Terry Sunderland, Professor of tropical forestry at the University of British Columbia, senior associate at CIFOR, and HLPE project team leader, presented during a seminar on food system resilience on Feb. 12, 2019, organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA).

1. Key findings from the
High Level Panel of
Experts (HLPE) report on
Sustainable Forestry for
Food Security and
Nutrition
Seminar and Webinar:
Enhancing food system resilience
12th February 2018

2. 2
Forests and people: the evidence
• One billion+ people rely on forest products for
consumption and income in some way (Agrawal et
al. 2013)
• Safety-net during times of food and income
insecurity (Wunder et al. 2014)
• Wild harvested meat and freshwater fish provides
30-80% of protein intake for many rural
communities (Nasi et al. 2011; McIntyre et al. 2016)
• 75% of world’s population rely on biodiversity for
primary health care (WHO, 2003)
• 30%-60% of global food production comes from
diverse smallholder agricultural systems in
complex landscapes (IFAD 2016; Ricciardi et al.
2018)
• Long tradition of managing forests for food – e.g.
shifting cultivation (van Vliet et al. 2011)
• Forests sustaining agriculture through ecosystem
services provision (Reed et al. 2017)

3. 3
Forest functions
and their links to FSN

4. 4
Direct provision of food
Although forest foods represent only 0.6 percent of
global food energy supply:
• Nutrient-rich forest foods make an important
contribution to dietary diversity and quality,
• Bushmeat, fish and insects are an important
source of protein and other nutrients in many
countries, not only in rural areas but also in
urban centres.
• For example: 4.6 Mt of bushmeat are extracted annually
from the Congo Basin and 1.3 Mt from Amazonia.

5. 5
Provision of woodfuel
Globally, woodfuel represent 6 percent of the total
primary energy supply (27 percent in Africa).
2.4 billion people rely on woodfuel for cooking. In
Africa, two-thirds of the households use woodfuel
as their main fuel for cooking.
764 million people use woodfuel to boil and sterilize
water.
HOWEVER: An estimated 2.5 million people die
each year due to the effects of long-term smoke
inhalation.

6. 6
Income generation
In 2011, the gross value added in the formal forest
sector represented USD 606 billion (0.9 percent of
the global GDP).
When including the informal sector, this figure
increases to almost USD 730 billion, including:
• USD 88 billion for NWFPs collection, and
• USD 33 billion for construction and energy.
Payments for Environmental Services (PES)
represents an estimated USD 2.4 billion.

7. 7
Ecosystem services
Forests and trees deliver numerous ecosystem
services essential for agriculture and FSN in the
long term, including:
• Water regulation (quantity, quality),
• Soil formation, protection and nutrient circulation,
• Biodiversity (forests host the major part of
terrestrial biodiversity),
• Pollination and pest control,
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation.

8. 8
Forests sustaining agriculture
How does landscape configuration maximise the provision
of these goods and services for both sustainable forestry
and agricultural production???
Water regulation
Climate regulation
Pollination
Pest control

9. 9
Ways forward: SFM for FSN
Enabling conditions to SFM for FSN :
• Manage permanent forest land more sustainably
and develop appropriate forest management
plans.
• Promote an integrated landscape approach
moving beyond the debate on land sparing vs.
land sharing. A systems approach to forestry and
agriculture.
• Ensure full and effective participation of relevant
stakeholders in forest policies and forest
management.
• Adopt a rights-based approach.

10. 10