SPECIAL FEATURE
Sustainable management of Miombo woodlands: Food security, nutrition and wood energy
Marc Dumas-Johansen
©Jeff Walker/CIFOR
The Miombo woodlands is a vast African dryland forest ecosystem covering close to 2.7 million km2 across southern Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The woodlands are characterised by the dominance of Brachystegia species either alone or in association with Julbernardia and Isoberlinia species. It is estimated that the woodlands – through its numerous goods and services including various Non-Wood Forest Products (e.g. insects, mushrooms, fruits, tubers, medicine, fodder) and woodfuels – sustain the livelihoods of more than 100 million rural poor and 50 million urban people. The charcoal sector alone employs vast numbers of rural people and offers additional income to many poor rural families. + READ MORE
INTERVIEW: Arthur Stevens on Phytotrade
“Phytotrade was formed in 2001. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was instrumental in its establishment; several other donors followed over the years in an effort to contribute to alleviating poverty through creating sustainable natural products while ensuring the conservation of biodiversity, including the implementation and monitoring of access and benefit sharing (ABS) across the value chain."
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FROM THE FIELD
Zimbabwe: Lessons learned from Forest Forces
Maxwell Phiri
Forest Forces is an European Union funded project implemented by FAO’s Zimbabwe office in the following districts: Bulilima, Chimanimani, Hwange, Hwedza, Lupane, Mutasa, Matobo and Mutoko. The overall objective of the project is to improve food security of vulnerable rural communities through participatory sustainable forest management, the creation of alternative livelihood options and to build resilience of communities to deal with shocks. The project is funded by the European Union to the tune of €3.5 million, with FAO contributing US$500 000. The project is a consortium of five implementing partners, namely the Centre or Applied Social Sciences (CASS), Environment Africa (EA), Practical Action (PA), Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE) and the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association. The Community Based Natural Resources Forum (CBNRM) and the Forestry Commission are associate members in the project. + READ MORE
Potential of priority indigenous fruits of miombo woodlands: case of S. cocculoides
Ruth Tambudzai Ngadze
The Miombo woodlands host over 75 indigenous wild fruit trees (IFTs), most of which are underutilized though rich in minerals and vitamins, providing income and constituting food during famine [3]. The human population of miombo woodlands, particularly women and children, suffer from lack of nutrients and intake of protein and energy. Several fruit species with potential for product development and income generation have been identified by the International Centre for Underutilised Crops (ICUC) and other partner organisations - The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) [4]. + READ MORE
Impacts of deforestation and degradation of NWFPs in Miombo woodlands, Tanzania
E. Jew & A. Dougill
Due to their extensive distribution, the Miombo woodlands support over 100 million people through access to wood and non-wood products, although much of their range is unprotected [2]. They are a source of food (such as mushrooms, insects, fruits, seeds, wild vegetables, honey and oils), traditional medicines, building materials and domestic grazing resources, all of which help communities to cope with household stresses and shocks [3]. Additionally, they provide vital habitat for a range of wildlife including elephants, black rhinoceros, and over 500 bird species [4]. Within a remote rural area of south-west Tanzania we examined land use change within miombo woodland, and the associated impacts on NWFPs [5,6,7,8]. + READ MORE
Unravelling the potential for multipurpose trees in Miombo-Mopane
A.I. Ribeiro-Barros, I. Moura, Natasha Ribeiro
The Southern African Miombo-Mopane woodlands rank among the top five eco-regions in terms of irreplaceable species endemism. Miombo is dominated by tree legumes belonging to the genera Brachystegia (Miombo in Swahili), Julbernardia and Isoberlinia, while Mopane is characterized by mono-specific stands of Colophospermum mopane (also belonging to the legume family). Both ecosystems constitute an immeasurable source of goods and services which are of utmost ecological and socio-economic relevance. However, over the last 20-25 years, the ecological dynamics of Miombo-Mopane has been progressively disturbed by a combination of climate, herbivory/grazing and human activities. Such a scenario may result in the loss of ca. 40% of the woodlands by the middle of the century, which may impose changes in biodiversity and biomass with associated modifications on the pattern of goods and services offered by the ecosystems. + READ MORE
PRODUCT WATCH
Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.): Nutritional variation based on African geographical regions
A recent study by Muthai et al. (2017) looked into the nutritive attributes of baobab fruit pulp and seeds across provenances in east, west, and southern Africa and to determine whether the nutrient content varied with the provenance of origin. The results showed that there exist significant variation in pulp moisture, protein, fiber, ash, and elemental content among provenances. The highest mean pulp crude fiber was recorded in Kenya, while at country level, Malawi had the highest mean pulp potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and phosphorus levels. Kenya had the highest mean pulp iron and manganese content, while Mali had the lowest iron and manganese. Overall, baobab fruit pulp and seeds contain significant amounts of nutritionally essential minerals and proximate components but the amounts varied significantly among the selected countries. The authors conclude that the variation offers opportunities for selecting provenances to concentrate on during germplasm collection for conservation and domestication of baobab. + READ MORE
LITERATURE
Alves, R. R. N. & van Vliet, N. 2018. Ethnozoology (eds. Alves, R. R. N. & Albuquerque, U. P.) 167–194 (Academic Press). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809913-1.00010-7.
Akhtar, Y. & Isman, M. B. 2018. Insects as an alternative protein source. Proteins in Food Processing (Second Edition) (ed. Yada, R. Y.) 263–288 (Woodhead Publishing).
Boin, E. & Nunes, J. 2018. Mushroom Consumption Behavior and Influencing Factors in a Sample of the Portuguese Population. J. Int. Food Agribus. Mark. 30, 35–48.
Billings, D.B. & Kingsolver, A.E. 2018. “Gathering wild greens: Foodways Lessons from Appalachia’s past. Appalachia in Regional Context: Place Matters.
Dawson S. 2018. Bushmeat. In: Costa R., Pittia P. (eds) Food Ethics Education. Integrating Food Science and Engineering Knowledge Into the Food Chain, vol 13. Springer, Cham
Hurley, P. T. & Emery, M. R. 2018. Locating provisioning ecosystem services in urban forests: Forageable woody species in New York City, USA. Landsc. Urban Plan. 170, 266–275.
List, Charles. 2018. “The New Hunter and Local Food.” The Oxford Handbook of Food Ethics. Oxford University Press.
Lovrić, M., Re, R. Da, Vidale, E., Pettenella, D. & Mavsar, R. 2018. Social network analysis as a tool for the analysis of international trade of wood and non-wood forest products. For. Policy Econ. 86, 45–66.
Mattila, P. H., Marnila, P. and Pihlanto, A. 2017. Wild and Cultivated Mushrooms, in Fruit and Vegetable Phytochemicals: Chemistry and Human Health, 2nd Edition (ed E. M. Yahia), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK.
Mugido, W. & Shackleton, C. M. 2018. Price Determination of Non-timber Forest Products in Different Areas of South Africa. Ecol. Econ. 146, 597–606.
Nielsen, M. R., Meilby, H., Smith-Hall, C., Pouliot, M. & Treue, T. 2018. The Importance of Wild Meat in the Global South. Ecol. Econ.146, 696–705.
Novello, M. et al. 2018. Genetic conservation of a threatened Neotropical palm through community-management of fruits in agroforests and second-growth forests. For. Ecol. Manage. 407, 200–209.
Şenol, F. S., Şekeroğlu, N., Gezİcİ, S., Kiliç, E. & Orhan, İ. E. 2018. Neuroprotective potential of the fruit (acorn ) from Quercus coccifera L . 1–6 (2018).
van Huis, A. 2018. in Ethnozoology (eds. Alves, R. R. N. & Albuquerque, U. P.) 195–213 (Academic Press). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809913-1.00011-9
Venditti, A. et al. 2016. Primary and secondary metabolites of an European edible mushroom and its nutraceutical value: Suillus bellinii (Inzenga) Kuntze. Nat Prod Res 72, 1.
Zhao, Y. et al. 2018. Bamboo mapping of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda for the year 2016 using multi-temporal Landsat imagery. Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf.66, 116–125.
NEWS
New novel food rules will "pave the way" for wider insect use
As the new EU novel food rules start kicking in (from January 1, 2018), European insect producers have welcomed the move claiming that it should pave the way for the wider use of insects as food. And an influx of applications concerning the use of insects in food could be seen this year as the new rules take effect, according to IPIFF, the European umbrella organization representing the interests of the Insect Production sector for Food and Feed. + READ MORE
Powering up women's income in Cote d'Ivoire through climate-smart shea butter production
Côte d'Ivoire ranks as the fifth largest producer of shea butter, extracted from the nuts of the African shea tree and widely used in cosmetics. Since the traditional method used to produce shea butter is labour-intensive and the resulting product doesn’t meet international quality standards, the profit margin is low. This is compounded by rising deforestation, a major threat to the sector. By investing in the shea sector, the UN Women-Government of Côte d'Ivoire programme has provided a climate-smart solution to reducing deforestation, while bolstering rural women’s economic empowerment.+ READ MORE
Thousands of years of expertise: Cherokees contribute to National Forest management plan
Ramps are wild onions that Native Americans have harvested for thousands of years. They’re also a staple ingredient in traditional Southern Appalachian kitchens. While public land agencies regulate many plants with market value, such as ramps, ginseng and cohosh, the growing demand and rising economic worth of some forest resources have increased pressure on harvesting. To aid in sustaining the population of ramps and to improve the general health of the region’s forest resources, the U.S. Forest Service has joined forces with Native American tribes.+ READ MORE
Eating Brazilian biodiversity - the right way
Jabuticaba, camu-camu, and mangaba are native Brazilian fruits with at least three times the Vitamin C found in exotic species like oranges, bananas and papayas. And yet Brazilians consume much, much more of the latter. While Brazil is home to more than 2,500 native fruit species, only açai and pineapple figure among the top 10 fruits most consumed. Homogenization of consumption reduces the nutritional value of diets and poses a big threat to agricultural biodiversity. As supply responds to demand, farms also become more homogeneous, reducing the diversity of crops and habitats found in the Brazilian countryside. And this frightening trend is global: According to FAO estimates, since the year 1900, 75% of the genetic diversity of plants has been lost worldwide. + READ MORE
Stinkhorns, Truffles, Smuts: The Amazing Diversity - and possible decline - of mushrooms and other fungi
Even after more than 200 years of exploration, scientists estimate that only about 5 percent of a likely 1.5 million species of fungi have been described and named. Of those, roughly 10 described species have been “domesticated” and form the basis of the global cultivated mushroom industry, which has an annual value estimated at over US$35 billion and rising. A 2004 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report documented use of more than 1,100 species in over 80 countries. + READ MORE
For indigenous kids in Indonesian Borneo, an early start to forest stewardship
A competition was organized by Non-Timber Forest Product — Exchange Programme Indonesia (NTFP-EP), a network of NGOs and indigenous communities, focusing on the food grown, gathered or hunted by local groups, in an effort to promote sustainable forest resource management. “We have 17,000 hectares [42,000 acres] of natural forests that can’t be touched by industry,” says Ursula a teacher at the local school. She adds that the forest is “a source of food that couldn’t be obtained in other places.” + READ MORE
The case for legal foraging in America's National Parks
The pre-historic practice of foraging for food has exploded in popularity in recent years. At its most basic, foraging involves man’s search for and harvesting of wild foods—from seaweed to nuts, seeds, herbs, tubers, fruits, vegetables, fungi, and a host of other foods that grow in natural, non-agricultural settings. Humans evolved as hunters and gatherers—foragers—and many of our species still forage, even if most of us no longer do so for subsistence purposes. + READ MORE
Articles express the views of their authors, not necessarily those of FAO. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this e-publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
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