contributions to their diets. The top quartile of forest food users in each site obtained 14.8% of the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, and 106% of the reference quantity of meat and fish from forests. In 13 sites, the proportion of meat and fish coming from forests was greater than from domestic livestock and aquaculture, while in 11 sites, households procured a greater proportion of fruits and vegetables from forests than from agriculture. Given high levels of heterogeneity in forest food consumption, we identify four forest food use site typologies to * Correspondence: Amy Ickowitz e-mail: A.Ickowitz@cgiar.org characterize the different use patterns: 'forest food dependent', 'limited forest food use', 'forest food supplementation' and 'specialist forest food consumer' sites. Our results suggest that while forest foods do not universally contribute significantly to diets, in some sites where large quantities of forest foods are consumed, their contribution towards dietary adequacy is substantial.

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“…In Africa, rural people, particularly the most vulnerable, rely on forests for their livelihoods (Colfer et al 2006;Harris and Mohammed 2003;Hautdidier and Gautier 2005;Ros-Tonen and Wiersum 2003). In the context of low employment opportunities and difficulties in accessing land, many of the rural poor collect forest products for their own use Ros-Tonen and Wiersum 2003;Somorin 2010), or for additional income generation (Angelsen and Wunder 2003;Arnold et al 2011;Egoh et al 2012;Fisher et al 2010;Warner 2000;Yemiru et al 2010). The importance of forest resources in rural communities is particularly significant during food shortage periods (Fisher et al 2010;Pramova et al 2012b;Vinceti et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape diversity and associated coping strategies during food shortage periods: evidence from the Sudano-Sahelian region of Burkina Faso

2016

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The importance of forest resources for rural communities' livelihoods has increasingly been recognized over the last three decades. Forests provide food, generate incomes, provide supporting (nutrient cycling, pollination), and regulating (climate, diseases, water regulation and purification) services for agriculture, in addition to their aesthetic, cultural and spiritual role. However, most of the studies on forest resource use do not focus on the role of landscape organization in addressing the impact of climate variability and the risk of food insecurity. This study aims to examine the contribution of woodlands and trees towards decreasing the risk of food insecurity and the importance of landscape structure and composition in coping with food shortages. It took place in two villages in Burkina Faso, on both ends of the woodlands and tree-cover spectrum. We demonstrate that in both landscapes, ecosystem goods, such as shea nuts and fuelwood, represent a safety net for households during food shortage periods. We demonstrate that households shape their adaptive strategies differently depending on the resources available and the structure of the landscape. People living in a landscape with a savannah matrix (Sorobouly) rely on fuelwood trade to purchase cereals, while those living in a landscape with a parkland matrix (Kalembouly) rely on shea nuts. Agricultural, environmental and climate change policies that reinforce the rights of the most vulnerable to access key resources provided by these landscapes and development programs which assure their sustainable use will simultaneously enhance food security and increase their adaptive capacity in the face of climate change and variability.

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EDITORIAL: Forests, biodiversity and food security

Cited by 107 publications

References 25 publications

Wild Foods from Farm and Forest in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Wild Foods from Farm and Forest in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Forest foods and healthy diets: quantifying the contributions

Landscape diversity and associated coping strategies during food shortage periods: evidence from the Sudano-Sahelian region of Burkina Faso

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