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

Abstract

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.

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“…In contrast, conserving forests as a source of nutrient rich foods is important for associated Indigenous people and subsistence farmers (Ickowitz et al 2016). Micronutrient deficiencies affect two billion people worldwide, predisposing them to disease and poor cognitive development.…”

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“…According to Ickowitz et al (2016), forests and trees can contribute to food security and nutrition in at least three ways. First, forests contribute indirectly to food security through the ecosystems services that they provide to agriculture.…”

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“…The relationship between forests and human nutrition is not yet fully understood, yet a growing body of evidence suggests that having access to natural forest landscapes is beneficial for diet quality (Broegaard et al 2017;Fungo et al 2016;Galway et al 2018;Ickowitz et al 2013;Ickowitz et al 2016;Johnson et al 2013;Reed et al 2017;Rowland et al 2016). While the drivers of these associations are often unclear, there are a number of pathways by which natural forest landscapes can affect diet quality (Fig.…”