SEEING THE WOOD FOR THE
TREES:
beyond
bio-­‐for,fica,on:
nutri,on,
cooking
&
health
Dr A B (Tony) Cunningham
ICRAF Senior Associate &
School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia

OVERVIEW
• 1.
Context
• 2.
Why
worry
about
what’s
used
for
cooking?
• 3.
Where
does
solid
fuel
use
for
cooking
occur?
• 4.
Common
intervenAons;
• 5.
Fuel
choices,
toxic
effects
&
agroforestry
soluAons
• 6.
Conclusions.

1.
CONTEXT
• “Hidden
hunger”
–
micro-­‐
nutrient
deficiency;
• “nutriAon
transiAon”
&
bioforAficaAon
in
further
dietary
simplificaAon
vs.
biodiversity
in
nutriAon
(Frison
et
al.,
2004,
COP7;
Johns
and
Eyzaguirre.
2007);
• Looking
out
of
the
frying
pan
&
into
the
fire….(or
at
fuelwood
&
charcoal
diversity)….

WHAT
SCALE?
CASE
STUDY:
TANZANIA
&
MALAWI
• About
half
of
Tanzania’s
annual
consumpAon
of
charcoal
takes
place
in
Dar
es
Salaam
(c.500,000
tons/yr)
from
a
“catchment”
up
to
200
km
away
(WB,
2009);
• Tanzania:
trade
worth
US$650
million/yr
(WB,
2009)
&
in
Malawi
c.
US$41.3
million/yr
to
four
ciAes
(=tea
industry)
(Kambewa
et
al,
2007);
Ref:
World
Bank.
2009.
Environmental
crisis
or
sustainable
development
opportunity?:
Transforming
the
charcoal
sector
in
Tanzania.
•
World
Bank,
Washington
DC.

2.
BACKGROUND
• 2.4
billion
people
live
in
households
where
solid
biomass
fuels
(wood,
charcoal,
dung)
are
used
for
cooking
&
heaAng
plus
0.6
million
using
coal
(Po
et
al.,
2011);
• About
2
million
children/yr
die
of
pneumonia.
Smoke
(=indoor
air
polluAon)
increases
risk
of
pneumonia
by
1.8
in
children
(Dherani
et
al,
2008;
Hu
et
al.,
2010;
Po
et
al.,
2011);
• Not
all
woods
are
the
same:
toxins
in
fuelwoods
can
have
serious
health
consequences.

3.
WHERE
DOES
SOLID
FUEL
USE
FOR
COOKING
OCCUR?
but
what
about
tree
diversity
&
fuelwood
&
charcoal
quality?
• Ref:
Torres-­‐Duque
et
al.
2008.
Biomass
Fuels
and
Respiratory
Diseases.
Proc
Am
Thorac
Soc
5:
577–590

4.
COMMON
INTERVENTIONS
• improvements
of
household
venAlaAon;
• IntroducAon
of
different
stove
designs;
• TransiAons
to
other
energy
sources
(e.g:
rural
electrificaAon);
• …but
charcoal
&
fuelwood
sAll
widely
used,
even
with
rural
electrificaAon.

CASE
STUDY:
SOUTH
AFRICA
• electrificaAon
yet
no
significant
decrease
in
per
capita
woody
biomass
consumpAon…BUT:
•
significant
increase
in
the
Ame
spent
collecAng
fuelwood
&
more
buying
firewood;
• larger
number
of
tree
species
collected
&
used
for
fuelwood
than
before…..so
wood
use
will
be
with
us
for
a
while….
REF:
Madubansi
M
&
Shackleton
C.M.
(2006).
Changing
Energy
Profiles
and
consumpAon
pakerns
following
electrificaAon
in
five
rural
villages,
South
Africa.
Energy
Policy.
34:4081-­‐4092

5.
FUEL
CHOICES
&
TOXIC
EFFECTS
• What
is
used
to
cook
foods
by
which
households
&
what
levels
of
exposure
to
what
types
of
smoke?;
• Toxic
effects
of
certain
plant
species,
genera
&
families
well
known
(eg:
Spirostachys
(Africa),
Excoecaria
agallocha
(South
Asia)
which
contain
the
diterpene
excoecarin;
• More
subtle
effects
can
be
more
insidious.

SMOKE
IS
NATURAL,
BUT
IS
IT
GOOD?
• Polycyclic
aromaAc
hydrocarbons
(PAH)
(e.g:
benzopyrenes)
=
carcinogenic
(cancer
of
lungs,
pharynx
&
larynx);
• Polycyclic
aromaAcs
&
metal
ions
in
smoke
(toxins
absorbed
into
eye
lenses,
causing
oxidaAve
change
&
cataracts);
• Need
to
understand
mutagenicity
emission
potency
of
different
wood
species
are
used
as
fuel.

SEEING
WOOD,
TREES
&
LANDSCAPES
less
choice
of
fuelwoods,
parAcularly
for
poor
&
vulnerable
households

COMBINE
WOOD
MUTAGENIC
ASSESSMENTS
&
LOCAL
KNOWLEDGE
• mutagenic
potency
of
some
fuelwood
species
has
been
established
(e.g:
Vu
et
al.,
2012,
Portugal)
but
more
Asian
and
African
studies
needed;
• Good
to
use
informant-­‐based
valuaAon
systems
&
local
knowledge
to
prioriAze
fuelwood
species
(Cunningham,
2001);
• Euclea
as
an
example.

CASE
STUDY:
STRYCHNOS,
5
YR
FAMINE
FOOD
• Highly
favoured
woods:
Newtonia
hildebrand9i,
Pteleopsis
myr9folia
vs.
poor
quality
woods
(e.g:
Albizia
versicolor)
(Cunningham,
1985)

AGROFORESTRY
&
SELECTING
“GOOD
WOODS”
• SelecAon
for
chemotypes
with
low
toxic
levels
(e.g:
polycyclic
aromaAc
hydrocarbons)
-­‐
parAcipatory
processes
&
local
knowledge
important

6.
CONCLUSION:
A
SYSTEMS
APPROACH
FOOD
&
FUELWOOD
FOOD
&
FUEL
ACCESS
AVAILABILITY
• Social
networks;
• RestoraAon,
agroforestry
&
•
Income
to
buy
food
&
fuel;
Resource
management
•
Disease
impacts
on
capability
(malaria,
respiratory
diseases,
HIV);
•
availability
of
quanAty
&
quality
•
Direct
&
indirect
impacts
of
fruit,
fuel
&
fodder
PEOPLE’S
of
climate
on
land-­‐use
species
&
food
security.
WELL
BEING
NUTRIENT
ACCESS
• Nutrient
content
of
foods
(oils,
proteins,
vitamins);
*
Opportunity
to
boil
water
&
cook
foods;
• Indirect
effects
on
human
health
&
ability
to
absorb
nutrients
(fungal
&
fuel
toxins,
water
&
sanitaAon)

THANK YOU