Forest cover associated with improved child health and nutrition: evidence from the Malawi Demographic and Health Survey and satellite data

Johnson, Kiersten; Jacob, Anila; Brown, M. E.

doi:10.9745/ghsp-d-13-00055

Cited by 91 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Despite compelling correlations between dietary quality and tree cover using coarse data (Johnson, et al 2013;Ickowitz et al 2014;Ickowitz et al 2016), individual case studies using better quality data have shown mixed effects. For example, it was found in the DRC that despite widespread consumption of wild edible plants, consumption levels were insignificant relative to other foods in the diet in terms of their contribution towards dietary adequacy for most nutrients (Termote et al 2012); a significant effect of the consumption of bushmeat in Madagascar on anaemia rates in children has been demonstrated (Golden et al 2011); and a comparison of the nutritional intake of bushmeat users and non-bushmeat users in tri-frontier region of Brazil, Peru and Columbia found diets of bushmeat users to be marginally higher in micronutrients (van Vliet et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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). Although few studies have quantified this contribution, recent evidence suggests that tree cover is positively associated with dietary diversity in Malawi (Johnson et al 2013) and in many other sub-Saharan African countries (Ickowitz et al 2014). While such studies suggest a link between forests and dietary quality, it is unclear whether such associations are due to forest-based agriculture, socialcultural and economic factors or the consumption of forest foods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest foods and healthy diets: quantifying the contributions

Rowland

Ickowitz²,

Powell

et al. 2016

Envir. Conserv.

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show abstract

“…In addition, they found a positive association between the amount of land around a community characterized by 'medium' density tree cover (20-50 %) and frequency of consumption of vitamin-A rich fruit, green leafy vegetables, ASF, and 'other' fruits and vegetables. Johnson et al (2013) used DHS data from Malawi and found that children living in areas with more forest cover consumed more vitaminA-rich fruit, and that net forest loss was associated with less diverse diets. Using data for household level rather than village level forest cover in a study from Tanzania reported a relationship between multiple dietary diversity scores (1 and 7 day DDS and FVS) and tree cover within a 1.5 or 2 km radius of the home (Powell 2012).…”

Section: Forests and Tree-based Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving diets with wild and cultivated biodiversity from across the landscape

Thilsted²,

et al. 2015

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This paper examines the literature on how biodiversity contributes to improved and diversified diets in developing countries. We assess the current state of evidence on how wild and cultivated biodiversity in all forms is related to healthy diets and nutrition, and examine how economic factors, knowledge and social norms interact with availability of biodiversity to influence both production and consumption choices. The paper identifies areas where evidence is lacking and ways to build synergies between nutrition-sensitive approaches and efforts to ensure sustainability of food systems and the natural environment.

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“…The contribution of agriculture to the dietary diversity of rural people, through food production pathways (Jones et al 2014) and income pathways (Sibhatu et al 2015), is relatively well understood. Several recent case studies from around the world have also found a positive association between proximity to forests and dietary diversity (Dounias and Froment 2006, Powell et al 2011, Johnson et al 2013, Ickowitz et al 2014. For example, using data from 21 African countries on children's diets (from USAID's Demographic Health Surveys) and tree cover (from MODIS data), Ickowitz et al (2014) found that children in Africa who lived in areas with more tree cover had more diverse and nutritious diets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indirect contributions of forests to dietary diversity in Southern Ethiopia

Baudron¹,

Duriaux-Chavarría²,

Remans³

et al. 2017

E&S

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ABSTRACT. We assess whether forests contribute indirectly to the dietary diversity of rural households by supporting diverse agricultural production systems. We applied our study in a landscape mosaic in Southern Ethiopia that was divided into three zones of increasing distance to Munesa Forest-"near," "intermediate," and "distant." A variety of research tools and methods, including remote sensing, participatory methods, farm survey, and yield assessment, were employed. Diets of households were more diverse in the near zone than in the other two zones (6.58 ± 1.21, 5.38 ± 1.02, and 4.41 ± 0.77 food groups consumed daily in the near, intermediate, and distant zones, respectively). This difference was not explained by food items collected from Munesa Forest but by biomass flows from the forest to farmlands. Munesa Forest contributed an average of 6.13 ± 2.90 tons of biomass per farm and per year to the farms in the near zone, in the form of feed and fuelwood. Feed from the forest allowed for larger livestock herds in the near zone compared with the other two zones, and fuelwood from the forest reduced the need to use cattle dung as fuel in the near zone compared with the two other zones. These two biomass flows contributed to the availability of more manure to farmers closer to the forest (908 ± 853 kg farm -1 , 771 ± 717 kg farm -1 , and 261 ± 487 kg farm -1 in the near, intermediate, and distant zones, respectively). In turn, increased manure enabled a larger percentage of farms to cultivate a diversified homegarden (87, 64, and 39% of farms in the near, intermediate, and distant zones, respectively). Homegardens and livestock products provided the greater contribution to household dietary diversity closer to the forest.

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Forest cover associated with improved child health and nutrition: evidence from the Malawi Demographic and Health Survey and satellite data

Cited by 91 publications

References 18 publications

Forest foods and healthy diets: quantifying the contributions

Forest foods and healthy diets: quantifying the contributions

Improving diets with wild and cultivated biodiversity from across the landscape

Indirect contributions of forests to dietary diversity in Southern Ethiopia

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