seminar 13 mar 2013 - session 2 - forests and food by cpadoch
DESCRIPTION
Around one billion people rely to some degree on wild harvested products for food and income, the direct contribution of forests to diets is considerable and often crucial, if often hidden from urban and official eyes. This direct food contribution adds not only considerable calories but also much needed protein and micronutrients to the diets of local populations as well as additional income for buying food. But the contributions forests make to food production may be far more important than data on direct provisioning suggest. The role of forests and their contribution to agricultural productivity is frequently mentioned, but better evidence is clearly needed. The value of ecosystem services to agriculture (including regulation of water flow and quality, pollination services, the tempering of climate change, and other crucial services) has largely been overlooked by policy-makers and businesses. Also little explored is the extent and impact of managing “natural” forests for food and other important products including the fuelwood used for food preparation. The spectrum of forest management for food, ranges from subtle alterations of the abundance of fruit-bearing trees, animals, and other species to the management of forests by creating forest gaps for swidden agriculture. These practices are rarely recognized, little understood, often criminalized.TRANSCRIPT
Forests and Food Christine Padoch
THINKING beyond the canopy
Forests and Livelihoods
From CIFOR’s Poverty and Environment Network (PEN) data on forests and rural incomes :
Forest income contributes >20% of total household income for people living in or near forests
With other “environmental” income, >25%; more than from planted crops
Food from forests: bushmeat
5 million to 6 million tons of bushmeat eaten annually in the Congo Basin
This is roughly equal to the total amount of beef produced each year in Brazil
For many communities up to 80% of their intake of protein and fats.
But the direct contributions of forests are eclipsed by their services to agriculture
Water filtration and regulation
Pollination services
Temperature regulation
Aquatic resources
Temperature regulation
Genetic resources
Why are forest contributions (food , etc.) not valued?
Existing tools for assessing income and food sources – do not capture their importance
Much of the activity falls between sectors and is thus “illegible”
Many forest people and their livelihoods are “invisible”
• For millennia forests and other non-agricultural ecosystems have been managed to better satisfy a variety of human and societal needs, including the need for food
• However, these traditional forms of management have remained mostly invisible to researchers
• We need to focus on identifying, understanding and evaluating their realities, potentials, and the trade-offs they demand.
Smallholder management of forests has been “invisible”
chacra
chacra nueva
platano platano
yucal y platanal
frutal
chacra en produccion
frutal
purma vieja
chacra en produccion
platano
huerta
purma vieja
purma
Managed Forests in Amazonia
fruit
leaves
leaflets
trunk
roots
raquiles broom
fruit
juice
smoke rubber (coagulate) fertilizer
roof cover
“poguega” shrimp bait wrap “peconha” climbing belt
general covers leaves/ crownshaft heart of palm
hat
trunk
paper pulp
construction beams
floor boards
fences
walls
bridges
“cacuri” fixed fishing trap
Construction of raised plant bed
Medicine for stomach problems
dye
domestic animal fodder
foundation for general construction
Acai palm (Euterpe oleracea)
Figure courtesy of E. Brondizio
Expansion of municipalities producing acai fruit, 1985-2004 according to IBGE
2004 ~1985*
Brondizio, E. S. 2008. The Amazonian Caboclo and the Acai Palm: Forest farmers in the Global Market. New York:
New York Botanical Garden Press.
Banana
Acai
Pineapple
Lemon grass
Papaya
Unmanaged forest
Thinning & Sowing
Pruning acai clumps
Acai agroforestry
Selective clearing
Inter-cropping
Acai over bananas
Acai agroforestry
Un
man
aged
Inten
sive M
anag
ed
Cro
ps: A
nnu
als b
i-ann
uals
Peren
nials
Terrain
prep
aration
Acai p
lantatio
n
Clearing & leveling
Transplanting in rows
Acai monoculture
Figure courtesy of E. Brondizio
Average no sacks of açai (~48 kg fruit/sack) produced per month by 36 sample households in Mazagao (2000 – 2011)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Forests
Fallows
HouseGarden
Management for Multiple Products
• For millennia forests have been managed to satisfy a variety of human and societal needs, including the need for food
• However, these traditional forms of management have remained mostly invisible to researchers
• Is working with smallholder forest management (rather than teaching farmers conventional forestry practices a promising way for assuring food, incomes, and sustainable landscapes
Smallholder management of forests has been “invisible”