1. The V0 draft is wide-ranging in analyzing the contribution of forests and trees to food security and nutrition (FSN). Do you think that the draft adequately includes the range of contributions that sustainable forestry and forests can make to FSN? Is there additional important evidence or aspects that would enrich the report?
Following aspects would enrich the VO draft report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition:
The role played by “forests and trees” in the lives of many people appears obvious through the many uses made of tree products, including foods, medicines, fodder, fibers and fuels, and for construction, fencing and furniture. According to the 2008 World Bank report, forests and other tree-based production systems such as agro-forests have been estimated to contribute to the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people worldwide. But just how they contribute – and the varying levels of dependency of different communities on tree products and services and how these change over time – has often not been well defined.
Complications arise for reasons that include the vast diversity and ubiquity of products and services these systems can supply, complexities of tenure, land-use change dynamics, and the different routes by which products reach subsistence users and other consumers. At least until recently, this has been compounded by the inadequate attention that has been given to the characterization of these systems, and the benefits and costs that are associated with them among different portions of the community.
Complexities in quantification and a general lack of proper appreciation of relative benefits help explain why the positive roles and limitations of tree-based production systems in supporting local peoples’ livelihoods have frequently been neglected by policymakers, and why rural development interventions concerned with managing forests and tree-based systems have sometimes been poorly targeted. The vast diversity of forest products available includes not only those derived from trees, but a wide range of (often) “less visible” products from other plants, fungi, animals and insects. Natural forests, agro-forests and other tree-based production systems not only provide such direct products, but contribute indirectly to support people’s livelihoods through the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services.
While there is growing recognition that forests and tree-based systems complement farmland agriculture in providing food security and nutrition, responsibility for managing these diverse elements of the productive landscape is typically fragmented across different government departments and administrative jurisdictions in most countries. The complex, overlapping and interconnecting processes which link tree products and services to food security and nutrition are currently not adequately represented in forestry, agriculture, food or nutrition-related strategies at global and national levels, though their importance is often well known at more local scales by consumers, forest producers and farmers.
While the evidence base for the role of forests and tree-based systems for food security and nutrition is growing, there remain many gaps in our understanding of this relationship and its potential contribution to reducing global hunger and malnutrition. There is a need to explore the forest-food nexus in much more detail, particularly in relation to the integrated management of multi-functional landscapes, and the multi-scalar and “cross-sectoral governance” approaches that are required for the equitable delivery of these benefits.
Source: Bhaskar Vira, Christoph Wildburger, Stephanie Mansourian (Editors) (2015). Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition: A Global Assessment Report. Vienna: Austria: International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO).
Forests and tree-based agricultural systems contribute directly and indirectly to the livelihoods of an estimated one billion people globally. Wild foods are important for food security and nutrition while trees and forests are vital for their role in the provision of ecosystem services to agriculture. The alarming expansion of large-scale industrial production systems in tropical regions threaten the contributions of forests and tree-based agriculture systems to food security, diets and nutrition in the tropical regions of the world in particular may threaten the potential contributions of forests to the food security, diets and nutrition of a growing world population. Despite this, the role of forests in supporting human food security and nutrition remain largely under-researched and understood. With food security and nutrition high on the agenda in many political and scientific spheres, it is crucial to understand the contribution of forests and trees to a food secure and nutrition-sensitive future. This improved understanding will be essential for building on synergies and minimizing trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture in order to feed an estimated global population of nine billion people by 2050.
Although existing evidence is limited, a considerable body of work suggests that forests support both food security and contribute to improved nutrition across the globe. Wild fruits and vegetables are a crucial source of micronutrients in many rural and smallholder communities, and often provide a major contribution to cash income at the household level. Bush meat and fuel wood for subsistence and income generation contribute both directly and indirectly to food security and nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America. There is now an urgent need for research that can provide broader perspectives and allow of cross-site comparisons of the contributions of forests and tree-based agricultural systems to food security, livelihoods, healthy diets and nutrition.
In addition, evidence is required on the contribution of forests based ecosystems service in order to ensure forests and biodiversity conservation remains on the agenda of policy makers and practitioners in conservation, agriculture and nutrition. The dearth of empirical descriptions and quantification of ecosystems services to agriculture limits the inclusion on initiatives related to the sustainable intensification of agriculture.
Source: Sunderland, T. C. H.; Powell, B.; Ickowitz, A.; Foli, S.; Pinedo-Vasquez, M.; Nasi, R.; and Padoch, C. (2013). Food security and nutrition: The role of forests, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.cifor.org/library/4103/food-security-and-nutrition-the-role-of-forests/.
2. The report’s structure consists of: the context and conceptual framework; the role and contributions of forests and forestry to FSN; the challenges and opportunities for sustainable forestry in relation to FSN; and governance issues for an integrated approach to sustainable forestry and FSN. Do you think that this structure is comprehensive enough, and adequately articulated? Does the report strike the right balance of coverage across the various chapters? What are the important aspects that could be covered more thoroughly?
In my opinion, the VO draft report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition need to cover following aspects more thoroughly:
§ Evidence and Knowledge Gaps: The diversity of the Earth’s forest ecosystems and the human cultures associated with them has produced a vast array of food systems connected to forests and trees. These food systems are based on the traditional wisdom, knowledge, practices and technologies of societies. They are dynamic, developed and enriched through experimentation and adaptation to changing environmental conditions and societal needs, often over countless generations. Despite the huge potential of forest and tree foods to contribute to diets, knowledge on many forest foods, especially wild foods, is rapidly being lost due to social change and modernization.
Lack of knowledge in the community might be exacerbated by the effects of migration and movement, with considerable research demonstrating that information on forest-based foods is higher amongst long-term residents than migrants. Much of this knowledge is also associated with wisdom particularly held by the elderly and by women, with implications for its preservation and propagation within families and communities. Equally, many of these traditional forms of knowledge are non-formalized and have not been written down, which makes access to this information challenging. There are, of course, oral knowledge transmission traditions in many cultures (such as storytelling, folklore, music and informal learning within families) and there is a growing sensitivity in the research community to try and find ways of recording these non-formal forms of knowledge.
“Forest and agriculture mosaic landscape, Cat Ba, Vietnam”
§ Environmental Transformation and Degradation: The effect of human activities on ecosystems has been profound, particularly during the past century. Many critical thresholds of the earth’s biophysical systems have already been crossed as a result of human activities. Though the consequences are complex, there is considerable evidence that ongoing and future climate change will have drastic impacts, especially in the poorest regions of the world. People living directly off the production from the earth’s ecosystems are particularly affected by these changes. Forests are affected by increasing temperatures, variable precipitation, fragmentation, deforestation, loss of biological diversity and spread of invasive species. These factors affect not only the extent of forest but also the structure and species composition within forests (and therefore, forest products) thus impacting on the availability of food and nutrition. “Environmentally-induced changes” affecting forest cover imply both direct and indirect consequences for food security and nutrition: direct consequences result from changes in the availability and quality of food and nutrition, while indirect consequences result from changes in income and livelihoods related to forest products.
Source: Bhaskar Vira, Christoph Wildburger, Stephanie Mansourian (Editors) (2015). Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition: A Global Assessment Report. Vienna: Austria: International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO).
3. The report uses four broad categories of forestry systems, in order to better identify distinct challenges and sustainable development pathways for each of them. Do you find this approach useful for identifying policy responses and actions in different socio-economic and environmental contexts? Do you think the terminology used in this report for forest, sustainable forestry and agroforestry are comprehensive and relevant?
Yes, there is wide coverage of relevant facts in the VO draft report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition. However, in order to ensure sustainable food security in the 21st century/long-term, forest management need to focus on following seven priority areas:
a) Commit to protecting the nation’s forests, rangelands and communities from wild land fire,
b) Support efforts to improve markets for forest products,
c) Support the role of forests in delivering clean air and water,
d) Provide a framework for the prevention and detection of forest insect and diseases,
e) Provide needed resources and flexibility to implement forest action plans,
f) Promote the retention and expansion of all forest lands, and
g) Improve the Ability to Manage the National Forest System.
Source: National Association of State Foresters, Seven Actions to Support Sustainable Forests-Priorities for the 2nd Obama Administration, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.stateforesters.org/seven-actions-support-sustainable-forests-priorities-2nd-obama-administration.
4. Are there other studies that the report needs to reference, which offer different or complementary perspectives on the integration of sustainable forestry in FSN strategies?
I suggest, the VO draft report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition refer to following initiatives:
Initiative – 1: The case of allanblackia: integrating markets and cultivation to support the sustainable development of a new tree commodity crop: The seed of allanblackia (Allanblackia spp.), found wild in the humid forests of Central, East and West Africa, yields edible oil with a significant potential in the global food market, especially as a ‘hardstock’ for the production of healthy spreads that are low in trans-fats.
The tree is being brought into cultivation by improving seed handling and developing vegetative propagation methods, and through the selection of markedly superior genotypes. Tens of thousands of seedlings and clones have so far been distributed to smallholders.
The development of an allanblackia market has potential to improve smallholders’ livelihoods and support global health. A private–public partnership known as Novella Africa is developing a sustainable allanblackia oil business that could be worth USD hundreds of millions annually for local farmers. The partnership allows different stakeholders with different interests and organizational capacities to work together.
A supply chain for seed has been established based on harvesting by local communities in natural forests and from trees remaining in farmland after forest clearance. The integration of allanblackia into small-scale cocoa farms is being promoted in West Africa to support more biodiverse and resilient agricultural landscapes. As allanblackia trees grow, cocoa trees provide the shade they need; when they are grown, they, in turn, will act as shade for cocoa. Cocoa and allanblackia provide harvests at different times of the year and –when the allanblackia trees have matured – will spread farmers’ incomes.
[Adapted from Jamnadass et al. (2010, 2014).]
Initiative – 2: Fairtrade coffee certification in Nicaragua: In Nicaragua, researchers have focused considerable energy on the issue of access to certified coffee markets and related implications for coffee supplies and rural development. In the late 1990s, governments and donors supported certification in Nicaragua in response to the dramatic and sustained reduction in price for coffee, with the expectation that access to markets for certified coffee would offer economic benefits over the short and long term. Considerable investments were made by NGOs and donors to build local capacities for increasing coffee quality, obtaining certification and enhancing smallholder supply capacity. In many cases, cooperatives played a critical role in upgrading production capacities and in building relations with buyers and credit providers. However, in practice the results have been mixed. Arguments explaining these outcomes have centred on the persistence of low yields and relatively high labour requirements, declining prices relative to conventional coffee and the inability of smallholders to intensify coffee systems given their livelihood insecurities and rising production and household consumption costs. There appears to be a growing consensus that smallholders in Nicaragua were probably too poor to be able to respond to the demands of buyers and certification systems.
[Adapted from Sunderland, T. C. H.; Powell, B.; Ickowitz, A.; Foli, S.; Pinedo-Vasquez, M.; Nasi, R.; and Padoch, C. (2013). Food security and nutrition: The role of forests, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.cifor.org/library/4103/food-security-and-nutrition-the-role-of-forests/]
Initiative – 3: Sustainable Forest Use and Food Security: Forest resources are used unsustainably in and around Kiwengwa-Pongwe Forest Reserve because of poor farming techniques, lack of available land and limited livelihood opportunities in the 12 villages surrounding it. For the same reasons the communities also suffer from food insecurity, which threatens their right to adequate food. Project aims to tackle these development problems by enhancing sustainable forest management including both conservation and sound usage of forest resources and improving food security of these communities. To achieve its objectives the project supports agro-forestry and other livelihoods such as sea shell and sea weed farming and livestock and beekeeping by providing training and initial material support to groups of community members hoping to develop their livelihoods. It also supports tree planting, establishes tree nurseries in the area, builds wood fuel saving stoves, raises environmental awareness and provides capacity building to community based forestry actors. The development policy objectives of gender equality and reduction of inequality are met by supporting livelihood groups of women and agricultural production, in which women have an important role and by improving the availability of stable food crops crucial to the most vulnerable members in the communities. Integrating trees into farming systems, planting trees, promoting improved stoves and livelihoods relying on forest well-being will conserve biodiversity and biomass in the area so as to combat climate change. While diversifying local people´s livelihoods will help the communities to adapt to the effects of climate change. The direct beneficiaries of the project are the 26 supported groups engaging in their livelihood initiatives, 200 households receiving wood fuel saving stoves, 11 Forest Conservation Committees (FCCs) and the local partner DFNR. In the end the project benefits the entire village communities of approximately 28 000 inhabitants by improving the access and availability of food in their villages. The project is mainly working with the existing structures of and between DFNR, FCCs and the village communities, but it also supports the activities of newly established umbrella organization of FCCs called Kiwengwa-Pongwe Community Forest Conservation Network (K-P CFCN). K-P CFCN will receive capacity training during the project for it to fully function as a community based organization enhancing local level forest management in the future.
[Adapted from Sustainable Forest Use and Food Security, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=287061&contentlan=2&culture=en-US]
Initiative – 4: Participatory tree domestication in Cameroon: In the last decade, a participatory approach to the domestication of trees has emerged in Cameroon as a collaborative effort between scientists and farmers. The approach combines scientific advances in knowledge with local communities’ experiences to bring a range of valuable indigenous fruit tree species into cultivation. It has had significant impacts. More fruits have been observed in farmers’ diets for approximately 50% of adopters, and farm cropping systems have become more diverse. Smallholder incomes have increased from the sales of fruits and fruit tree nursery stock (for planting by other farmers), and there has been a reduction in human migration from rural to urban areas because young people see that there is now a viable future in agro-forestry.
[Adapted from Dawson, I., et al. (2013). Agroforestry, food and nutritional security (Background paper for the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition, 13–15 May 2013), Accessed on June 3, 2016 from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i2969e/i2969e.pdf.]
5. The report has identified a range of challenges likely to be faced in the future that policy makers and other stakeholders will need to take into account so that sustainable forestry can meaningfully contribute to FSN. What are other key challenges/opportunities to be addressed for the development of approaches that integrate forestry and agricultural systems, including landscape approaches?
Challenges ahead in integrated forestry and agriculture system are discussed below:
With the depletion of natural forests in many countries, there is a growing interest in forest tree planting for multiple objectives including bio-energy uses such as fuel wood and bio-fuel feed-stocks. While converting diverse natural forests to monoculture forest plantations has many negative attributes, there are other land use options to consider. Increasingly, nations are using public investment and public-private partnerships to reclaim degraded landscapes and marginal land with managed forests and perennial grasslands. These reclamation efforts may be motivated by environmental or energy security concerns, but are enabled by increasing agricultural productivity, more stable agricultural trade, and improving food security. Framing these reclamation efforts as multifunctional landscapes offers considerable opportunity to enhance agriculture – forest integration. Planted forests have, and will continue to play an increasingly significant role in supplying raw forest products, including bio-fuels. Public and private investment in forest plantations is growing at a fast rate around the world, but mostly in the tropics and sub-tropics where growing conditions are favorable and management costs are reasonable. Some of the tree plantations are dedicated for bio-energy as a primary product, while the majority of plantations are managed to reduce the pressure on natural forests by producing a variety of wood and other forest products. More recently, some planted forests have been established for the sequestration and storage of carbon but the rate of establishment fluctuates depending on the carbon market.
The areas of degraded and deforested land worldwide are huge with the available estimates ranging from 1 to 2 billion hectares depending on the source of information. Based on the economic, environmental and social parameters of project feasibility, large areas could be transformed into resilient, multifunctional assets that would contribute to local and national economies. There is sufficient marginal and degraded land available for cultivating bio-energy crops in developing countries.
The local socio-economic impacts of bio-fuel feedstock development are extremely variable. In some cases, feedstock plantations accrue benefits for job and income generation, and for boosting incomes of small-scale farmers engaged in production. In others, plantation development may threaten the livelihoods of native populations as well as reduce opportunities to restore landscapes, especially where insecure tenure rights tend to prevail. As a complement to extensive forest plantations, partnerships between private sector corporations and small farmers have often proved to be beneficial. Such out grower schemes have also been common for some time in agriculture, with business networks that aggregate small lots of grain or other commodities into larger lots that can attract market attention. Short rotation woody crops offer one option for intensive, high yield and somewhat scale-neutral production by individuals landholders.
Innovative business models will be necessary to support and reward smallholder production in bio-energy supply chains, especially for the large bio-refineries needed to achieve economies of scale in production of bio-fuels. Small wood-lots, shelterbelts, farm windbreaks and other woody perennials constitute a valuable component within farming systems that have been both a traditional land-use and a livelihood option developed by subsistence farmers. Agro-forestry systems are quite diverse and range from fruit and other tree crops in home gardens, subsistence livestock and pastoral systems, alley intercropping of trees with herbaceous row crops, and biomass plantations. While there are trade-offs associated with conversion of natural forests to agro-forestry systems, under certain circumstances these systems may represent an appropriate solution to the dual and often conflicting challenges of socio-economic development and environmental protection. In many other cases, introduction of agro-forestry approaches to agricultural systems or degraded lands can enhance productivity and conserve natural ecosystems. Agro-forestry systems already cover roughly half of the land associated with agriculture.
An important consideration in all these systems is effective management of land use transitions. The challenge is to achieve successful establishment of a productive biomass system while minimizing the carbon footprint associated with land use change. This is particularly problematic for land that is in forests or established perennials, where trees and grasses have already accumulated carbon in their above ground biomass as well as in the soil. In such circumstances convention land clearing and establishment strategies for bio-fuel production can create a carbon debt that requires decades to repay.
Alternative establishment strategies, such as using mowing and harvesting to transition old-field succession into bio-energy systems without disturbing the soil, can result in highly productive artificial prairies and agro-forestry systems. Such strategies can reduce the life-cycle greenhouse gas footprint significantly relative to conventional approaches to establishing perennial monocultures of grasses or trees.
Landscape restoration, including through tree planting and prairie reconstruction, is a nature-based solution – going beyond conventional approaches and cutting across sectors, and has gained considerable attention lately. Multifunctional mosaics of tree-lots and cropland developed as an approach to landscape restoration schemes support the livelihoods of smallholders in addition to other economic, environmental social goods and services. Bio-energy markets can thus provide additional incentives for positive social and ecological change for the restoration of degraded landscapes.
Source: Tom L. Richarda; and Hosny El-Lakanyb. Agriculture and Forest Integration. Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://bioenfapesp.org/scopebioenergy/images/chapters/bioen-scope_chapter13.pdf.
More particularly, key constraints and challenges are outlined below:
o Insecure tenure: A lack of secure rights to land discourages farmers, especially the poor, from investing in land management and from protecting and planting local tree species that could help improve food security and nutrition. A lack of equitable and secure access to productive resources such as land, forests and trees, and a lack of clarity on who owns those resources, can lead to conflict and aggravate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. Secure tenure rights are particularly important for forestry and agro-forestry compared with agriculture because of the relatively long period that may be required to realize benefits.
o Lack of inter-sectoral coordination: A lack of coordination across various sectors and stakeholders is a cause of disjointed and duplicated policy actions that can have serious impacts on land and forest management and consequently on food security and nutrition. In Indonesia, for example, different governmental agencies use different maps when granting land-use permits. In Suriname, decisions on inter-sectoral coordination made at the district level can be overruled at the national level in the granting of mining, logging and agricultural concessions. The potential is high for confusion, conflict, poor land management and, ultimately, increased food insecurity. Land-use planning and regulations often segregate agriculture and forests; in other words, they deal with one sector or the other, but not both together, leading to overlaps and inefficiencies. Poor land management associated with unsustainable forest harvesting, mining and agriculture can impoverish both land and communities. Land and forest degradation leads to food insecurity and malnutrition.
o Inadequate services for smallholders: Many smallholder farmers and forest dwellers find it difficult to obtain the information, technology, finance, market access and other resources they need to improve their land management and build successful enterprises with which to achieve food security and adequate nutrition. Local institutions often lack the capacity to support the management and control of forests and trees outside forests, and the marketing of goods and ecosystem services, by smallholders. National and sub-national institutions, policies and programmes rarely offer smallholders and other local people a genuine role in decision-making.
Source: Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2013). Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and trees, Accessed on June 03, 2016 from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i2969e/i2969e.pdf.
6. The social and cultural dimensions of sustainable forestry and FSN have often been less well described and understood for many reasons, including due to a lack of comprehensive as well as disaggregated data. Submission of examples and experience related to issues such as livelihoods, gender, equity, tenure and governance would be of particular interest to the team.
I suggest following examples for incorporation in the VO draft report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition:
6.1 Example of sustainable forestry and livelihoods initiative: Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative, Madagascar:
Jenny Rouquette is leading a project which aims to address the issues of spiralling poverty and environmental degradation in the region of Fort Dauphin in the south east of Madagascar. Some 60% of the 15 million population of Madagascar live under the poverty level, and survive on subsistence farming which is often highly environmentally destructive Many traditional communities are facing the loss of their unique culture and language because of the deterioration of their land through unsustainable farming practices. The project focuses on local people’s resource use and how best to meet their needs whilst ensuring the conservation of the threatened littoral forest habitat, home to dozens of threatened endemic wildlife species. Working with women’s groups and other local committees, the team will help to develop income generating ideas which will enable the communities to remain in their historic territories and to revive their cultural traditions.
Jenny is British with professional skills in community based conservation and natural resource management, facilitating the development of sustainable livelihoods and in institutional strengthening of small NGO’s. She has worked on community conservation and development projects in Indonesia and Bolivia and spent several months in Madagascar developing this initiative with Azafady staff and local communities.
Azafady’s aim is to alleviate human poverty and protect a biologically rich but endangered environment through supporting local people in South-Eastern Madagascar to meet their basic needs and establish sustainable livelihoods. A multi-disciplinary approach is taken, involving the establishment of primary health-care and improving water supply and sanitation, promotion of sustainable natural resource management and community conservation initiatives, and assistance in the development of small-scale income generating activities and institutional strengthening.
Jenny’s project will focus on 3 communities in the region – Evatraha, St Luce and Andramanaka/ Tsanoriha – each differing in environmental, social and economic conditions. The project will support these communities in forest management according to their specific circumstances. The fokotany (small community) of St Luce is in the process of setting up a GELOSE, a mechanism by which legal control of area management is passed to local communities. This will be the first forest GELOSE in the region and much needed support will be provided to the community in this process and in the creation of a forest management plan.
A second element of the project will be the developing of small scale income generating activities, based on the sustainable use of local resources vital in providing economic alternatives to environmentally destructive activities. Examples of ideas identified by the communities as desirable include honey and beeswax, sun dried fruit and basketry. Finally the project seeks to support and strengthen local institutions – whether women’s groups or resource user groups – protecting the rights of those who live in the forest is of course fundamental to protecting the forest itself.
Source: Accessed on June 02, 2016 from: http://whitleyaward.org/winners/sustainable-livelihoods-initiative-madagascar/.
6.2 Example of sustainable forestry and gender initiative: UN-REDD Programme:
The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries. The Programme was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The UN-REDD Programme supports nationally-led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation.
Mainstreaming gender and integrating women’s valuable expertise in REDD+ processes can both help to address and respect REDD+ safeguards as well as enhance environmental and social benefits from REDD+. It can also contribute to gender equality even beyond the scope of the specific REDD+ process. Gender sensitive REDD+ processes, if implemented effectively, can create broad ownership of REDD+ and ensure more efficient REDD+ outcomes, as well as contribute to the empowerment of women; promote the achievement of international commitments on women and gender equality; ensure a human rights based approach to development; establish frameworks for effective participation (particularly of rural women); and increase the recognition of women as important managers, key stakeholders and decision-makers in forests and forest management.
Inclusive and equitable stakeholder participation, as well as ensuring that REDD+ processes are gender sensitive, are crucial elements in implementing effective and efficient REDD+ strategies, and more broadly, achieving sustainable development. In particular, meaningfully capturing the views, experiences and priorities of both men and women in REDD+ activities at all stages, including in REDD+ readiness, has been identified as a main contributor to success. Both acknowledging the specific benefits of and effectively implementing gender sensitive REDD+ processes requires an understanding of country specific and local circumstances. Such factors include identifying the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, land tenure and resource use rights; understanding how women and men use forests and participate in the forest sector; and accounting for any proposed strategy for a transition to a green economy or low-emission and climate-resilient development.
Source: Guidance Note on Gender Sensitive REDD+, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/gender/Gender%20and%20Environment/Guidance%20Note%20Gender%20Sensitive%20REDD%20English_FINAL.pdf.
Note: Women and men tend to have differing tasks and responsibilities in the production and provision of food. Many women spend a large amount of time collecting – and have a great deal of knowledge about – forest and tree foods and wood fuel, while men seldom have responsibility for collecting and using natural resources for household use. Women face gender-specific constraints that cut their productivity and limit their income-earning potential. For example, there are gender gaps in access to land, credit, technology, employment and markets for forest products. Even though they are often primary forest users, women usually participate much less than men in forest management and policy decisions. Cultural, socio-economic and institutional factors have contributed to gender inequality in the forestry sector. They range from the social perceptions of women’s roles and the time women have to spend on domestic responsibilities and childcare to disparities in literacy, education, physical abilities, technical skills and access to training and extension services.
Source: Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2013). Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and trees, Accessed on June 03, 2016 from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i2969e/i2969e.pdf.
6.3 Example of sustainable forestry and equity initiative: Equity in forests and REDD+: An analysis of equity challenges as viewed by forestry decision-makers and practitioners in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam:
Considerable debate has developed in recent years over the potential of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) to either rectify or exacerbate social inequities in tropical forest countries. Despite agreement on the importance of equity issues in REDD+, few studies have considered differences in equity and equitable outcomes as understood at national and local levels, and related context-specific barriers that frustrate the achievement of equitable outcomes.
This paper surveys perceptions of REDD+ related challenges to equity and potential solutions of forestry decision-makers and practitioners in three Mekong countries. Responses were analyzed from two sets of workshops conducted at the national and sub-national levels in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam from 2013 to 2015. The paper draws on a framework for analysis of equity developed in recent REDD+ research, and eight “equity elements” developed in the course of the first set of workshops. Participant responses were compared across workshops in the same countries (i.e., national level versus local level) and across countries. Responses also were compared with recent literature on equity in REDD+ and forest governance in each country.
The results show that perceptions of equity differ deeply on international, national, and Sub-national levels. Participation, access to information, and benefit sharing were the most common equity challenges cited across groups, with tenure also seen as important. Workshop participants’ concerns regarding equity were highly interrelated, suggesting that work on equity is mutually reinforcing. Participants’ views on key equity challenges largely supported external research findings. However, feedback also suggested participation and access to information (at least in Cambodia and Viet Nam, respectively) are more important equity issues than seen in literature.
Recommendations based on the work include:
o Further research to better understand the local level perceptions on equity, enabling more targeted capacity development efforts.
o Capacity development initiatives should include further efforts to increase awareness among forest communities of forest governance and REDD+ related rights and mechanisms. The awareness raising should include utilizing the potential of increasing internet and mobile communication coverage.
o Current capacity development programs for sub-national level government officials, on a wide range of technical skills (e.g., training on relevant laws, policies, and regulations) and ‘soft’ skills (e.g., participatory facilitation and communications with local communities), needs to be revisited and strengthened.
Source: The Center for People and Forests (2015). Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.climatefocus.com/sites/default/files/REDD%2B%20Equity%20Analytical%20Paper.pdf.pdf.
6.4 Example of sustainable forestry and tenure initiative: Forest tenure systems and sustainable forest management: The case of Ghana:
Adoption and implementation of sustainable forestry practices are essential for sustaining forest resources, yet development of effective policies and strategies to achieve them are problematic. Part of the difficulty stems from a limited understanding of the interaction between obtrusive forest policies and indigenous tenure systems and how this affects sustainable forest management. This study uses a market framework to analyze the relationships between individual components of forest tenure and sustainable forestry practices. Data from 21 rural communities in the forest belt of Ghana are used to evaluate theoretical propositions. Logistic regression models are used to predict willingness to engage in the preservation of indigenous, economically valuable trees, conservation of natural forests, and establishment of forest plantations. The number of farmers engaged in sustainable forestry practices is small. While most tenure variables behaved as expected, security of tenure and exclusiveness are less important to the practice of sustainable forestry. Farmers, in their role as potential producers, perceive preservation of indigenous, economically valuable trees and conservation of forests as having a net cost to them, especially if compensation is not paid for damage to crops resulting from logging operations of concessionaires. Current statutes in Ghana provide few incentives for farmers to engage in sustainable practices. The study also provides recommendations for forest tenure systems to function effectively.
Source: Forest tenure systems and sustainable forest management: The case of Ghana, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223040244_Forest_tenure_systems_and_sustainable_forest_management_The_case_of_Ghana
Note: Securing tenure and local control is essential for forests and food security. Different bundles of rights are nested and overlap in forests and tree-based systems for food security and nutrition. They vary according to geographical, social, cultural, economic and political factors, and affect the access of different population groups to the trees and their products for food, income and other livelihood needs.
Policies that support communities’ access to forests and that encourage the cultivation of tree products are required. There is a growing trend towards designating de jure land and management rights to communities and indigenous peoples who traditionally hold de facto rights to forest. However, some 80% of forest land worldwide remains under state ownership. Improved security of tenure has significant potential to enhance access to nutritious food.
Women represent 43% of the global agricultural labour force, and there is evidence of feminization of agriculture in numerous developing countries. However, their weak and often insecure rights of access to land, forests and trees are undermining their engagement in innovation in forests and agro-forestry systems with huge costs for their food security and nutrition, and that of their families. Recognizing claims over food sovereignty can support local people in their efforts to have better access to food, control over their own diets and improve the nutritional quality of their food intake. Community level engagement with local food and agricultural systems will be particularly important for those people facing a nutrition transition and the burden of malnutrition. It creates a setting ideal for more sustainable management of these food and agricultural systems and the broader landscapes in which communities reside and interact.
Source: International Union of Forest Research Organizations, Policy Brief- Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition: Contributing to the “Zero Hunger Challenge”, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.un.org/en/zerohunger/pdfs/gfep-forests-and-food-security-policy-brief_.pdf.
6.5 Example of sustainable forestry and governance initiative: The Governance of Forests Initiative:
The Governance of Forests Initiative (GFI) seeks to improve the participation, transparency, and responsiveness of government practices that impact forest land allocation and use in Brazil, Cameroon, and Indonesia, as well as globally though international instruments. The goal of the GFI is to strengthen community rights and improve the management of forest lands. We empower people and institutions to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable decision-making.
The GFI was launched in 2008 as a network of civil society organizations from Brazil, Cameroon, Indonesia, and the U.S. In 2009, the network developed a common vision for what inclusive, transparent, and responsive forest land allocation and use processes would include, the GFI Indicator Framework. The framework was piloted from 2010- 2012 and resulted in a number of research products. In addition, the piloting provided important lessons for the new and revised Indicators launched in 2013.
The revised indicators, Assessing Forest Governance: The Governance of Forests Initiative Indicator Framework, and the accompanying guidance, The Governance of Forests Initiative Guidance Manual: A Guide to Using the GFI Indicator Framework, can be used by government, civil society, or other stakeholders. It can be used to evaluate the extent to which current laws and practices that impact forest land allocation and use are inclusive, transparent, and responsive.
The following partner organizations comprise the GFI network:
§ Brazil:
a) Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV)
b) Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazonia (IMAZON)
§ Cameroon:
a) Cameroon Ecology
b) Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme Cameroon (BDCPC)
§ Indonesia:
a) Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI)
b) Huma
c) Indonesia Center for Environmental Law (ICEL)
d) Sekala
e) Telapak
§ United States:
a) World Resources Institute (WRI)
Source: The Governance of Forests Initiative, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.wri.org/our-work/project/governance-forests-initiative/cameroon.
7. What are the key policy initiatives or successful interventions needed to improve the sustainability of our global food systems related to sustainable forestry and FSN, both in different countries and contexts, that merit discussion in the report?
Forests and tree-based systems are embedded within broader economic, political, cultural and ecological landscapes that typically include a mosaic of different, and often competing, food production systems and other land uses. How these different land use patches interact with each other in space and time can profoundly influence the productivity and sustainability of forests and tree-based systems as well as their food security and nutrition outcomes. The integration of biodiversity conservation and agricultural production goals must be a first step, whether through land sharing or land sparing, or more feasibly through a more nuanced, yet complex, multi-functional integrated landscape approach.
There is a range of diverse drivers (including climate change, armed conflicts, population growth, urbanization, gender imbalances, commercialization of agriculture and industrialization of forest resources, rising food prices, increasing per capita income, and governance shifts) that affect forests and tree-based systems for food security and nutrition. They usually act by influencing land use and management or through changes in consumption, incomes and livelihoods, and are often interrelated. Thus, designing appropriate and integrated responses to these complex influences that are effective across multiple, nested scales is a major challenge.
Managing resilient and climate-smart landscapes on a multi-functional basis that combines food production, biodiversity conservation, other land uses and the maintenance of ecosystem services should be at the forefront of efforts to achieve global food security.
Governance shifts from state-focused government to multi-sectoral and cross-scale governance present better prospects for integration of different interests and goals related to forest and food systems. In order to maximize future potential, greater attention from the scientific and development communities is required. In particular, a supportive policy framework needs to be developed that considers both the forestry and agriculture sectors in tandem.
Current governance arrangements are imperfect and ambiguous. There is a need for different solutions on a case-by-case basis due to the complexity surrounding the forest-food landscape interface. Structural reforms that involve greater intervention from the state to harmonize regulatory regimes may be required in some instances. They can contribute to achieving more inclusive food systems that not only foster innovation but also value local practices, systems and knowledge. Co-regulatory approaches that involve both public and private actors also have the potential to enhance the effective governance of forest and tree-based food systems.
A central governance issue is how and to what extent policy and regulatory frameworks help ensure equitable access of the poor, women and disadvantaged groups to forests and tree-based systems, and to what extent do these regulatory arrangements recognize the rights to direct and indirect benefits for food and nutritional security. Interventions could improve food security and nutrition for some groups while increasing vulnerability for others; responses must be sensitive to these differences, and ensure that they meet the needs of the most vulnerable groups.
Source: International Union of Forest Research Organizations, Policy Brief- Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition: Contributing to the “Zero Hunger Challenge”, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.un.org/en/zerohunger/pdfs/gfep-forests-and-food-security-policy-brief_.pdf.
8. Is there evidence of the potential of economic incentives (e.g. REDD+), regulatory approaches, capacity building, Research & Development, and voluntary actions by diverse stakeholders or actors that could enhance the contribution of forestry to sustainable food systems? Could you provide examples or case studies of such key policies, initiatives or successful interventions?
A total of 805 million people are undernourished worldwide, and malnutrition affects nearly every country on the planet. As population estimates for 2050 reach over 9 billion, concerns about food security and nutrition have been dominating academic and policy debates. In 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development: (Rio+20), the UN Secretary General proposed an ambitious goal to eliminate global hunger by 2025 – the so-called “Zero Hunger Challenge”. Despite impressive productivity increases, there is growing evidence that conventional agricultural strategies fall short of eliminating global hunger, result in unbalanced diets that lack nutritional diversity, enhance exposure of the most vulnerable groups to volatile food prices, and fail to recognize the long-term ecological consequences of intensified agricultural systems. In parallel, there is considerable evidence that suggests that forests and tree-based systems can play an important role in complementing agricultural production. They can provide better and more nutritionally-balanced diets; wood fuel for cooking; greater control over food consumption choices -particularly during lean seasons and periods of vulnerability (especially for marginalized groups); and can deliver a broad set of ecosystem services which enhance and support crop production. However, the loss and degradation of forests exacerbate the problem of food insecurity both directly and indirectly: directly, by affecting the availability of fruits and other forest- and tree-based diets, and indirectly by modifying ecological factors important for crop and livestock production. At the same time, the growing demand for food, fibres, energy and other goods produced on the land often leads to market pressures for exploitation. This can result in forest destruction unless managed through appropriate governance systems and institutions.
There is growing recognition that forests and tree-based systems complement farmland agriculture in providing food security and nutrition. However, in most countries responsibility for managing these diverse elements of the productive landscape is typically fragmented across different government departments and administrative jurisdictions. The complex, overlapping and interconnecting processes that link tree products and services to food security and nutrition are currently not adequately represented in forestry, agriculture, food or nutrition-related strategies at global and national levels. Yet their importance is often well known at more local scales by consumers, forest producers and farmers. Sustainable land use approaches aim at balancing livelihood security and nutritional needs of people with other land management goals. The contribution of forests to these approaches is of high significance for the implementation of existing international commitments. In particular, in the context of the discussions on the United Nations post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals which seek to establish a more holistic approach to poverty reduction, the contribution of forests to food security and nutrition, and the integration of food production across forests and landscapes are of particular relevance.
Source: International Union of Forest Research Organizations, Policy Brief- Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition: Contributing to the “Zero Hunger Challenge”, Accessed on June 2, 2016 from: http://www.un.org/en/zerohunger/pdfs/gfep-forests-and-food-security-policy-brief_.pdf.
9. The design and implementation of policies for FSN require robust, comparable data over time and across countries. What are the data gaps that governments, national and international organizations and other stakeholders might need to address in the future in order to understand trends and formulate/propose better policies for sustainable forestry and FSN? What roles could diverse stakeholders play in relation to addressing these data gaps, and identifying ways in which the data could be disaggregated for more effective formulation of policies?
Section-I: Data gaps that governments, national and international organizations and other stakeholders need to address:
There is a lack of data on the role of forests and trees outside forests in food security and nutrition; for example, the nutritional value of many forest foods is poorly documented. On the other hand, indigenous people and other local communities know a great deal about forest foods and the management of food-producing species, but this knowledge is usually ignored in land-use strategies and management plans. Data on the contribution of forests and trees outside forests to national economies and employment are often lacking or unreliable. For example, small-scale forest enterprises are usually underrepresented in survey samples, even though nationally they may employ many thousands of people; data on the production and consumption of wood fuel and other forest products are often underestimated because many such products are collected for household use or sold informally; and specific data on trees on farms are rarely collected.
Source: Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2013). Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and trees, Accessed on June 03, 2016 from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i2969e/i2969e.pdf.
Section-II: Roles stakeholders can play in relation to addressing data gaps:
This will require setting up data base at global level. I suggest the relevant body of the United Nations system coordinate with national governments to devise an appropriate strategy. All stakeholders (including NGOs, universities & research institutions) should be involved in this initiative. Authenticity of data is also important. It should be focal point.
Brief Bio of Contributor (Dr. Santosh Kumar Mishra)
I am researcher & demographer employed as Technical Assistant (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) located at Mumbai in India. I underwent training in demography & 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 research include: population & development education and allied subject areas. Responsibility at the PERC, SNDTWU is assistance in: (a) research studies, (b) training/ orientation for various levels of personnel, (c) material production, and (d) evaluation of population education programs. My work experience includes research studies, material preparation, data collection, documentation/dissemination, preparing reports, organizing training programs, and monitoring & evaluation. In addition, I am involved with:
a) publications;
b) contribution of papers in national and international seminars/ conferences; &
c) review of papers for national and international journals, and proposals for international conference sessions.
I am Reviewer/Editorial Board Member for 55 international journals & have also reviewed papers for 15 international conference sessions. I have authored (some co-authored) 5 research studies; 32 papers for national conferences & 11 papers for international conferences; 5 handbooks; 5 books, & 11 book chapters. Also, I have 32 and 22 articles published in national and international journals respectively. In the past, I was awarded Government of India fellowship & travel scholarship for sharing my research views at international conferences and summits held in Pakistan, Tanzania, Sweden, USA, Tajikistan, and Australia. I can be reached at: Email: [email protected]. My institutional affiliation and mailing address is:
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,
1, Nathibai Thackerey Road, Mumbai-400020, Maharashtra, India.
Email: [email protected]
Skype: mishra5959
Tel.: +91-022-22066892 (O) +91-022-28090363 (R) +09224380445 (M)
Institutional Web: http://sndt.ac.in
Santosh Kumar Mishra