ISPC11

1. THINKING beyond the canopy
Forests, food security and
nutrition
Terry Sunderland and Bronwen Powell
ISPC Four Corners event
31st March 2015

2. 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)

3. 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)

4. 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)

5. 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

6. THINKING beyond the canopy
• Study integrating USAID’s
DHS nutrition data from 21
countries in Africa,
integrated with GIS (Modis)
data on % tree cover to test
the relationship between
tree cover and child
nutrition indicators
• Poverty Environment
Network (PEN) and forest
food consumption
Testing the hypothesis

7. 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

8. 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 forest fruits and vegetables contribute
substantially to RDA;
(Rowland et al. in review, Env. Cons.)
Poverty and Environment Network
(7,569 HH’s; 24 countries)

9. THINKING beyond the canopy
• Results of the DHS & PEN studies give an indication that
there are interesting relationships that need further
investigation, but we need more evidence
• DHS/PEN data are not ideal
• The GIS data don’t tell us the type/configuration of trees/
forests
• PEN doesn’t tell us which people buy forest foods likely
so they are pobably underreported
• Data can’t explain WHY people in areas with more trees
have more diverse diets
• So…. we are doing further studies on the ground
What do we know and what do we
still need to find out?

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
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
Influencing the agenda?
• Leading role with the IUFRO Global
Forests Expert Panel on Forests and
Food Security (publication due May
2015)
• Invitation to lead the High Level Panel
of Experts by the Committee on World
Food Security: “Sustainable forest
management and food and nutritional
security”
• Engagement with wider CGIAR
Consortium Research Programmes
A4NH, AAAS
• Member of the Landscape Partners for
Food and Nature (LPFN)
• Sessions at CGIAR Dialogues/Global
Landscapes Forum
• Listed as one of the 101 “Institutions to
watch” for 2015 by FoodTank

12. 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

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