This presentation by Henry Neufeldt was given at a session titled "New findings on the dynamics between forests, land use and food security" at the Global Landscapes Forum in Lima, Peru, on December 7, 2014. The session discussed direct and indirect roles of forests and trees in food systems, the importance of food production systems across the forest-agriculture continuum for food security, dietary diversity and nutrition, and the ensuing implications for land use. The social, economic and environmental synergies and trade-offs between forests and food security and related management interventions, as well as relevant response options will also be discussed. The debate also touched upon questions of sustainable land use under a post-Kyoto climate agreement.

1. New findings on the dynamics between forests, land use
and food security
Global Landscapes Forum 2
Westin, Lima, 6-7 December 2014
DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN THE CONTEXT OF
FORESTS AND FOOD SECURITY AND MACRO-LEVEL
RESPONSE OPTIONS
Henry Neufeldt
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
7 December 2014

2. Reliance on forests and tree-based agricultural
systems for food security
Small-scale
subsistence farmers
Isolated hunter-gatherer
communities
No reliance Full reliance
Consumers in urban
areas
Small-scale farmers
growing coffee in AF
systems

3. Social Economic Policy Environment
Land use Forest Management
Food Security
Indirect drivers
Direct drivers
Chapter 4:
Macro-scale drivers at the forest and food
security and nutrition nexus
Chapter 6:
Macro scale response options to support
landscape approaches

4. Chapter 4
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Social drivers of the forest and food security nexus
Conflicts in and around forests
Poverty and Inequality
Demographic change: Migration, urbanization and agrarian transformation
4.3 Economic drivers affecting forests and food security system
Income per capita
Absolute and relative food prices
Policies
Production system changes
4.4 Political drivers affecting forests and food security systems
Changing context of forest governance
Territorial governance
Networked governance
4.5 Environmental drivers
Climate change
Deforestation and forest transition
Invasive species
Water supply
4.6 Conclusions

5. Chapter 6
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Social and cultural response options
Gender responsive roles
Dietary choices, education and behavior change
Strengthening technology for improved food security
Mobilization for forests, food security and justice
Urban demand to improve food security and nutrition from forests
6.3 Market relate initiatives and innovations in the governance of food systems
The challenges of inclusiveness and sustainability in food supply
Global initiatives to support responsible finance and investment
Emerging corporate sustainability initiatives
“Hybrid” models for inclusiveness and sustainable supply
6.4 Governance responses to enhance forest-food security linkages
Tenure and governance responses
Decentralization and accountability responses
Market regulation responses
Access to information, knowledge and technology
Inclusive and equitable resource governance
Catalyzing governance reform
6.5 Conclusions

6. Key messages on drivers
A range of drivers (social, political, economic, environmental) interact with each
other and influence the role of forests and tree-based systems for food and
nutrition. These impacts are differentiated across different locations, actors and
time. While interrelated drivers lead to complexity they also provide an
opportunity for innovation in relation to responses.
Lack of secure tenure may lead to the loss of access of local people (e.g. from
industrialisation and commercialisation of forest resources such as plantations) to
forests and tree-based systems, undermining their entitlements to a key source of
food and nutrition.
Inequalities at different levels (inter-generational, gender, developed/developing,
and the intersection of these factors) are critical to the forest-food security nexus.
Forests and tree-based diets matter most for vulnerable groups who are often at
risk of hunger and malnutrition, especially women and children (who are also,
often, responsible for the collection of forest- and tree-based foods).

7. Key messages on drivers
One of the conclusions of this chapter is that generalization of drivers of the
forest and food security system remains difficult as they impact differently across
locations, actors and time.
Drivers impact food security directly by interconnected changes in nutrition but
mainly indirectly by changes in land use and management and changes of
incomes and livelihoods.
Social, political, economic, environmental drivers interact with each other and
influence the role of forests and tree-based systems for food and nutrition.
These drivers are differentiated across different locations, actors and time.
While interrelated drivers lead to complexity they also provide an opportunity for
innovation in relation to responses (multifunctionality).

8. Key messages on drivers (continued)
Industrialization and commercialization of forest resources (eg plantations) can
affect tenure and may lead to the loss of access of local people to forests and tree-based
systems, undermining their entitlements to a key source of food and
nutrition.
Demographic factors (population growth; feminization of agriculture;
urbanization; migration) affect consumption and production patterns from forest
and agricultural systems, with associated impacts for food and nutrition security.
Deforestation and forest degradation, combined with climate change, will impact
directly and indirectly on the availability of food from forests and tree-based
systems.
Inequalities at different levels (inter-generational, gender, developed/developing,
and the intersection of these factors) are critical to the forest-food security nexus
and affect food security and nutrition of vulnerable groups, especially women and
children, most.

9. Key messages on response options
Co-regulatory approaches (private/public) provide opportunities to improve forest
protection and food and nutrition security if they focus on the needs of
smallholders, family farmers and vulnerable groups (especially women and
children).
A combination of regulatory frameworks and effective local governance can
create conditions which strengthen equitable rights of local communities over
forests and tree-based systems for direct and indirect food and nutritional needs.
There are tangible and practical opportunities for improving the livelihoods of
communities and food and nutrition security, using strategies that are sensitive to
the dynamics of social and cultural factors (eg education; traditions; consumer
pressure) that determine the conservation and management of forests and tree-based
systems.
There is a systematic lack of knowledge at all levels of the interface between
forests and tree-based systems and their roles in food and nutrition security.

10. Thanks for a future

11. Chapter 4: Conclusions
Armed conflicts in forest landscapes can lead to exploitation, undermine
conservation issues and detach households from forest and food, but can lead as
well to (illegal) opportunities for consumption
Formalization of tenure rights on the one hand can foster benefit sharing
amongst those living in and with the forest; on the other hand it can contribute to
increased vulnerability and reduce food security
Structural gender imbalances lead to the prioritization of commercial/timber
products over food, fodder and fuel wood which can have consequences on food
security and nutrition
Forest transitions resulting from carbon and market-based reforestation
threatens local livelihoods through curtailed access and changes in forest
composition and structure
Climate change will impact forest foods directly through its effect on plant and
animal species distributions, dispersal and abundance, and through synergistic
impacts on plant and forest health

12. Chapter 4: Conclusions
The forest and food security system is determined by developments in the
environmental and human system and in particular by the interrelations of these
systems. The challenge is to maintain the balance between these systems to
secure food security and at the same time ensure the sustainability of forests.
This chapter identified a variety of partly interconnected, partly conflicting social,
economic, policy and environmental drivers affecting the forest and food security
system. These drivers have consequential impacts on forests and food/nutrition.
Drivers impact food security directly by interconnected changes in nutrition but
mainly indirectly by changes in land use and management and changes of
incomes and livelihoods.
One of the conclusions of this chapter is that generalization of drivers of the
forest and food security system remains difficult as they impact differently across
locations, actors and time.

13. Chapter 6: Conclusions
Co-regulatory approaches between public and private sector actors and voluntary
sustainability standards can markedly improve forest protection and food and
nutritional security if smallholders and family farmers are actively included in the
articulation and development of inclusive value chains.
More needs to be done to strengthen equitable rights of local communities over
forest and tree resources for direct and indirect food and nutritional benefits
through crafting an effective local governance and enabling regulatory
frameworks, while also creating conducive policy environments for the generation
and application of transformative knowledge that catalyse food security orientated
innovations in the management of forest and tree resources.

14. Social Economic Policy Environment
Land use Forest Management
Food Security
Indirect drivers
Direct drivers
Drivers of the forest – food security
and nutrition nexus