Forests for food: Nourishing people, sustaining the planet report

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance| Reports and indices

Why in News?

Recently the Forests for food: Nourishing people, sustaining the planet report has been released.

About the Report

Published by – FAO, jointly with the Landscape Alliance.
Highlights – Role of forests in reducing hunger and poverty and calls for their integration into agri-food system policies.

Forests as Food and Livelihood Sources

More than 5 billion people depend on forests and trees to some extent for their livelihoods.
Forests provide fruits, nuts, tubers, mushrooms, edible insects, wild meat and other foods.
They also provide fuel, income and employment.
Forest plants and animals supply protein, vitamins and minerals, especially to Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities.
Around one-quarter of the global population depends on wood fuel for cooking or water sterilisation.
More than 1 billion people rely on medicinal plants for healthcare.
Ecological Contribution to Food Security
Forests indirectly support food production by:
- Maintaining soil fertility.
- Protecting water resources.
- Conserving biodiversity.
- Providing habitats for pollinators essential for agriculture.
- Regional Contribution to Food Security and Nutrition

Region	Key Contribution
Africa	Some communities obtain up to 80% of daily protein from wild meat.
Amazon	Fish constitute 44% of food consumed by weight, along with wild meat, Brazil nuts and acai berries
Europe	90% of surveyed people across 28 countries consume at least one forest food annually; over one-third consume game meat.
North America	Wild meat is used mainly for recreation rather than subsistence.
India	Indigenous communities are major consumers of wild forest foods; greater forest cover is associated with more diverse diets and lower childhood stunting in some studies.

Evidence from India

Forest foods contribute significantly to the diets of Indigenous and forest-dependent communities.
Studies indicate that children in areas with greater forest cover may have more diverse diets and lower rates of stunting.
In eastern India, consumption of wild foods, mainly from forests, was associated with higher dietary diversity among women, particularly during the lean season.

Reference