Photo: Yusuf Ahmad/ICRAF
A study released earlier this month by the Global Forest Expert Panel (GFEP) on Forests and Food Security examines the potential of forests and trees to complement agricultural production in alleviating hunger and improving nutrition.
Titled, Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition, the report was launched on May 6, 2015 at the 11th session of the UN Forum on Forests in New York. The report includes two chapters led by authors from A4NH’s partner Center, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). One chapter examines the roles of forests and tree-based systems in food provision, co-authored by Drs. Ramni Jamnadass and Stepha McMullin, and the second addresses public sector, private sector, and socio-cultural response options, written by Dr. Henry Neufeldt.
While the role of forests in mitigating the effects of climate change are better understood, their potential impact on global food security are lesser known. “What the report is trying to get us to focus on is the relatively neglected contribution that forests and trees make to food security and nutrition,” said Bhaskar Vira, Chair of the Expert Panel on Forests and Food Security. “Not necessarily neglected by the people who actually consume them but possibly neglected in some of the policy discourses.”
The report is an initiative of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) and has been compiled by over 60 scientists who are part of the GFEP on Forests and Food Security.
*The full report and policy brief are now available for download on the IUFRO website.
*A summary of the report is available on the UN website.
