Presented by Terry Sunderland

1. THINKING beyond the canopy
Forests, food security and
nutrition: an update
Terry Sunderland and Bronwen Powell
IALE meeting, Portland, OR, USA
9th July 2015

2. THINKING beyond the canopy
Are forests and trees important for food and
nutritional security?
 Collection of nutritious
NTFPs
 Farm/forest mosaics may
promote more diverse diets
 Agroforestry and farming
systems
 Ecosystem services of
forests & trees for agriculture
 Availability of fuel wood
 Provision of ‘back up’ foods
for lean season = safety nets

3. THINKING beyond the canopy
Forests and livelihoods: the evidence
• One billion+ people rely on forest products for
nutrition and income in some way (Agrawal et
al 2013)
• One fifth of rural income derived from the
environment (Wunder et al 2014)
• Wild harvested meat provides 30-50% of
protein intake for many rural communities
(Nasi et al 2011)
• 80% of world’s population rely on biodiversity
for primary health care (IUCN 2013)
• 40% of global food production comes from
diverse small-holder agricultural systems in
multi-functional landscapes (FAO 2010)
• Long tradition of managing forests for food
(IUFRO 2013)
• Forests sustaining agriculture: ecosystem
services provision (Foli et al. 2014)

4. THINKING beyond the canopy
Some History
• 1990 – FAO Special Issue (Forests
and Food Security)
• 2006 – Unasylva Special Issue
(Human Health)
• 2008 – Colfer et al / CIFOR
(Human Health)
• 2011 – International Forestry
Review / CIFOR Special Issue
(Food Security)
• 2013 – FAO Conference on
Forests for Food Security and
Nutrition (and 7 background
papers, became a Unasylva
Special Issue + 1 summary report)
Forests and trees outside forests
are essential for global food security
and nutrition
Summary of the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition
FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, 13–15 May 2013

5. THINKING beyond the canopy
• Study integrating USAID’s
DHS data from 21 countries
in Africa, integrated with
GIS (Modis) data on % tree
cover to test the
relationship between tree
cover and diet of children
under 5 years
Dietary data from DHS data:
 Dietary diversity
 Fruit and vegetable intake
 Animal source food intake
(Ickowitz et al. 2014 Global Environmental Change)
Forest cover and Diet

6. THINKING beyond the canopy
• There is a statistically
significant positive
relationship between % tree
cover and dietary diversity
• Fruit and vegetable
consumption first increases
and then decreases with tree
cover (peak tree cover is ca.
45%)
• There is no statistically
significant relationship
between tree cover and
animal source foods
(Ickowitz et al. 2014 Global Environmental Change)
Results

7. THINKING beyond the canopy
• Low- to medium forest food use occurs in most countries;
• High-level forest food use occurs in significant subset of
countries
• Forest foods not only contribute significantly towards
adequate nutrition, but evidence suggests forest food
users in certain sites may enjoy more nutrient rich diets
than their average national counterparts: regardless of
poverty
• In five of the sites, the top quartile of forest animal food
users in our study consumed more than 50% of the
national average average for meat consumption
• In many sites the amount of forest fruits and vegetables
contribute substantially recommended amounts
(Rowland et al. in review, Env. Cons.)
Poverty and Environment Network
(7,569 HH’s; 24 countries)

8. THINKING beyond the canopyPowell et al. 2015, Food Security
Improving diets with Biodiversity

9. THINKING beyond the canopyPowell et al. 2015, Food Security
Improving diets with Biodiversity

10. THINKING beyond the canopy
Forests sustaining agriculture
Nutrient Cycling:
Studies conducted in agroforestry
systems (AFS): 79% showed a
positive effect of tree presence
Pollination:
87% of studies showed a positive
effect of nearby (0.3 – 1.6km)
forest/forest fragment
Pollination and nutrition linkages
Climate regulation:
Yields of some tree crops diminish,
further from forests
Forests, trees = resilience
(Foli et al. 2014 Env. Evidence; Ellis et al 2015, Plos One)

11. THINKING beyond the canopy
• Ideal for managing conservation needs and food security
and nutrition outputs of a landscape simultaneously.
• 10 Principles for Landscape Approaches (Sayer et al.
2013, PNAS)
• Include: Adaptive Management, Multiple Sectors,
Stakeholder Involvement, Multi-functionality, Multiple
Scale, Resilience
• Systematic Review: “What are Landscape Approaches
and How Effectively have they been implemented in the
tropics?"
• Online interactive map of projects included in the
Systematic Review (cifor.org/landscape-map)
Landscape Approaches

12. THINKING beyond the canopy
• Results give an indication that there are interesting
relationships, but we need more evidence
• Data can’t explain WHY people in areas with more trees
have more diverse diets / don’t know source of foods
(wild food vs. tree-based agriculture?)
• The GIS data don’t tell us the type/configuration of
trees/forests
• PEN doesn’t tell us which people are eating forest foods
• Major gaps in knowledge / more empirical evidence is
needed
• So…. we are doing further studies on the ground
What do we know and what do we
still need to find out?

13. THINKING beyond the canopy
Some on-going Research
• Nutrition and trees in sub-Saharan Africa. Dietary
information N=500 mothers and kids in high / low forest
cover communities (Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Cameroon
and Burkina Faso).
• Nutritional and Ecological Benefits of Forest and Tree
Cover on Vegetables in Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.
• Land use change, biodiversity and food security (in 6
tropical landscapes undergoing a transition from forest to
intensive agriculture (Indonesia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso,
Zambia, Cameroon, Nicaragua)
• Forests, fisheries and nutrition in Zambia
• Multiple systematic reviews

14. THINKING beyond the canopy
Influencing the agenda?
• IUFRO Global Forests Expert Panel on Forests and
Food Security
• Invitation to lead the High Level Panel of Experts by
the Committee on World Food Security: “Sustainable
forest management and food and nutritional security”
• Background paper prepared for the Second
International Conference on Nutrition (ICN 2014)
• Principles for Landscape Approaches “Taken note of”
at CBD COP (Hydrabad, India)
• Global Landscapes Forum at COPs
• Engagement with wider CGIAR Consortium Research
Programmes A4NH, AAAS
• Member of the Landscape Partners for Food and
Nature (LPFN)
• Listed as one of the 101 “Institutions to watch” in 2015
by FoodTank

15. THINKING beyond the canopy
Key conclusions
• Diverse forest and tree-based production systems offer
advantages over monocropping systems because of their
adaptability and resilience.
• There are a multitude of ecosystem services provided by
forests and trees that simultaneously support food
production, nutrition, sustainability and environmental and
human health.
• Managing landscapes on a multi-functional basis that
combines food production, biodiversity conservation and
the maintenance of ecosystem services can contribute to
food and nutritional security
• Forests and trees alone will not achieve global food
security, but can play a major role: discourse has started to
change

16. THINKING beyond the canopy
www.cifor.org
t.sunderland@cgiar.org
@TCHSunderland

17. THINKING beyond the canopy
Global trends in food production
• Agriculture began around
12,000 years ago
• Approx. 7,000 plant species
and several thousand animal
species historically used for
human nutrition and health
• Since 1900, global trend
towards diet simplification
• Today, 12 plant crops and 14
animal species provide 98% of
world’s food needs
• Wheat, rice and maize:
represent more than 50% of
global energy intake
(Sunderland 2011, IFR; Khoury et al. 2014, PNAS)

18. THINKING beyond the canopy
Effects of diet simplification
• More than 800 million people are
under-nourished and 200 million
children are under-weight
• In 2009, more than 1 billion people
were classified as “hungry”
• One billion people obese: greater
incidence of Type II diabetes
among urban dwellers
• Environmental degradation:
agriculture significant driver of
deforestation & GHG emissions
• Vulnerability to catastrophic events:
climate-related, pests and diseases,
market forces
(Sayer et al. 2013, PNAS: Powell et al. in press, Food
Security)