المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

As a partner organisation with the UNFCCC in the Nairobi Work Program we are looking at the vital importance mixed forests and sustainable mixed mountain forests play in the function of the global water cycle.

“Given their important role in water supply and regulation, the protection, sustainable management and restoration of mountain ecosystems will be essential.” (UNESCO, 2013, ‘Climate Change impacts on Mountain Regions of the World’)

http://www.activeremedy.org/time-for-a-fresh-look-at-the-water-cycle-and-forests/

“Biodiversity is critical to the maintenance of both the quality and quantity of water supplies and plays a vital but often under-acknowledged role in the water cycle.” (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2013). Water and Biodiversity – Natural Solutions for Water Security)

Foof security and nutrition cannot be adequately adressed without also addressing global water security as having an adequate quantity of fresh water is absolutely essential for food varieties and hence nutrition and food security.

In March 2013 the UN Water Task Force created an Analytical Brief to guide governments on how to address global water security. It states:

“Ensuring that ecosystems are protected and conserved is central to achieving water security – both for people and for nature. Ecosystems are vital to sustaining the quantity and quality of water available within a watershed, on which both nature and people rely. Maintaining the integrity of ecosystems is essential for supporting the diverse needs of humans, and for the sustainability of ecosystems, including protecting the water- provisioning services they provide.” (U.N Analytical Brief, 2013)

Rainforest and River Rescuing Plan for Planet Earth with special focus on  Africa

Introduction

The rainforests are treasuries of Mother Earth that it has taken millions of years to develop and now are threatened by extinction. We use our natural resources without responsibility. By using them in the way we do now, we not only borrow from future generations like Ghandhi said, we are actually stealing from them. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 13million hectares of rainforest are lost annually, with the bulk of this loss occurring in the developing world. Nigeria is reputed to have lost 55.7% of its primary forests, accounting for the highest loss in the world. The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) estimated that the annual deforestation rate in Ghana is around 65,000 hectares, and that the country’s forest cover could substantially disappear in 25 years.

Rivers are essential for human and environmental survival. Improper sanitation leading to waste disposal in rivers; negative consequences of agricultural practices including salinization and water logging of irrigated land, eutrophication due to aquaculture; wrongful discharge of industrial polluting effluent into rivers; are all examples of mismanagement of river resources.

These and other instances underscore why this rescuing plan needs to be put into action immediately, before it’s too late. Even though the rainforest and coral reefs are not present in the region where you live, your life style will have an impact on their possibilities to survive. Rainforests including Mangrove forests with their unique biological diversity and beauty are global natural heritages that each one of us has a responsibility to maintain. Mankind needs the rainforest for its survival, since it contributes to a stabilisation of the global climate including prevention of global warming and ozone depletion,

The rainforests are extremely important for our climate. They are able to create rain clouds that distribute water from the rainforest to surrounding regions and thus prevent drought problems in other countries. The rainforest is also an important carbon dioxide sink. As long as the canopy is there it can prevent carbon dioxide emissions from the soil.

They are also a unique resource for producing medicines and food that will secure global health. Species, still unknown, from the rainforests, can help mankind to cure diseases worldwide. There is extremely little knowledge about the species in the rainforest. Their mechanical and chemical design is a master piece of engineering, and a wonderful source book for learning about sustainable design for engineers world wide. Unfortunately, this book is still unknown to 99.99% of all engineers and it is in the process of losing pages every day without even being opened. Over 100 species get extinct every day due to the clearing of rainforests.

The interest for Biomimicry, or how to use nature as a resource for solving technical problems is increasing rapidly.   Life has been performing design experiments on Earth’s research and development lab for 3.8 billion years. What are flourishing on the planet today are the best ideas---those that perform well in context, while economizing on energy and materials. Whatever a company’s design challenge, the odds are high that one or more of the world’s 30 million species has not only faced the same challenge, but has evolved effective strategies to solve it.

Here comes initially an overview of the actions that need to be taken

1. Rescuing plan – Overview

Objectives:

• Establishment of a partnership relation with nature paving the way for a change of attitude where the rainforests becomes of global concern.
• Offering exploiters of the rainforest to operate outside the rainforest through the introduction of sustainable system solutions involving reclaiming of abandoned land through the fertilizer revolution based on Biogas technology.
• Introducing eco villages and sustainable transports involving biogas trains for paving the way for access to a global market.

Expected output:

• Curbing desertification by maintaining rain cloud formation property of the rain forest
• Securing soil fertility
• Curbing soil erosion
• Reclaiming degraded abandoned land areas
• Rescuing of invaluable Bio diversity 

• Establishment of a sustainable economy and a healthy life for the local people by creation of new sustainable jobs  involving small scale enterprises involved in bio design and  local production of herbal medicine, herbal tea, fruits and nuts.

• Lowering of global emissions of green house gases like N2O, CO2 and CH4,
• Curbing global warming and ozone depletion by maintaining the CO2 sink capacity of the rainforest 

Comments:

The most important threats upon the rainforest are:

● poor farmers who burn down rainforest to get arable land for their own survival

● cattle companies who want to produce meat for an exponentially growing meat market,

● timber and paper industry

● palm oil plantation companies

● mining and fossil energy companies.

The cornerstone in the action plan for stopping such exploitation is the introduction of biogas technology. This technology will assure the maintenance of soil fertility as well as the production of biogas for vehicle fuel filling, electricity and cooking fuel.

2. Prevention of Slash and burn agriculture

Objectives:

• Prevention of burning rainforest for getting access to arable land.

Expected outputs:

• Establishment of sustainable farming including restoring of degraded land areas.
• New income generating activities for poor farmers

Comments:

Two-thirds of Africa’s population is reputed to depend on the forest for income and food supplementation. The poor farmers that keep on burning down rainforest to get access to farming land can use biogas residue as fertilizer and thus maintain a living soil as long as the sun is shining. They don’t need to burn down any more rainforest for their survival and they can above all re-use land that has been abandoned due to overgrazing and lack of natural fertilizer.

On a satellite picture of the Amazon one can see around 160.000 fires at the same time originating from farmers burning down the Rainforest. Introduction of small and medium scale digesters for all farmers in the rainforest will create a possibility for the farmers to secure their food supply, and establish income generating activities with organic farming products. They can work together and build a cooperative owned digester that can support them with fertilizer, vehicle fuel, cooking fuel and electricity that can be used when establishing small enterprises for processing cash crops locally.

3. Curbing Cattle and cattle feed production in the rainforest

Objectives:

• To offer meat producers an economical attractive alternative,
• To lower cattle feed production and meat consumption,
• To curb clearing and cutting of rainforest

Expected outputs:

• Increased production of biogas for vehicle fuel filling,
• Restoring of degraded land

Comments:

Timber and cattle companies work hand in hand. First the timber companies clear cut the rainforest and get their income from selling the timber, and then the cattle companies

takes over by producing cattle feed or use the cleared areas for pasture. Meat production relies heavily on subsidies and is extremely energy and water demanding compared to protein sources like fish and vegetables. Nevertheless meat consumption is increasing world wide. One of the reasons is that western life style is spreading fast through activities such as tourism, development projects and the media and very often poses big threats to the survival of the local cultures.

By introducing biogas technology farmers are given an income-generating alternative that will be profitable without subsidies. Biogas is also a vehicle fuel that is extremely flexible. It can be used not only for running cars, lorries and buses but also in trains. Fischer-Tropsch diesel and liquefied methane produced from biogas is a technology that opens new possibilities for sustainable transports on water and in air.

Any crop or organic waste can be used for producing biogas. Hence there is a giant biomass potential that can be a venue for getting out of the fossil fuel vehicle trap. Moreover, when compared to other bio fuels like ethanol and bio diesel, bio methane has the largest potential, best energy balance and lowest emissions. This is toppled with the fact that biogas production is primarily a way of producing fertilizer for maintaining a living soil and thus securing food supply for coming generations.

When growing crops for biogas production chemical fertilizer, pesticides, or gene manipulated seeds are not needed. Biogas farmers can therefore fulfil what one could argue should be the most important mission of a farmer – maintaining a living soil for the benefit of future generations! In other words, there will be no conflict between food and energy production in the practice of biogas technology. Instead it holds the promise of being a base for food security world wide.

4. Curbing Timber, paper and palm oil production from rainforests

Objectives:

• To offer an economically attractive alternative outside the rainforest,
• To curb the clearing and cutting of rainforests.

Expected outputs:

• Restoration of degraded land,
• Curbing of desertification,
• Extended railway network,
• Establishment of local, sustainable small scale industries
• Introduction of small scale, less then 1 MW, synthetic diesel production by cold plasma technology based on any waste containing carbon or alternatively based on raw biogas

Comments:

The timber, paper and palm oil companies can operate outside the rainforest and create plantations in semi arid areas and thus curb desertification. By introducing medium to large scale biogas plants a sustainable economic and ecological base will be created.

In order to fuel biogas trains there is a need for building biogas plants along the railway track.

Those digesters will produce biogas that can be used for cooking or producing electricity as well as hot water that can be used for small enterprises, owned by local people. The production could involve i.e. dried and fresh fruits, herbal teas, skin products, ecological food, handicraft, medicines and snack bars.

Biogas plants can also convert organic residues and toilet wastes that are produced within a village, to produce rich fertilizers and thus create eco-villages along the biogas railway.

5. Lowered impact of Mining

Objectives:

• To introduce railway transports to mines in the rainforest
• Introduction of biogas as a substitute for charcoal

Expected outputs:

• Limited access to rainforest for invaders,
• Curbing the clearing and cutting of rainforests.
• Establishment of sustainable small scale industries and ecotourism expansion

Comments:

Road constructions in combination with mining activities normally create huge wounds in the rainforest and pave the way for all kinds of invaders. A way to overcome this problem is a railway with trains fuelled by locally produced synthetic diesel based on cold plasma technology. The railway will also pave the way for ecotourism, and thus contribute to generate an extra income for the indigenous people living in the rainforest.

6. Improvement of Sanitation Awareness and Curbing Waste Disposal in Rivers

Objectives:

• To improve sanitation habits, introduce a comprehensive recycling of industrial wastewater and secure greater respect, resource perspective and care for the rivers

Expected Outputs:

• Improved health
• Eradication of open defecation
• Adoption of practices of refuse sorting, material reuse and recycling
• Increased use of natural coloured cotton, and organic farming preventing poisoning of rivers

Comments:

Sanitation penetration is at a very low level in several parts of Africa, and major among the unsanitary practices is open defecation. These wastes find their way into the rivers and contaminate the water, which is in most instances consumed without treatment, leading to disease outbreak. Improving sanitation habits among the people will thus secure the quality of rivers and improve human health. Introduction of source separation of waste water will create possibilities for recycling of blackwater to farming land and reuse of grey water,  thus lowering water consumption with more than 95%. Introduction of small scale, less then 1 MW, synthetic diesel production by cold plasma technology based on any waste containing carbon.

7. Provision of Alternative Power-Generating Solution to Dam Construction

Objectives:

• To offer more environmentally-friendly alternative to water damming for electricity generation with stand alone systems including in line hydro power generators
  
  And combined solar, wind and biogas electricity production.

Expected Outputs:

• Cost effective local small scale energy effective electricity production
• Abandonment of disruptive mega water damming projects such as the Inga X and Gybe 3
• No introduction of Bilharzia in lakes affected by dam projects like in Lake Victoria. 

Comments:

Huge dams are an attractive choice for electricity generation in Africa. However, these projects in most instances do not benefit the communities where they are sited. The construction disrupts the ecosystem of the host community, negatively affecting their agricultural practices and consequently livelihoods. The generated electricity is sold to industrial concerns thus neglecting the people who have to suffer for such projects to be achieved. Adoption of sustainable option of converting biogas to electricity will eradicate the need for these mega projects, and each community will be able to sustainably integrate its electricity needs into its livelihood activities. 

8. Securing Accountability of Corporations to River Preservation and Strengthening Regulatory Oversight

Objectives:

• To secure the commitment of industrial corporations to protection of rivers and river resources
• To strengthen the ability of regulatory agencies to discharge their oversight responsibilities adequately

Expected Outputs:

• Proper treatment and discharge of effluent by industrial corporations
• Full compliance with water resources management requirements by industrial corporations including payment of appropriate rates and upholding appropriate standards
• Proper monitoring by regulatory agencies, including application of sanctions where necessary

Comments:

Contamination of rivers by industrial corporations is a huge source of water pollution in Africa. This is made more so as the corporations have a field day, they face little or no challenge from the regulatory agencies, due to lack of capacity or simply indifference. Being able to secure commitment to appropriate water resources management practices from corporations will go a long way in reducing river pollution. This will secure the health of humans and aquatic animals. Strengthening the capacity of regulatory agencies to perform their duties will as well pressure the corporations to operate responsibly.

9.  Protection of Mangrove forests and coral reefs

Objectives:

• To protect the remaining Mangrove forest and restoring the destroyed areas.

Expected outputs:

• Securing Tsunami protection zones along coasts
• Rescuing of coral reefs
• Securing food supply for people living around coral reefs and in mangrove areas

Comments:

Clearing and cutting of Mangrove forests need to stop immediately. Destroyed Mangrove forests must be replanted and shrimp farming should only be allowed when using natural polyculture in existing mangrove forests. The mangrove forest is a breathing place for a huge variety of fish and purifies river water and protects the costal zone including the coral reefs from eutrofication. The coral reefs are an important habitat for fish that are caught and consumed by the local people.

Protection of mangrove forests will thus secure food supply for millions of people living along coasts in tropical areas.

10. Implementation of the Rainforest and River Rescue Action Plan

Rescuing of the Rainforest and River Conference in Cape Coast, Ghana, November 2015:

The proposed rescuing plan above needs to be adapted to local conditions before it can be put into action. Key persons involved in rescuing the rainforest and river in Africa and a representative from every country with remaining rain forest in Africa  will be invited to the conference

Exploiters of the rain forest, corporations that generate effluent, policymakers and academics will also be invited so that a fruitful dialogue can come up that can pave the way for a rescuing plan where everybody will realize that they each will become a winner.

Save the Rainforest and River Congress, 2016

The rainforest conference will be followed up by a congress with ministers from G8 countries, as well, other countries which have rainforest within their territories will be invited to a conference in Sweden where the action plan will be presented. The action plan will include an obstacle analysis as well as a financing plan, including World Bank and GEF contacts

Lysekil, February 2015

Bjorn Marten, Engineer, Teacher and sustainable system designer, E-Mail: [email protected]

Phone: +46 52322307

Vägeröd 130

451 78 Fiskebäckskil

Sweden

Thanks for the opportunity to comment on the scope of the new HLPE study on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition. Forests are recognized as an integral part of national economies, providing a wide range of production inputs, environmental goods, food, fuel, medicines, household equipment, building material and raw materials for industrial processing. We would like to emphasize the interlinkages between forest biodiversity, human nutrition and health, furthermore, the vital role that forest play for water quality, and climate regulation.

The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) Rome Declaration on Nutrition recognized that ‘Current food systems are being increasingly challenged to provide adequate, safe, diversified and nutrient rich food for all that contribute to healthy diets due to, inter alia, constrains posed by resource scarcity and environmental degradation’ (Rome Declaration para 10), and ‘Food and agriculture systems, including forestry, need to be addressed comprehensively through coordinated public policies, taking into account the resources, investment, environment and people’ (Rome Declaration para 14. e).

The following recommendations from ICN2 Framework for Action are relevant in this context:

• Recommendation 9: Strengthen local food production and processing, especially by smallholder and family farmers, giving special attention to women’s empowerment, while recognizing that efficient and effective trade is key to achieving nutrition objectives
• Recommendation 10: Promote the diversification of crops including underutilized traditional crops, more production of fruits and vegetables, and appropriate production of animal-source products as needed, applying sustainable food production and natural resource management practices.

In the proposed outline of the new HLPE report, under point 1 regarding the role of forest for FSN, forests’ contribution to sustainable food environments and nutritious food should be included. FAO estimates that forests provide nutritious food such as wild plants, animals and tree foods for many people, and are important especially for rural diets. Forests also sustain resilience: forest products are often consumed more frequently in times of food scarcity and can provide livelihood safety nets. They are part of sustainable consumption and production patterns. The report should look at the nutritional values (macro- and micronutrients) of foods found in the forest and highlight their role in supporting nutritious and diverse diets within a sustainable food environment.

Forest biodiversity is important for human nutrition and health - The sustainable use of forest biodiversity can be instrumental in preserving existing food biodiversity, address micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of malnutrition, contribute to diversified diets, and mitigate adverse effects of dietary changes worldwide. In 2006, a nutrition initiative led by FAO was launched on the basis of a recognized linkage between biodiversity, food and nutrition, in order to enhance sustainable use of biodiversity to combat hunger and malnutrition (FAO, 2008, Expert Consultation). The report should discuss the impact of forests on dietary diversification, improving the nutritional status of populations and consequently helping to improve the quantity and quality of food intake.

Under point 2 regarding sustainable forests and forestry for FSN, in environmental, economic, and social dimensions – The role of forest to secure drinking water should be addressed. Forest can help protect water, soil and biological resources, and is important in maintaining sustainable agricultural and environmental systems. In terms of their function in regulating the water cycle, studies have shown that there is the potential for forested catchments to secure drinking water, especially for supplying urban drinking-water (FAO, 2008, forest and water).

Women play a key role in management of forests and FSN - At the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition (FAO, 2013), one of the key messages stated that women often have specialized knowledge of forests and trees in terms of species diversity, uses for various purposes, and conservation and sustainable management practices, but the role of women in ensuring the food security and nutrition of forest-dependent communities is often underappreciated. Therefore, the report should address the key role of women in increasing household dietary diversity based on forest products and through marketing of such products.

Wood continues to be the primary fuel in most tropical countries and a significant fuel in many others. Therefore the report should also look at the linkage between fuel wood and nutrition. Shortage of fuel wood in resource poor settings and harsh climate conditions can affect household nutrition in multiple ways. Women may be forced to ration cooking times, leading to a decrease in household food consumption or meal frequency if fuel wood is limited, which in turn can affect the nutritional status of household members. Moreover, if fuel wood is scare, it may increase the incidence of illness resulting from improperly prepared food or contaminated water. Lastly, fuel wood scarcity can impact the time women spend searching and collecting fuel wood and therefore, have less time for other activities such as, income generation, child care and food preparation.  Fuel wood access must be included in food security and agricultural planning and policy, poor access to cooking fuel can mean that household resources (either time or money) are spent to procure fuel rather than healthy and nutritious food.

The report should also address the need to develop new metrics on sustainable management of natural resources. Furthermore it could look at forest in its contributions to Nutrition-Sensitive Landscapes (NSL) (UNSCN 2014: Towards Sustainable, Healthy and Profitable Food Systems: Nutrition and the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources).

And finally, regarding the different role of actors, the UN system certainly has an active role to play in support of national and regional policies. Examples are found in the United Nations development assistance framework (UNDAF) in Mongolia and in Turkmenistan how forest management regulations are integrated in the framework

For instance, in the UNDAF of Mongolia, 2007-2011, UN agencies supported to reducing forest depletion and land degradation throughout the UNDAF period and have set outcomes to reduce both forest depletion and land degradation. In the UNDAF of Turkmenistan, 2010-2015, it is stated that national stakeholders and local communities apply best practices on sustainable land and forest resource management, taking into account the global climate change context (UNDP,UNECE, FAO).

With best regards

The UNSCN Secretariat Team

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are any product or service other than timber that is produced in forests. They include fruits and nuts, vegetables, fish and game, medicinal plants, resins, essences and a range of barks and fibres such as bamboo, rattans, and a host of other palms and grasses. Over the past two decades, governments, conservation and development agencies and non-government organisations have encouraged the marketing and sale of NTFPs as a way of boosting income for poor people in the tropics and encouraging forest conservation. But different users define NTFPs differently, depending on their interests and objectives.

In Cameroon, Non-timber forest products are being exploited without proper controls. For a sustainable development and increase in the revenue of communities surrounding forests, CECOSDA encourages stakeholders to draft, popularize and apply norms for the exploitation and commercialisation of non-timber products. While policy-makers have tended to overestimate the employment benefits associated with timber harvests, the significance of employment and income generation in the NTFPs sector was underestimated and remains to a large extent obscure even today. NTFPs are used and managed in complex socio-economic and ecological environments. In traditional forest communities, many NTFPs may be used for subsistence while others are the main or only source of income. Some NTFPs have significant cultural value, as totems, incense, and other ritual items. Others have important medicinal value and contribute to the community’s health and well-being. But as forest areas shrink, human populations grow, markets change, and traditional management institutions lose their authority, the sustainable production of many NTFPs is no longer assured. For example, as international rattan prices increased in the 1980s and ‘90s, commercial companies in Asia hired local people to harvest available resources. Widespread over-exploitation resulted and in many places the resource was destroyed, affecting the local biodiversity and leaving the people without an important source of income. Accordingly, the Centre for Communication and Sustainable Development for All (CECOSDA) Cameroon seeks to aid in considering NTFPs in their overall context and regularising this economic domain to better help the communities. While commercial NTFPs can be of considerable value to poor people, it is important to recognize the constraints that exist outside the mere collecting and harvesting of NTFPs. Poor people are poor because they have limited access to markets, insufficient capital and generally weak bargaining power.

Some NTFPs may offer employment and income generating opportunities. But realizing this potential will require investing in other areas as well, such as micro-finance schemes, transport and training. It is also important to understand how the whole NTFP chain operates, from raw material production to the final market, to identify bottlenecks and understand their potential.

My comments on the study proposed are:

1.     The study proposed by the HLPE aiming at the actual and potential contribution of the forestry to the persistent and ubiquitous problem of food insecurity and malnutrition in developing countries can shed lights on the issue and bring a valuable source of information and insights for national decision makers.

2.     For start, the people already benefits directly from forests and trees for business and subsistence and indirectly by using their ecosystem services for agriculture, water supply or ecotourism, but the question one has to ask is the dynamics of forest development – especially tackling the problem of deforestation and forest and land degradation. In Brazil for instance, forests are continually degraded by the advances of agricultural frontier, especially in the Amazon, but also in the Central highland cerrado region. Logging business of course comes first slashing down trees, but other economic activities are responsible for permanently clear the forest for cultivation. In the Amazon, according to the World Bank study[1], it is the extensive cattle ranching the main responsible for forest degradation.

3.     Investment in infrastructure for development also causes deforestation as shown in the case of the pavement of the BR-163 road linking Cuiabá-Santarém for soybean export[2]. Affluence of migrants from everywhere clear forests for logging, for subsistence, for cattle ranching encouraged by the access to forest the paved road. Studies estimate that 50 km each side of the road are estimated to be cleared in short period of time.

4.     Therefore, causes vary and involve different kind of linkages between sectors that characterize the dynamics and the strategies of development of the forested region. Policies, economies and the people dependent of the forests and trees for their food security establish cooperative, conflictive, synergic or parasitic relationships peculiar to the region, but nevertheless, with invariants commons to many places. These invariants are the common features that deserve attention and need to be highlighted in the F&FSN study.

5.     Another point I like to stress is that forest is understood as basically resources to be exploited, depleted, and degraded in order to satisfy economic needs. Forests as ecosystems services provider – NWFPs, climate regulation, water production, nutrient cycling – is a notion largely neglected in rural development policies. In Brazil, this is treated as part of the biodiversity conservation policy, and in the last few years also part of the climate change policy. Industrial agriculture, mining and timber sectors would be interested in the conservation of forest only if they were rewarded with payments – carbon sequestration or other ecosystem services. In other words, there are political and economic disputes among stakeholders, which turn complex any sound forest management. 

6.     Added to the above issue of complex intersectoral relationships, rural communities dependent on the forest and tree services for their livelihood – indigenous peoples, all sorts of forest dwellers, “quilombolas”, fisherman – including food and other NWFPs, have to be included in this complex equation. Left to the market forces, these peoples are subject to further hardships, including food insecurity. They lose access to the forest, the source of income; they are expelled from their communities, in most case their incipient organizations are not heard in any institutional stances. In brief, they have no enough power to face the battle for forest resources and services. That is why policies make sense, but not any policy. A clear policy empowering forest and near forest communities to enhance access to forest and improve their livelihood, integrated to national development policy.

7.     The study should contain a clear analysis of invariants that move forested territories and the main drives of actual development in developing countries; understand the main causes either the forest degradation and food insecurity and malnutrition, in order to draw feasible recommendations. 

 

RAP is fully supportive of the proposed study on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition as requested by the CFS.  The proposed scope of the HLPE report is comprehensive and generally logical.  It is urged that the study takes careful examination of the close interactions of agriculture and forests with respect to food security and agricultural production, including the often negative impacts of agricultural expansion on forests.  The study should clearly consider the negative and positive interactions between agriculture and forests and how these critical sectors can better coordinate and advance mutually acceptable objectives.   In this respect, the proposal for the report to consider governance issues is critically important.

RAP looks forward to the launching of the study and stands ready to support it throughout.

Sincerely,

Vili A. Fuavao

Deputy Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific

Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Tel: +6626974335  

www.fao.org/asiapacific

Dear members of the HLPE,

With regards to forestry and FSN, World Animal Protection would like to point to the benefits of silvopastoral systems. These can produce multiple wins:  productivity and profitability gains; environmental improvements, enhanced biodiversity and animal welfare benefits. Perhaps the scope could make explicit mentioning of this.

As background, see attached a case study of the experience in Colombia.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Best regards,

Dirk Verdonk

HLPE - High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition

Contribution to: eConsultation on the Scope of the Study: Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition

Note:

1. Submitted: on February 25, 2015, Tuesday to: High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), Email: [email protected] & [email protected] & posted online on: http://www.fao.org/fsnforum/cfs-hlpe/Sustainable-Forestry-Scope
2. Contributor: Dr. Santosh Kumar Mishra (Ph. D.), Technical Assistant, Population Education Resource Centre (PERC), Department of Continuing and Adult Education and Extension Work, S. N. D. T. Women's University, Patkar Hall Building, First Floor, Room. No.: 03, 01, Nathibai Thackerey Road, Mumbai - 400020, Maharashtra, India. [Email: [email protected]   Institutional Web Link: http://sndt.ac.in/  Skype: mishra5959 Tel.: +91-022-22066892 (O) +91–022–28090363 (R) +09224380445 (M)]

Towards Strategies for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) for Equitable Development

Abstract

Forests play a critical role in supporting the livelihoods of people worldwide, particularly in meeting the daily subsistence needs of the world’s poor. Sustainable forest management can contribute to economic development by providing income, employment, food security and shelter where it is most urgently needed. Finding ways to balance human needs with concerns over the long-term sustainability of forest resources is the very essence of sustainable forest management. This paper aims to give an insight into the strategies for “sustainable forest management” (SFM) which, in turn, will result in “equitable development”. It also discusses components of good governance needed for SFM. The paper concludes that “SFM will not resolve the violent conflicts that devastate forests”. However, in reducing the impact of war on forests, ensuring tenure security and promoting SFM and its capacity to contribute to sustained livelihoods, forests can make an important contribution to peace and stability. This will require development and strengthening of institutions for negotiation, conflict management and forest-related decision-making, and measures to address inequities that generally lie at the root of conflicts over resources, including forests.

1. Introduction:

The need for sustainable management of forests is well recognized. Since the Earth Summit of 1992, the need to manage forests sustainably has been well-recognized by the international community. The principal focus of the UN forest-related forums since then has been to implement the aims of the Summit through promoting Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). The most recent of such proposals was in 2006, when the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) set four Global Objectives on Forests that are central to SFM. These include:

• addressing the loss of forest cover and forest degradation, forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits; and
• protecting forests, as well as mobilizing financial resources for the implementation of sustainable forest management.

But progress towards SFM on a global scale has been weak. For several reasons, past efforts to achieve sustainable forest management at the global level have not been very successful. Among them is the lack of broad recognition of the value of well managed forests for society in the long term. Another is the unique feature of forestry where the same unit of forest may represent a variety of sometimes conflicting values. In such a situation, pursuing one objective implies sacrificing another. However, choosing one objective over the other may lead to debate, particularly in regard to public forests, given the very different objectives of the various stakeholders. Other complicating factors are the uncertainty associated with interventions in complex forest ecosystems, and the long time dimension. Different forest management approaches not only result in different ecosystems, but also in different combinations of outputs of products and services, over time.

Many factors, along with a number of conceptual and practical problems, have made it difficult to agree upon what sustainability means, especially for the practitioner. These factors range from forest management issues related to determining the objectives of sustainable forest management to balancing and prioritizing which objectives should be pursued when there are many conflicting expectations among different stakeholders. In addition, risk and uncertainty associated with interventions in complex forest ecosystems and wide-ranging impacts of different timeframes and spatial boundaries, further complicate the issue.

Among current definitions, the Brundtland concept – meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – has remained the most commonly recognized. Although the Brundtland definition does not offer any practical guidance on implementing sustainable forest management on the ground, many countries have incorporated elements of the concept in their forestry legislation.

Some organizations have substituted a more operational concept of “responsible forest management”. This concept includes managing forests based on a number of key principles such as compliance with laws, respecting tenure and user rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights, taking into account environmental impact and protecting high-conservation value forests. Certificates issued, reflecting responsible management, have been used as proxies in the marketplace.

A sharper focus on implementing SFM is needed urgently. The already distressful situation with world forests is likely to worsen with the predicted rise in global population and the further forest destruction predicted over the next 50 years, unless effective action is taken, and without delay. It is necessary to overcome limitations and find a way forward to make progress in achieving the Global Objectives on Forests and, eventually, toward sustainable forest management.

2. Components of “Good Governance”:

Since the early 1990s, the notion of “good governance” has gained widespread currency as a yardstick against which institutional arrangements should be measured. In a broader sense, the aim of good governance is to create mutually supportive and cooperative relationships among government, civil society and the private sector. Essential dimensions of good governance and key measures include:

• Strengthening the local rule of law:

• Work towards establishing clearly specified and documented legal rights on land, management and use
• Pay attention to proper rights for the less-powerful affected on local levels, particularly women and the poor
• Promote regulatory reform towards fewer, clearer, simpler and more feasible rules wherever possible, recognizing limited capacities
• Clarify the legal status of community bodies in relation to forest use and establish clear mechanisms vis-à-vis the central government
• Establish and strengthen local enforcing mechanisms to secure ownership and tenure rights through empowering people and using modern technology

• Improving local accountability and transparency:

• Establish clear mechanisms for the provision of and access to information
• Establish mechanisms and procedures for reporting grievances and misbehavior
• Establish clear mechanisms for debate, decisions, judgment and sanctions
• Involve businesses, “civil society” organizations (NGOs) and disadvantaged groups

• Strengthening local participatory planning and decision-making:

• Help unorganized groups to assemble in associations, and give them a voice
• Promote platforms that encourage local coordination and conflict-management
• Encourage and assist in participatory land-use planning, policy-making and budgeting

• Improving local governance effectiveness and efficiency:

• Shift from “supervising subjects” to “supporting and activating citizens”
• Increase responsiveness through reorienting agencies towards tailored rural service providers
• Develop effective monitoring and evaluation systems at local and central levels

3. Improving Governance:

Changing governance arrangements typically is a slow and more or less deliberate and difficult process of changing existing rules. Whereby modifying informal rules is more difficult and takes more time than changing formal ones. Effective change requires political will and knowledge of local governance tradition. Common reform strategies in governance are:

• Maintain strategies, which involve improving control mechanisms.
• Modernize strategies, which involve improving management (managerial modernization) and/or to fostering participation by citizens and user groups (participatory modernization).
• Marketize strategies, which involve reforming the public sector through transplanting techniques common to the private sector.
• Minimize strategies involve privatizing public functions. Privatization, where it works, brings about new enterprises and new markets that are more efficient and better performing.

Governance reform strategies can use different means to improve current governance:

• Instrument approaches focus on improved steering in the short- to medium-term by changing legal arrangements (law, regulations, etc.), using economic instruments (economic incentives and disincentives) and informational means.
• Interactive approaches emphasize improvements in cooperation and interactions between individuals and organizations, with the aim to reach satisfying policies in consensus, in order to make programs and projects more effective.
• Institutional approaches focus on changing institutional and network structures and arrangements with a strategic view to institutionalize key interests and relationships, and thereby achieve more “stable governance” over the long-term.

4. Challenges and Issues for Future:

Effective governance of forest ownership and tenure arrangements is both critically important and an ongoing challenge. Governing both the rights and the responsibilities of an increasingly diverse group of public and private stakeholders requires that different stakeholders are aware of their respective rights and responsibilities. It requires effective arrangements to enforce regulations, monitor implementation and impose sanctions, while at the same time ensuring the provision of adequate means to defend the rights of individual parties. In cases of major transfers of ownership and tenure rights, e.g., in a land reform, a cost-efficient and fair process is needed for rights transfer, as well as capacity-building for administrators and the new rights holders to fulfill their new roles.

As governments commonly have the right to regulate forest management in all forests, governments need to find a balance between the responsibility to ensure overall sustainability and the rights of owners and tenure holders. The latter need the freedom to make management decisions that allow forestry to be an attractive land-use option. More consistent data and information on ownership and tenure is a critical step towards effective governance of forest ownership and tenure arrangements. Current data on forest ownership is limited, and more so when it comes to tenure arrangements. This lack of data is perhaps one of the most urgent challenges.

5. Changing Role of Governments in Local Development:

Successful development is intensely local, despite the fact that most policies, development actions and investments are planned, implemented and evaluated centrally. However, the challenges are many. Promoting local-level development means understanding and meeting the needs of hundreds of millions of small-scale producers, in addition to state forest administrations, large-scale concessionaires and forest industry. A high proportion of these small-scale producers has no formal titles or rights to the land and water resources on which their livelihoods and most of their production depend. Moreover, much of the production and market exchange are embedded in complex, risk-prone and diverse environments, often in the informal parts of the local economy.

Over the last decade, a number of key principles have emerged on the role of government in economic development. Its role in relation to the private sector is to develop the frameworks and “rules of the game” which permit space and opportunity for the private sector to operate:

• building essential capacity,
• delivering key public services, and
• promoting standards and competition.

Key principles guiding government’s role in private sector development include:

• Focus on core competencies: areas which only government can deliver, not the private sector
• Appropriate for capacity: priorities according to resources and hierarchy of importance
• Don’t crowd out markets: seek to develop rather than supplant private sector activity
• Improve equity and access: address market failures that limit access of the disadvantaged
• Influence values and culture: policies, education and other government ‘signals’ to encourage enterprise and competition.

6. Key Approaches for Rural Development: Livelihoods, Asset Building & Innovation:

Individuals and households on the poor end of the wealth spectrum have to cope with fluctuating incomes from different sources for survival. According to an often-cited study of the World Bank (2001), more than 1 billion people depend to varying degrees on forests for their livelihoods. Only over time can people adapt and accumulate assets. Rural development strategies need thus to be more holistic than just focusing on one sector, and they are to start from the perspective of households or people. This was the idea behind the development of ‘asset and capability’ focused concepts, in particular the sustainable livelihoods framework and the less well-known asset building framework. The innovation-centered approach, in turn, focuses on situations where livelihoods are secured and basic assets are given, but where competitiveness is an issue.

The three development approaches outline paradigm shifts that are wide-ranging if applied in a forest policy context. For instance, the sustainable livelihood approach re-focuses from forest resources to people’s needs across sectors. The asset-based approach focuses on people’s access to diverse assets, and the development of capabilities to use them. The innovation approach focuses on adaptive capacity and learning in order to exploit new opportunities for profit and to gain competitiveness.

7. Measures to Strengthen Enabling Environments for Local Forest-Based Development:

The many different development concepts have in common that respective governance arrangements and actions must deal with three similar issues. The following outlines the main strategies and measures to address these:

• Reducing uncertainty: security of rights, financial risk, information:

• Ensure security of rights by establishing formal ownership and tenure rights and legal status of community and micro-enterprises, by enforcing contracts and effective monitoring and control of forest management, forest products and trade.
• Reduce financial risks by promoting local initiative and investment, helping mitigate costs and risk and by supporting investment and risk-pooling.
• Reduce uncertainty through enabling easy access to information and knowledge, learning, e.g., through practitioner networks, and improving business development services.

• Increasing opportunities: assets-pooling, value chains, market access:

• Pooling local assets by promoting producer cooperatives and company – community partnerships.
• Promoting value chain cooperation and regional cluster-building.
• Promoting market access to local, regional and international markets:

1. Promoting physical market access: transport and market exchange infrastructure,
2. Promoting market-based resource allocation and pricing mechanisms, and
3. Facilitating international market access through quality certification and trade promotion.

• Support market-building by investing in, experimenting with, and helping to develop viable business models for new markets, including for non-wood goods, payment for environmental services (carbon, biodiversity, water), bio-energy and eco-tourism, as well as using certification as an instrument to gain access to higher-value markets.

• Reducing friction: adjusting regulation, coordination and conflict management:

• Reducing overregulation and addressing gaps.
• Supporting coordination and conflict management mechanisms.

8. Bottom Line: Support Markets, Recognize Diversity and Promote Empowerment of People:

There is a widely-shared agreement on the complementary role of markets and state institutions, and the need for policy to build proper institutions that support well-functioning markets. This includes the development of markets, their support through promoting competition, regulation and legitimization. It is also increasingly recognized that the form that such institutions can or even have to take are very different in different circumstances.

Another clear focus is the increasing emphasis on people and the need for learning and knowledge build-up. Facilitating better access to opportunities, or creating a situation that allows individuals, households and firms to create their own opportunities, is likely to be more cost-effective for improving livelihoods than focusing support on a particular sector or sub-sector or rural economic activity.

9. Summing Up:

In summary, many of the critical issues related to ownership and tenure highlight the need for developing better governance. This includes issues such as:

• Ensuring clarity and long-term security of ownership and tenure rights,
• Proper enforcement of rights and responsibilities, and cost-efficient arrangements for rights transfer,
• Capacity-building for administrators and rights holders, particularly new rights holders,
• Facilitating stakeholder participation, e.g., in developing management rules
• Promoting efficient markets and market access for small producers,
• Balancing the need for overall sustainability with the profit interests of owners and tenure holders, and
• Improved access to information on forest ownership and tenure.

Sustainable forest management will not resolve the violent conflicts that devastate forests. However, in reducing the impact of war on forests, ensuring tenure security and promoting SFM and its capacity to contribute to sustained livelihoods, forests can make an important contribution to peace and stability. This will require development and strengthening of institutions for negotiation, conflict management and forest-related decision-making, and measures to address inequities that generally lie at the root of conflicts over resources, including forests.

Academic Profile of Contributor (Dr. Santosh Kumar Mishra)

I am researcher & demographer employed (since August 1987) with the Population Education Resource Centre (PERC), Department of Continuing and Adult Education and Extension Work, S. N. D. T. Women's University, (SNDTWU, http://sndt.ac.in/) located at Mumbai in India. I underwent training in demography from the IIPS, Mumbai, India (http://www.iipsindia.org/) & acquired Ph. D. in 1999. Also, I completed Diploma in Adult and Continuing Education & HRD, and Certificate Course in Hospital & Health Care Management. My subject areas of interest / research include: population & development education, issues pertaining to population-development linkages, education for sustainable development, adult & continuing education/non-formal/extension education, etc. Responsibility at the PERC, SNDTWU is assistance in: (a) research studies, (b) training/ orientation for various levels of personnel, (c) curriculum development, (d) material production / publication, (e) monitoring/ evaluation, and (f) other extension program on population education & allied subjects. My work experience includes (a) helping PERC in research studies, material preparation, data collection, documentation & dissemination, preparing reports, organizing training/orientation programs/workshops, monitoring & evaluation of population education programs, and curriculum design; (b) publications (articles, technical papers, etc.); (c) contribution of papers in national and international seminars/ conferences; documentation and dissemination of population information; (d) review of papers for national and international journals (in the capacity of reviewer / editor); (e) review of conference sessions; (f) preparation of educational materials (print version) for other organizations, (g) assistance in preparing evaluation tool; (h) assistance in evaluation of Ph. D. theses, dissertations & projects reports; (i) editing and proofreading of book, book chapters, etc.; & (j) mentoring students in their studies & counseling students & parents in career planning matters during informal interactions – both at workplace and outside. I am Reviewer/Editorial Board Member for over 40 international journals. I have also reviewed papers for 7 international conference sessions, including EURAM 2014 Conference (4-7 June 2014, University of Valencia. I have authored (some co-authored) 5 research studies (published by SNDTWU); 32 papers for national conferences & 11 papers for international conferences; 5 handbooks/booklets (published by the SNDTWU); 5 books, & 11 book chapters. In addition, I have 32 articles published in national journals and 22 in international journals, besides 2 monographs.   I was awarded Government of India fellowship at the IIPS & travel scholarship for sharing my research views at international conferences and summits held in Pakistan, Tanzania, Sweden, USA, Tajikistan, Australia, & Philippines. I am Advisory Board Member of the American Academic & Scholarly Research Center and Reviewer-cum-International Advisory Board Member for the AASRC 2013 International Conference-Beirut, Lebanon. I can be reached at: Email: [email protected], Skype: mishra5959, & Tel.: +91-022-22066892 (O) +91-022-28090363 (R) +09224380445 (M).

Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition

Sustainable Forestry

Sustainable forestry abounds when forestry resources are managed sustainably. Therefore, in this submission, the term ‘sustainable forestry’ is synonymous with ‘sustainable forestry management.’ Sustainable forestry management is the process of managing forest to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives, with regard to the provision of a continuous flow of desired forest products and services, without due reduction of its inherent values and future productivity and without due undesirable effects on the physical and social environment. Or, it is a set of objectives, activities and outcomes that are consistent with sustaining the forest ecosystem and improving the quality of lives of communities. Sustainable forest management (SFM) is ecologically sound, economically viable and socially acceptable. SFM is a vital component of sustainable development.

Food Security

Food security is a situation when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. The concept of food security (FS) cuts across the physical supply and availability of food, the macro and micro social systems that determine entitlements to food, nutritional value and the capacity of the body to use the food, among others. Marketing, trade and information systems are put into consideration at a macro level. The four dimensions of food security are availability, access, stability and utilization. Food security indicators include average dietary supply adequacy, road density, access to improved water sources, percentage of adults who are underweight, per capita food production variability, etc.

Forest ecosystem services

A wide range of services to society are provided by forest ecosystems. Such services range from reliable flows of clean water to productive soil, and carbon sequestration. Types of ecosystem services include environmental goods (food, fresh water), regulating services (climate regulation, water purification), supporting services (nutrient cycling, soil formation), and cultural services (aesthetic, educational). Illustrative ecosystem services range from purification of air and water and control of agricultural pests, to wind breaking and partial climatic stabilization. Presently, many of these services are either undervalued or have no financial value at all. However, markets are emerging for ecosystem services due to growing concerns.

Forest Ecosystem Services and Agriculture

The sustainability of a farming system is its ability to maintain productivity in spite of large disturbances, such as repeated stress or a major perturbation. Examples of stress include soil erosion, pests, diseases, storms, etc. The sustainability, stability and equitability of farming systems have to be considered separately and in relation to each other, in order to achieve “balanced” agricultural development. Agricultural development can be viewed as a progression of changes in the relative values of the stability, equitability and sustainability of a farming system. Because of the enduring need to raise productivity, the challenge is to do it in a sustainable, stable and equitable manner. Thus, farming systems should be socially acceptable, ecologically stable and economically viable. Because of forest ecosystem services, trees and forests can augment the sustainability, and stability of farming systems. An example of a system in which mixtures of crops are grown to enhance balance in farming is agroforestry. In this way, the natural capital is improved, productivity increased, and food and nutrition security can be achieved.

About Governance

Governance is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources. Good governance is characterized by predictable, open and informed policy-making based on transparent processes, as well as a bureaucracy imbued with a professional culture. It includes an executive arm of government which is accountable for its actions, a strong civil society participating in public affairs and rule of law. Conversely, poor governance is the antithesis of good governance. It results in illegality in production and marketing, and negates sustainable forestry, agriculture and food security. Poor governance is marked by inconsistent policy and legal frameworks, insufficient enforcement capacity, inadequate monitoring of resources and supply chains, market distortions and corruption. According to the World Bank, annual losses in the global market attributed to illegal logging were more than USD. 10 billion in the year 2008, and in government revenue as much as USD. 5 billion.

State of the World’s Forests

Overall, the world’s forests are dwindling fast, as shown in the following table:

Country/area

Extent of forest 2010

Annual change rate

Forest area

% of land area

Area per 1000 people

1990-2000

2000-2010

1000 Ha.

(%)

(Ha.)

(1000 Ha.)

(%)

(1000 Ha.)

(%)

Central Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burundi

172

7

21

-9

-3.7

-3

-1.4

Cameroon

19,916

42

1,043

-220

-0.9

-220

-1.0

Equatorial Guinea

1,626

58

2,467

-0.6

-0.6

-12

-0.7

East Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comoros

3

2

4

0

-4.0

-1

-9.3

Uganda

2,988

15

94

-88

-2.0

-88

-2.6

Mayotte

14

37

73

0

-1.2

0

-1.3

Central Asia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Armenia

262

9

85

-4

-1.3

-4

-1.5

Kazakhstan

3,309

1

213

-6

-0.2

-6

-0.2

Georgia

2,742

39

637

-1

0

-3

-0.1

South Asia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bangladesh

1,442

11

9

-3

-0.2

-3

-0.2

Nepal

3,636

25

126

-92

-2.1

-26

-0.7

Sri-Lanka

1,860

29

93

-27

-1.2

-22

-1.1

Central America

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honduras

5,192

46

709

-174

-2.4

-120

-2.1

Nicaragua

3,114

26

549

-70

-1.7

-70

-2.0

El-Salvador

287

14

47

-5

-1.3

-5

-1.4

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (State of the World’s Forest, 2011)

The picture is gloomy in both relative and absolute terms. In Cameroon, for example, the area of forest decreased by at least 44,000 ha between the year 1990 and 2010. This gives an average of 22,000 ha per year!! Overall reduction in global forest area was 2.1%, which is really significant. The underlying causes of deforestation and/or forest degradation include demographic, economic, technological, political, institutional and cultural factors. Deforestation and forest degradation is a threat to food and nutrition security, because of the services provided by forest ecosystems, as mentioned earlier.

Remedial action

Addressing poor governance is of utmost importance. This involves tackling inconsistent forest policy and legal frameworks, inconsistent enforcement capacity, inadequate monitoring, market distortions and corruption. Transparency, responsive bureaucracy, accountability, rule of law, strong civil society and respect for authentic institutions must be achieved in the quest for sustainable forestry, food and nutrition security, at local, national, regional and global levels.

The very essence of good governance is ensuring equitable sharing of benefits along the global continuum. The Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development should address food and nutrition security needs and aspirations of the global community, efficiently and effectively. Lack of political commitment, lack of sub-national support, lack of a substantive framework, lack of integrated approaches, and other factors should be looked into. A plausible framework is the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. It espouses the pillars of sustainable development and results in ‘holism’. It is important to guarantee long-term access rights to resources, to strengthen small and medium forest enterprises and put in place more effective laws for non-wood forest products. Years of experimenting and learning are expressed in the traditional knowledge of indigenous people. Traditional knowledge should be upheld and enhanced. The programme Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) is an opportunity to address the plight of the poor and vulnerable, who are heavily dependent on forest resources. Moreover, urban forests and local economies can generate jobs and income, which strengthen food and nutrition security.

Finally, given the indicators of food and nutrition security, and the dimensions thereof, a programme to invest in sustainable forestry for food and nutrition security should do the following:

1. 1. Basic infrastructure: Roads, transportation, communication, energy, irrigation, etc.
2. 2. Production and storage support: Input supply, farm machinery, extension services, weather forecasting, producer associations and cooperatives, etc.
3. 3. Marketing and business support: Structural services, information services, intelligence, chambers of commerce, etc.
4. 4. Financial support: Credit services, banking services, crop/farm insurance schemes, trading exchanges, etc.
5. 5. Policy and regulatory framework: Security, land tenure, investment grants, safety net functions, etc.

Research on these factors should be carefully and strategically done. It calls for a multi-disciplinary approach.

In my opinion, this is a blueprint for ensuring availability, access, stability and utilization of food. Sustainable forestry or Sustainable Forest Management is astronomically vital in the quest for global food and nutrition security.

I would like to share my central African region experience by insisting on luck of “chain value” in several national and international approach of food security, in particularly when it comes to Forest products on Food Security and Nutrition.

In Central Africa, opposite to Sahel zone, forests represent a great source to attaining food security and nutrition, particularly for rural citizen of all concerned Central Africa Republic, Cameroon, Republic of Congo , Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon .

Specifically in Central Africa, people seem to become lazy to work for food subsistence because the forest is “good” enough to provide them any time in the year with some different kind of protein sources that is enough to feed the few human being that populate this part of the world that represent the lowest registered population density In the world (average less than 9.0/ km2, comprising the cities). As mentioned before by Chencho who listed some of these products, it represent an important source of income for people who lived in the forest areas.

Despite a long run of international intervention and recently (2012) a political will to center Agriculture (senso largo: comprising forest and livestock) as the drive of poverty reduction, emphasis remains on how to enhance productivity.

 It is well known that no one, whatever the cleaver, the courage and the willing of work, will concentrate on productivity without a well established value chain. There is an anecdote that happen years ago, after the second big drought in the Sahel that collaborate that fact ; the minister of agriculture were surnamed “niebe”(local name of green bean), because he promoted the beans production in the northern part of the country that suffered from desertification and drought , due to climate variations and changes. And the year he did so , the production were very high , but no one thought about value chain of such product, most of production ended as rubbish,  even livestock  did not took profit of such good production of so important source of protein, green beans.

 During the last five years, two projects worked in central African region on identification and inventory of comestible forest products that can count on food security and nutrition. Results defer from country to country despite the neighboring and the ecological similitude; differences are noted either on the listing or on the processing. Some processing methods have been improved   during the project but didn’t be definitely implemented. One can say that a LITTLE has been done when considering the wide range of products that contribute to food security and nutrition in the global region.

Along with these projects, to build and consolidate population resilience, FAO initiated in Central Africa the concept of Women Zone (WZ). One of the components of the WZ was to initiate or improve   value chain of forest and agricultural products. More than allowing women to feed children with nutritive local food, the WZ, through this component could provide works for young boys and even man and allowed market development inside the country and the region. Indeed, well finished and well manufactured special forest products, can valuably compete on international market and provide great income for the country.

As mentioned in several papers and others in this discussion, Forest count on food security, because it produce food supplies and protein, even where they occupied little area and where they are not dense, as in the Sahel.

 In a world, where natural food and biological eaten are more and more promoted for health reason, it comes time to put more emphasis on bush and forest products chain value in particular in developing word as sub African countries. Investing on infrastructure that addresses the forest products Value Chain  (post collect , storage , processing…and market ), as mentioned by Dennis Bennett, could guaranty sustainability, when people could see that beyond present food and nutrition,  they can in the long run ensure their own development.