CIFOR scientist Terry Sunderland gave this presentation on 8 September 2012 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, South Korea, during a session co-hosted by CIFOR titled ‘Managing wild species and systems for food security’.

1. Forests, biodiversity & food security
Terry C.H. Sunderland
Managing wild species and systems for food security
WCC, Jeju
THINKING beyond the canopy 8th September 2011

2. What is food security?
 Commonly accepted and used
definition for food security:
“Food security exists when all
people, at all times, have
physical and economic access
to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to meet their dietary needs
and food preferences for a
healthy and active life” (World
Food Summit, 1996)
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3. However….
 This definition infers that
access to enough food is an
adequate criterion to achieve
food security
 Yet access to food must be
sustainable in the long term
 Human well-being is closely
related to access to wider
environmental health such as
access to clean water,
sanitation and biodiverse
productive ecosystems
 Food security does not always
equate to nutritional security
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4. Forests, biodiversity and food security
 One billion people rely on forest products
for nutrition and income
 Biodiversity provides important safety-net
during times of food insecurity
 Wild harvested meat provides 30-50% of
protein intake for many rural communities
 75% of world’s population rely on
biodiversity for primary health care
 $90 billion / annum in (primarily invisible)
NTFP trade
 Products derived from genetic resources
worth estimated $500 billion/year
 45% of global food production comes from
diverse small-holder agricultural systems
 Long tradition of managing forests for food
 Ecosystem services provided by forests
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5. 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: more
than 50% of energy intake
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6. 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”: the
highest number in recorded history
 Another 1 billion people suffer from
micronutrient deficiencies, including
Vitamin A, Iron, and Zinc
 Greater incidence of Type II
diabetes among urban dwellers
 Vulnerability to catastrophic events:
climate-related, pests and diseases,
market forces
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7. Purported legacy of green revolution
 Disaggregation of agriculture and
natural resource management
 Significant increases in food
production have been achieved
through high-input, intensive, and
industrial agriculture that is heavily
dependent on fossil fuels and
agro-chemicals resulting in:
• Pollution
• Increased CO² emissions
• Land conversion
• Loss of biodiversity
• Uneven distribution of food
supplies and financial benefits
• Loss of livelihoods for small
holder farmers
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8. Challenges to achieving global
food security
 Population growth
 Climate change
 Food inequity
 Gender inequity
 Globalisation
 Continued forest and
biodiversity loss
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9. Challenges: population growth
 Global population estimated
to grow to nine billion+ by
2050
 If current agricultural model is
followed, this will require
conversion of further one
billion ha of land
 Changing diets: transition to
meat-based diet very
inefficient use of resources
 How to feed the world’s
growing and more affluent
population while conserving
biodiversity?
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10. Challenges: climate change
 The impacts of rising
temperatures and more-extreme
weather events will likely hurt the
poor, especially rural farmers, the
most
 Agricultural yields in Africa could
decline by more than 30 percent
by 2050 (IPCC)
 Biodiverse multi-functional
landscapes more resilient to
climate change effects and
continue to provide ecosystem
service
 Recent climate-related events
have led to increase in basic food
prices and “food riots”
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11. THINKING beyond the canopy

12. Challenges: Food inequity
 Food inequity: While one billion people go hungry, one billion
people are over-weight or obese (daily feast or famine)
 Food waste (post harvest and post purchase)
 Purchasing power: Singapore/Hong Kong are food secure,
while India, a major agricultural producer, is not beyond the canopy
THINKING

13. Challenges: agricultural investment
 Since 2005, food prices have
increased 50-80% in developing
countries
 Funding for agricultural
development has dropped
significantly over the last
decade and are now at historic
lows (only 4% of total overseas
aid)
 Developing country investment
very low, despite contribution of
agriculture to GDP
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14. Challenges: Gender inequity
 Women comprise up to 60% and 80% of small-holder farmers in
Asia and sub-Saharan Africa respectively
 More likely to include diverse range of products
 Described as “guardians of food security” for the household
 Maternal health and nutrition is key for future productivity
 Many women lack access to land tenure, credit, extension
services
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15. Innovations for integrated biodiversity
and food security benefits?
 Marginal lands (in the tropics
480 million ha of land available)
 Diversification of production
systems: tree crops, inter-crops
and maintenance of ecosystem
services (incl. carbon storage)
 Tenure reform
 Conservation agriculture
 Fair and equitable access to
markets especially for small-
holder farmers
 Land sparing or land sharing?
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16. New approaches for integrating
agriculture and biodiversity?
 “Eco-agriculture” (Scherr and McNeely 2006)
 “Back to the land: New green revolution” (Time 2010)
 “Agroecology is complimentary to conventional agriculture and
needs scaling up” (United Nations 2011)
 “New agriculture needed…” (UNDP 2011)
 “Agro-ecological approach” (World Bank 2011)
 “Integrated management of biodiversity for food and agriculture”
(FAO 2011)
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17. Read more….
 Special issue of
International Forestry
Review on “Forests,
biodiversity and food
security” published in
November 2011
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18. What’s missing?
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19. “Protecting biodiversity and
ensuring food security are part of a
single agenda”
(Godfray 2011: Science)
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