Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and trees

Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and trees

BACKGROUND

This Policy brief is a product of a knowledge and information sharing between Biodiversity International, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and the World Bank. This was designed for policymakers on two vital areas: what they need to know; and what they need to do.

It also provides different case studies on various interventions towards ensuring food security and access to improved nutrition.

CONCLUSIONS & TAKEAWAYS

The review provided an overview of the multiple benefits of forests and trees outside forests. This ranged from economic, social, health, and environmental benefits. However, challenges still remain including insecure and difficult land tenure, lack of capability and coordination, and inadequate services for smallholder farmers to name a few. More importantly, gender gap remains as a major constraint.

The policy brief outlines policy recommendations namely:
a. Provision of land and forest tenure that is secure and equitable;
b. Development of mechanisms to ensure coordination among multi-stakeholder groups;
c. Promotion of policies that would allow increased access to credit to smallholder farmers;
d. Added emphasis on gender equality in all the stages of policy making; and
e. Strengthening of mechanisms for data collection and dissemination.

Reference: 

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2013). “Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and trees.” http://www.fao.org/3/i2969e/i2969e.pdf

Affiliation: 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy