65 FAO/G. NAPOLITANO FAO/G.

Participants attend the opening session of the International Conference on Forests and trees The International Conference on Forests for Forests for Food Security and Nutrition Food Security and Nutrition was organized at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy outside forests are by FAO in partnership with Bioversity International, the Center for International Key messages essential for global Forestry Research, the World Agroforestry • The role of forests and trees outside food security and Centre and the World Bank.1 This technical forests2 in the fight against hunger meeting was attended by more than demands much greater attention and nutrition 400 participants, comprising experts from should be integrated with strategies for governments, civil-society organizations, food security and nutrition. Summary of the International indigenous and other local communities, • Food security is grounded in diversity – in donors and international organizations in terms of biota, landscapes, cultures, diets, Conference on Forests for more than 100 countries, who made a wide production units and management. Forests Food Security and Nutrition range of important points, many of which are and trees are critical for maintaining summarized below. that diversity. FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, This summary and the recommendations • The ecosystem services provided by forests 13–15 May 2013 therein were developed by the conference and trees make essential contributions organizers and do not necessarily represent to forest-dependent communities and the position of the member states of FAO. agriculture by, among other things, protecting soil and water, maintaining soil fertility, regulating the climate, and 1 The conference was sponsored by the providing habitat for wild pollinators and Department for International Development of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the the predators of agricultural pests. German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, the Norwegian 2 As used in this summary, the term “trees outside Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the United forests” encompasses agroforestry systems, States Forest Service, the World Agroforestry other trees on farms, and trees in non-forested Centre and the World Bank. rural and urban landscapes.

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Key messages (continued) production and protecting forests, includ- • Greater collaboration at the national and • Forest foods and tree products have been ing through the restoration of degraded international levels is needed to improve important components of rural diets for forest land, the greater use of trees in data collection on, and the communication, millennia and today provide essential agriculture, and the alignment of policies reporting and monitoring of, the contribu- nutrition for millions of people. More than and institutional frameworks to that end. tions of non-wood forest products, forest one-third of the world’s people rely on • Secure land and forest tenure and more ecosystem services and other forest- woodfuel for cooking. equitable access to resources for local and tree-related aspects of food security • Forests, trees outside forests and the sus- communities and women will encour- and nutrition. tainable management of these resources age sustainable forest- and tree-based • Training in the management of sustainable are crucial for ensuring the resilience of approaches to food security and nutrition. forest enterprises can help forest-dependent food-production systems in the face of • There is a need to retrieve, document and communities, particularly women and youth, climate change and economic, social and make better use of traditional knowledge to gain access to equitable value chains, political instability. Forest- and tree-based and to combine it with scientific knowl- such as those applied in fair trade, thereby sources of income can contribute to build- edge to increase the role of forests and improving the food security and nutrition ing resilience. trees outside forests in food security of such communities and helping them to • There are opportunities to use more forest and nutrition. capitalize on their traditional knowledge. species, especially plants and insects, • Women often have specialized knowledge • Governments, civil society, indigenous peo- for the large-scale production of food of forests and trees in terms of species ples, bilateral and multilateral development products. However, deforestation and diversity, uses for various purposes, and assistance agencies, the private sector and forest degradation risks the loss of many conservation and sustainable manage- other stakeholders are invited to strengthen such species. ment practices, but the role of women the contributions of forests and trees out- • The single biggest cause of forest loss in ensuring the food security and nutri- side forests to food security and nutrition is agricultural expansion, but there is tion of forest-dependent communities is through a number of feasible actions, listed potential for both increasing agricultural underappreciated. in the recommendations below.

The benefits of forests, trees outside forests and agroforestry Globally, millions of people depend on forests and trees outside forests for their food security and nutrition – directly through the consumption and sale of foods harvested from forests and trees outside forests, and indirectly through forest-related employment, forest ecosystem services, and forest-based biodiversity. Forest foods and tree products, such as leaves, seeds, nuts, honey, fruits, mush- rooms, insects and game animals, have been important components of rural diets for millennia. The wide range of medicinal plants found in forests contributes to the health and

A woman in Guinea walks past a mature Parinari exca, an evergreen forest tree with rough-skinned, edible fruit. Globally, many millions of people depend on forests and trees outside forests for their food security and nutrition through the consumption and sale of foods harvested from forests and trees outside forests and through forest- related employment, forest ecosystem

FAO/R. FAIDUTTI services, and forest-based biodiversity

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Fishermen in Nagapattinum, Tamil Nadu, India, sit on an upturned boat after the 2005 tsunami. There is strong evidence that forests help protect coastal areas from flooding, thereby increasing the stability of food production on coastal lands, and they also act as sources of employment and provide food in the wake of such disasters

resilience and the capacity of people to meet their nutritional needs. An estimated 2.6 billion people rely on woodfuel, including charcoal, for cooking. The use of wood as a source of energy is vital for local economies and for maximizing the palatability and nutritional value of foods that require cooking. A wide range of agroforestry systems, including agrosylvipastoral systems, is

FAO/A. VITALE available to support food security and nutri- tion through the direct provision of food, by well-being of forest-dependent people and vital roles in riverine and coastal fisheries, raising farmer incomes and providing fuel forms the basis of many pharmaceutical which are often particularly important in for cooking, by improving soils and thereby products now produced globally. Forests and poor communities. Mountain forests per- increasing agricultural productivity, and trees outside forests are important sources form essential ecosystem services, such as through the provision of other ecosystem of fodder for livestock, especially in drylands. the provision of high-quality water for down- services. The genetic diversity in natural forests offers stream communities and their agricultural Indigenous peoples and other local commu- huge potential for the discovery, development activities. nities hold an immense wealth of traditional and improvement of new sources of food and Forests and trees outside forests are knowledge on the cultivation, harvesting and medicine, among others. important sources of food and income, preparation of forest foods and tree products There is enormous potential to use more especially for the poor and women, and and on sustainable land management. forest species, including plants and insects, may be key in times of economic, political or Traditional forest–agriculture landscapes for the large-scale production of foods. Many ecological crisis. The presence of forests and tend to have high resilience in the face of forest foods and tree products have extremely trees outside forests increases ecosystem environmental and social perturbations. high nutritional value. The ecosystem services provided by forests and trees outside forests make important contributions to agricultural production and forest-dependent communities, such as by protecting water and soil resources, contribut- ing to soil development processes, increasing soil fertility, regulating climate and providing habitat for wild pollinators and agricultural pest predators. Forested wetlands and mangrove forests help protect coastal areas from flooding, thereby increasing the stability of food pro- duction on coastal lands. Forests also play

Beekeepers near Kigoma, the United MAINA FAO/S. Republic of Tanzania, harvest honeycomb from a hive. Forest foods and tree products, such as honey, have been important components of rural diets for millennia

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Key challenges and bottlenecks areas, the harvesting of wood for energy is food security and nutrition; and the socio- The many contributions of forests and trees a major driver of forest degradation. economic circumstances of forest-dependent outside forests to food security and nutri- Agricultural practices should take into people. Moreover, there is no internationally tion are usually poorly reflected in national account the economic, social and environ- agreed framework (or formats) to guide the development, agricultural, and food security mental pillars of sustainable development. The collection, reporting and dissemination of and nutrition strategies, and there is often environmental costs of agricultural practices data on the use and trade of NWFPs, wildlife a lack of long-term funding to ensure the are often ignored. Along with unbalanced and forest ecosystem services important for success of projects to promote sustainable subsidies, this can make agriculture more food security and nutrition. forest management and agroforestry. Many profitable than the sustainable management Women often have specialized knowledge land-use planning strategies, often developed of forests and agroforestry systems but can of forests and trees in terms of their species without the participation of affected people, lead to unsustainable agricultural practices. diversity, uses for various purposes, and man- and large-scale agriculture investments, have Research is lacking on forest biodiversity agement and conservation. Compared with undermined smallholder farmers by excluding with potential importance for food security men, women’s knowledge tends to be linked them from emerging value chains, inadver- and nutrition. Moreover, there is a risk that more directly to household food consumption tently creating competition for resources, and traditional knowledge of forest foods will be and health and is particularly important during limiting the capacity of smallholders to cope lost, or will be exploited by outsiders who food crises. However, the role of women in with climatic risk, pests, and the uncertainty obtain most of the commercial benefits of forestry value chains is often poorly supported of market demand. Globally, agriculture is this knowledge. Local traditional knowledge by policy-makers and service providers. the main cause of forest loss. is often ignored in conventional approaches In many places, forest foods and tree to land-use planning, development and man- Policy options, practical products are being overharvested. For agement, which tend to reduce biodiversity innovations and emerging example, the overexploitation of wild meat is a and lead to a corresponding loss of resilience. opportunities serious issue in some forests in Africa. Poorly There is a lack of knowledge and data to The potential economic, social and environ- implemented land-use actions associated support effective policy‐making on (among mental gains from secure land tenure are with, for example, unsustainable logging, others): the role of non-wood forest products substantial and can lead to fundamental mining and agriculture can have cumulative (NWFPs), wildlife and forest ecosystem improvements in land management. The effects that cause the impoverishment of services in food security and nutrition and recent endorsement of the Voluntary land and local communities. Land and forest the realization of the right to food; labour Guidelines for the Responsible Governance degradation contributes to food insecurity and decent employment in the forest sector, of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in and is associated with increased rates of especially the NWFP subsector; the role of the Context of National Food Security by the child mortality. As people become more forests and trees in urban food security and Committee on World Food Security, coupled food insecure, their capacity to innovate is nutrition; mountain forests and their role in with the Voluntary Guidelines to Support hindered, further exacerbating their food insecurity. Those who are food insecure are more likely to deplete and mine natural resources unsustainably. If the technology is inefficient, the use of wood for cooking can cause severe health problems related to indoor air pollution and may also generate significant greenhouse gas emissions. In the absence of proper manage- ment and distribution systems, the collection of fuelwood can be a disproportionately high burden for women and children, but it can also be an important source of income. In some FAO/FO-0264/T. HOFER Steep agricultural fields in a highly degraded landscape in southwest China. Deforestation and unsustainable land management can have cumulative effects that cause the impoverishment of land and local communities

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Workers in Indonesia harvest rice. A landscape approach to management with a strong ecological basis can increase the capacity of people to produce, harvest and buy food in the face of social, economic and environmental shocks and stresses FAO/R. FAIDUTTI

the Progressive Realization of the Right to farmers to adopt agroforestry systems and and the introduction of trees and shrubs Adequate Food in the Context of National ensure the recognition of agroforestry as and by supporting farmer-managed natural Food Security, provide a basis for progress an investment option. Investments that regeneration are also promising. In a number in this area. support smallholder agroforestry ventures of countries, schemes to share forest-related Sustainable forest management is a broad in marketing their products and ecosystem revenues more equitably are improving the and evolving concept for ensuring the sustain- services, including through fair-trade food security and nutrition of the poor. able use and conservation of forests while initiatives, are yielding encouraging results for Decent employment in forestry is an generating benefits for local people, including both investors and producers. Microfinance important means of improving food security increased food security and nutrition. loans to small and medium-sized forest and nutrition for people who rely on forests A landscape approach to natural resource enterprises have been shown to lead to for their livelihoods. A sustainable approach management that addresses the economic, rises in family incomes in rural areas and would look at creating more high-skill jobs in social and environmental pillars of sustain- to increases in health, nutrition and quality the forest sector and upgrading existing ones able development can help ensure the of life, especially when such microloans are to increase income and productivity and make sustainable management of forests and trees made to women. In many cases, producer working conditions safer and more stable. outside forests in a broader context. Such a associations designed to meet the needs of This, in turn, will help improve the availability systematic approach with a strong ecological smallholders and marginalized and excluded of, access to and consumption of food in basis can increase the capacity of people to people have had a significant impact on terms of calories, and increase the quality produce, harvest and buy food in the face of improving livelihoods. The Committee on of food in terms of variety, diversity, nutrient social, economic and environmental shocks World Food Security is developing principles content and safety. Small and medium-sized and stresses. This focus on resilience can for responsible agricultural investments in the forest enterprises and community-based contribute to the long-term achievement of context of food security and nutrition. forest management have huge potential to food security. The active participation of all REDD+ initiatives can help in the provide employment in forest communities stakeholders, including the economically recognition of the forest rights of indigenous and can be especially important for women. marginalized and socially excluded, in sus- peoples and other local communities, Strong rural institutions can help ensure tainable land management, benefit-sharing although income from such initiatives has the contribution of forests and trees outside and decision-making is crucial. not yet proved sufficient to sustain forests forests to the food security and nutrition of Policies that improve rights of use and financially. Initiatives to promote sustainable rural communities. The commitment and access to land, forests and trees could development and food security and nutrition capacity of governments to engage openly create significant incentives for small-scale through sustainable forest management with rural communities is required.

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This wooded area in the communally owned and managed Ejido Canalejas de Otates in Mexico contains useful timber and provides shelter and fodder for livestock. Broad, intersectoral partnerships are needed to promote the sustainable use of forests and trees outside forests by rural communities to contribute to the achievement of food security and nutrition

8. Taking an integrated approach to food security and nutrition so that relevant sectoral policies, including those on agri- culture, forests, trees, wildlife and food security and nutrition, have well-defined objectives, targets and time frames for their implementation and are coordinated intersectorally, and that all stakeholders, from forest‐dependent communities to all relevant ministries, are involved actively

FAO/A. CONTI in their development, implementation and monitoring. Recommendations stewards and beneficiaries of forests 9. Encouraging spatial land-use planning Governments, civil society, indigenous peo- and wildlife. that takes into account the many impor- ples, bilateral and multilateral development 5. Eliminating all forms of discrimination in tant roles of forests and trees outside assistance agencies, the private sector and forests and promoting equal opportuni- forests in food security and nutrition. other stakeholders are invited to strengthen ties for youth, women and men and the 10. Encouraging intersectoral cooperation the contributions of forests and trees outside protection of the rights of indigenous to promote the sustainable management forests to food security and nutrition by: peoples and other local communities, of forests and trees outside forests at 1. Participating in broad partnerships to including the right to free, prior and the landscape scale, include forests promote the sustainable use of forests informed consent and the right to territory. and trees outside forests in resilience and trees outside forests by rural com- 6. Reviewing all relevant laws, policies strategies, and investigate the lessons munities to contribute to the achievement and actions so that they uphold the from sustainable forest management that of food security and nutrition. food-related rights set out in the could be applied to achieve sustainability 2. Ameliorating conditions that currently Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at the landscape scale. keep forest-dependent people in low‐ the Covenant on Economic, Social and 11. Supporting sustainable wildlife manage- status and low-productivity jobs. Cultural Rights and other relevant treaties ment as a source of food with scientific, 3. Providing access to resources by indige- and documents, and so that, among other technical and traditional knowledge, nous peoples and other local communities things, they: do not violate the right to balancing the economic, social and and marginalized people by, for example, food; protect citizens from such violations; environmental values of wildlife for applying the Voluntary Guidelines for provide mechanisms to ensure that mar- present and future generations. the Responsible Governance of Tenure ginalized and excluded forest-dependent 12. Increasing opportunities for green jobs of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the communities have access to justice if and improving conditions for forest work- Context of National Food Security. such violations occur; and provide for ers, especially the most vulnerable, and 4. Creating, as appropriate, and strengthen- concrete possibilities to enable people integrating decent employment concerns ing rural community-based institutions to feed themselves, including through in forest and other natural resource poli- and increasing social dialogue and the use of forests and trees. cies and programmes. representation with the aim, among other 7. Protecting forests and seeking ways in 13. Encouraging the development of markets things, of improving access to knowl- which agricultural production can be for forest ecosystem services, such as edge, finance, markets, better prices expanded without the loss or degradation the provision of clean drinking water and and technologies for local people and of forests, such as through the restoration other innovative financing mechanisms their equitable involvement in decision- of degraded forest lands and the greater to support the role of forests and trees making and recognizing the rights, roles use of trees outside forests as a means outside forests in food security and and responsibilities of communities as of intensifying agricultural productivity. nutrition.

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14. Promoting long-term investments in the socio-economic circumstances of these resources and their contributions forests and trees outside forests to forest-dependent people, and the role to food security and nutrition. build resilience so that food aid is less of forests and trees outside forests in 26. Developing indicators, tools and methods necessary. food security and nutrition, with a strong of data collection for food security and 15. Training institutional staff on gender emphasis on robust data. nutrition that incorporate forests and issues, involving women in monitoring, 23. Creating incentives for greater collabo- trees outside forests and the concerns reporting and verification activities, and ration between scientific disciplines, of women and youth, and develop the developing a gender-sensitive intersec- government sectors and rural institutions necessary capacity. toral global roadmap for forests and trees to synthesize scientific data and tradi- 27. Developing safeguard mechanisms to outside forests. tional knowledge on the role of forests ensure that the full impacts of forest 16. Making better use of traditional and trees outside forests in food security conversion and other activities such as knowledge about natural resource and nutrition. mining on food security and nutrition are management and working with local 24. Supporting efforts and investments to taken into account. stakeholders to improve the manage- communicate knowledge on the role Conference participants encouraged all ment of wild forest foods to ensure their of forests and trees outside forests in stakeholders to use this summary to attract sustainability. food security and nutrition in accessible, greater attention to the role of forests and 17. Increasing the efficiency of biomass- compelling formats to key stakeholders, trees outside forests in food security and based cooking systems through including civil society, rural institutions, nutrition. They further encouraged the FAO integrated approaches that take into scientists and policy-makers. Forestry Department to present this summary account both the woodfuel production 25. Recognizing and celebrating the cultural to the Committee on World Food Security chain and the woodfuel conversion chain. value, emotional connection and public and the Committee on Forestry, and to 18. Supporting the development of entre- appeal of forest foods and tree products other important fora, including the Second preneurial, financial and planning skills to rural and urban communities with a International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) among small-scale forest producers view to leveraging political will and public to be held at FAO headquarters in Rome on to encourage their participation in, support for practices and policies that 19–21 November 2014. u and maximize the remuneration they support the sustainable management of receive from, market-oriented activities in agroforestry, tree-growing, NWFPs, small-scale wood processing and the What policy-makers need to do provision of ecosystem services. 19. Supporting the development of producer FAO has developed a brief for policy-makers • Promote policies that increase access associations to assist them to gain based on this conference summary and other by smallholders to credit, technology, access to markets and receive equitable outcomes of the International Conference extension services and insurance, as well benefits from forests, including through on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition. as to markets for their forest and tree local added value. The brief makes the following five strategic products and ecosystem services. 20. Collaborating nationally and internation- recommendations: • Achieve gender equality in the formula- ally to improve data collection, reporting • Provide secure land and forest tenure tion, implementation and evaluation of and monitoring of NWFPs, forest ecosys- and equitable access to resources by food-security, nutrition and poverty- tem services, forest wildlife and other applying the principles outlined in the alleviation policies and investment forest-related aspects of food security Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible strategies. and nutrition. Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries • Strengthen mechanisms for the collec- 21. Encouraging research that supports the and Forests in the Context of National tion and timely dissemination of data sustainable use of wild forest species Food Security. on the contribution of forests and trees of plants, as well as insects and other • Develop mechanisms for coordina- to food security and nutrition for use in animals, to improve yields and increase tion across the agricultural, forestry, policy-making. the sustainability of food production. livestock, fisheries, energy, mining Towards food security and improved 22. Establishing transparent and inclusive and other relevant sectors to ensure nutrition: increasing the contribution of platforms for the dissemination and stronger coherence of food security and forests and trees, a brief for policy-makers, exchange of knowledge and experiences nutrition interventions and better policy can be downloaded at www.fao.org/forestry/ and to build awareness of the importance alignment. food-security/en/. of NWFPs and forest ecosystem services,

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