Forest Foods

CONTENTS Introduction ENVIS Newsletter July – September, 2015 Food Insecurity Food Security from Forests FOREST FOODS: International Mountain Day - 2015 Forest Food Festival An Adaptive Strategy for Food Insecurity due The Glimpses of Forest Food Festival Wild Edibles of Forests of J&K to Climate Change Good Practices FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK J&K ENVIS Centre Forests have a large and indispensable Department of Ecology, Environment & Remote Sensing role to play in improving food security in the backdrop of climate change. Wild Jammu & Kashmir edible plants known to traditional communities are important resources in INTRODUCTION the development of livelihood strategies It is a matter of concern how the current global food system will meet the for forest dwellers/marginal communities. growing demands of a population expected to reach 9 billion people by While wild foods are not known to all, 2050. In the present context of climate change, ongoing loss of species and locally they are of great value for Genetic diversity, soil degradation, increasing urbanization, social conflict nutritional benefits and food security. and extreme poverty, there is an urgent need for collective action to More generally they can be exploited in address food and nutrition security at the global and regional level. Energy‐ the form of nutritionally valuable rich staple crops assure caloric adequacy and policy makers have thus supplements as ingredients, vegetables, made them a focus in the quest for global food security. However, they soups, herbal teas and sharbats. Forest generally contain low amounts of limiting nutrients, including micronutrients tribes are frequently collect non wood per unit of energy, and by themselves are not sufficient to address the forest products from the forests and problem of “hidden hunger” or micronutrient deficiency. Increasing adjoining wastelands. Many plants used in consumption of micronutrient‐dense foods (such as a diversity of fruit, the modern world are basically cultivated pulses, vegetables and some animal source foods) is seen as a sustainable forms of wild plants and developed way to improve nutrient quality. In this context, the challenges are to make through indigenous knowledge. From a food systems simultaneously productive, nutrition‐sensitive, culturally nutritional perspective, forest acceptable and sustainable (Johns et al., submitted) and to ensure that environments offer sources of sustainable consumers and producers have the necessary information to make the best options for obtaining leafy vegetables, choices to meet their dietary and life choices. fruits, nuts and other plant foods important for intake of vitamin A, C, iron, folate, niacin, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Forest foods, including products from trees, herbs, mushrooms and animals, contribute in many ways in improving food security by providing ready accessibility to affordable and often highly nutritious food. While there are very few communities in the world that currently rely on forest foods to provide a complete diet, forest foods can help maintain household nutrition during the lean season and at times of low agricultural production, periods of climate‐induced vulnerability and food crop damage due to extremes weather events. Value addition to available forest edible products can generate sustainable livelihoods under ecotourism and stakeholders need to be sensitized in the interest of removal of malnutrition and Forest Seeds hunger as reflected in United Nations Forests play an important role in many food systems, either through direct Sustainable Development Goals 2030. and indirect provisioning for human nutrition, particularly in developing countries, or through ecosystem services essential for both near and distant Om Prakash Sharma, IFS agro‐ecological systems. Forests and trees‐outside forests contribute to the Director DEE&RS, J&K livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people. FOOD INSECURITY? FOOD SECURITY FROM FORESTS Food insecurity caused by population and Intensifying agricultural production is not without consumption growth affects one in seven fault, as nutrient runoff, sedimentation of people worldwide. In the past, rising food waterways, and pesticide poisoning of humans demand was addressed by increasing or and other organisms are just a few of the other intensifying agriculture; however, this has consequences that arise when smaller farms are become less effective as scarce land resources technologically coerced into producing more stress production and environmental food. Food production consumes a lot of water, consequences become more pronounced. which means shortages predicted for the future Globally an estimated one billion people use will negatively affect both agriculture and the wild edible plants in their diet to supplement other ecosystem functions that rely on this protein and vitamins, and improve palatability limited resources. of staple foods. Wild foods are especially THE OPPORTUNITY OFFERED BY WILD EDIBLE PLANTS important for the poorest members of user At least one billion people are already thought communities, rural populations and women, to use wild foods in their diet/cuisines, to particularly during critical food shortages. These improve the palatability of staple foods and to products are poised to contribute significantly generate income. Some populations have to household food security, but only if local relied on these products to strengthen immune management systems and national policies systems and stay healthy, especially in poorer ensure their sustainable extraction and use. households in rural areas where they can help When there is a lack of effective regulation, to reduce spending of limited cash resources on over-harvesting of wild edible plants can occur energy, shelter, food and medication. During at such high levels that resource degradation times of critical food shortages, consumers of occurs. This can have lasting negative effects wild edible plants are able to diversify food (ex: loss of future harvests, damage to the sources, mitigate malnutrition, and generate targeted ecosystems and surrounding areas, alternative incomes. The availability of wild and loss of benefits for local populations). foods when harvests fail, combined with their good nutrient composition, means that these products are increasingly important during catastrophes like droughts, as well as during famines. In addition to the nutrition gained from the consumption of wild edible plants, income generation and livelihood development are even more valuable benefits of harvesting wild foods. The UN estimates that up to 96% of the value of forests is derived from non-timber forest products (NTFPs), such as wild edible plants, and “End Hunger, Achieve Food Security & services. The total world trade in these resources Improved Nutrition & Promote Sustainable is around US$11 billion. One of the greatest Agriculture” is GOAL #2 advantages of wild foods is the low investment of the new Sustainable Development Goals: required, as many of these products can be gathered for free and do not require expensive “By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, inputs, machinery or processing. cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated Wild species are supposed to be more resilient animals and their related wild species, including in this age of climate change, compared to through soundly managed and diversified seed and cultivated species. The periods of food stress of plant banks at the national, regional and communities are also likely to increase due to international levels, and promote access to and fair climate change, if they are dependent only on and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the cultivated foods. Uncultivated foods provide an utilization of genetic resources and associated important fall back mechanism in this context. traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed” INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN DAY - 2015 THEME – 2015 PROMOTING MOUNTAIN PRODUCTS ABOUT: The International Mountain Day has its roots in 1992, when the adoption of Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 “Managing Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development” at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development put a milestone in the history of mountain development. THE ISSUE: Mountain people are among the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged. They frequently face political, social and economic marginalization and lack access to basic services as health and education. Moreover, current global challenges such as climate change, economic developments and population growth exacerbate the hardships they face. Sustainable approaches to development are therefore particularly important in mountain regions. Over the generations, mountain people have learned how to live with the threat of natural hazards and have developed well-adapted and risk-resilient land-use systems. However, there is growing evidence that many mountain regions have become increasingly disaster-prone over the past few decades. THE WAY FORWARD: On the policy level, it is necessary to strengthen existing policies and establish new and innovative national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms based specifically mountain- related issues; also, governments should increase attention to disaster risk management in mountain areas through the development of measures, approaches and policies for prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation of natural disasters and of public service. Transport and communication infrastructure need to be implemented,

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