People everywhere are more highly dependent on forests for food security than generally known. The complex linkages between forestry, on the one hand, and food security, on the other, are among the least recognized and appreciated of all food security factors. While food security policies and investments focus primarily on production and trade of major staple grains, the crucial roles of forests in enhancing and sustaining food security are often overlooked or ignored.
This chapter highlights the intricate linkages between forestry (and agroforestry) and food security. It also provides an overview of the forestry and agroforestry issues that significantly affect food security in Asia and the Pacific.
People have obtained food products from forests for thousands of years. Fruits, nuts, leaves, flowers, stems, roots, and mushrooms are examples of the many kinds of foods that are gathered from trees, shrubs, and forest ecosystems. Forests are also home for birds, snakes, lizards, insects, and other wildlife commonly consumed by rural people for protein. Trees likewise contribute to nutrition and health by providing wood fuels for cooking and traditional herbal medicine for local use.
In recent years, as more people migrated to urban centers and agriculture generally became more intensive, traditional links between forests and food security have become obscured. It is, nevertheless, important to realize that the most important contributions of forests to food security are not the most obvious or direct. For instance, the most significant food security values of forests and agroforests lie in their rich genetic reserves and in their environmental protection functions. In this sense, modern agriculture and overall food security are perhaps more dependent on forests and trees than ever recognized.
Unfortunately, the capacity of forests to contribute to, and sustain, food security is seriously jeopardized by the rapid pace of deforestation, particularly in the tropical parts of Asia and the Pacific. Immediate and concerted steps are needed to safeguard the remaining forests and restore the degraded ones in order to maximize forestry's roles in contributing to food security.
In some areas, forests and agroforests provide a large proportion of rural households' food needs. These contributions come in two major forms: (a) the environmental protection role of trees and forests that enhance water and soil conservation to maintain high levels of productivity; (b) the direct food commodity contributions which can supplement normal farm yields or serve as substitute products in the event of crop failures due to floods, droughts or insect infestation (Hoskins 1990). Also of major importance are the socioeconomic contributions of forestry to food security.
Forests are especially important in protecting the natural resource base upon which sustainable agriculture depends. No aspect of this protection is more crucial than the watershed protection functions provided by forests. Without adequate protective forest vegetation that insures sound watershed management, it will be impossible to increase crop yields, or even to sustain current yield levels.
Uplands and lowlands are intimately linked in hydrologic terms. Adverse land-use changes and practices in uplands almost inevitably affect the agricultural potential of lowlands for the worse. Deforestation and poor land-use practices in water catchments greatly accelerate erosion and site degradation, and often lead to reduced storage capacity in reservoirs, lowered irrigation potential, and increased incidence of downstream flooding. Examples from Asia are numerous. High sediment loads of rivers draining the Himalayas, where land use is intense and erosion is high, have caused problems for agriculture in the lowland plains of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh (Ball et al. 1995). Similarly, intensive land use in watershed areas has accelerated siltation of reservoirs along the Yellow River in China, thus affecting irrigation potential along the river.
The Soil's Shield: Trees Rapid agricultural expansion and deforestation in China have contributed to increased soil erosion, runoff, siltation of rivers and flooding. Reservoirs along the Yellow River basin (draining the heavily eroded Loess plateau) and the Yangtze River are showing alarming siltation rates which affect their storage capacity. In response, the government of China has launched massive forestry and agroforestry programs, including the "Three North" project, located in the arid and semi-arid zone of the northwest, north central, and northeast China. Started in 1978, it is now perhaps the world's largest agroforestry program. Large-scale farm shelterbelt systems have been established, sand-dunes have been stabilized, forests have been planted for soil and water conservation, and other watershed rehabilitation works have been carried out. The results have been very positive. An estimated 6.7 million ha of farmland and 3.4 million ha of pastures have been protected. Yield increases due to shelterbelt establishment, averaging 16.4 percent for maize, 36 percent for soybeans, 42.6 percent for sorghum, and 43.8 percent for millet, have been reported. (Ball, et al. 1995) |
Responsible forestry practices are key elements of watershed protection and rehabilitation. They include strict protection of all forest vegetation on critical steep slopes, application of low-impact logging practices, afforestation or revegetation for water catchment protection, fire control, and adoption of agroforestry systems to reduce soil erosion. By contributing to sound watershed management, healthy upland forests can help regulate river flows which feed downstream agricultural areas. They may also assist to some extent in reducing the frequency and intensity of floods.
Soil erosion caused by water runoff is a serious problem for agricultural production throughout Asia and the Pacific. It strips away the most fertile top layers of soil, robbing the land of its capacity to produce food and other crops. Forests and trees can provide protection against some types of water-induced soil erosion. It is widely recognized that combining trees with other soil conservation measures can greatly extend the possibilities for sustainable crop production on sloping land.
The incidence of shallow landslides and land slips is greatly influenced by the vegetation (or lack thereof) growing on slopes. Tree roots can isubstantially increase the stability of slip-prone slopes. Studies in New Zealand have shown that tree roots provide up to 80 percent of the soil shear strength under saturated soil conditions (O'Loughlin and Watson 1981).
Trees also protect crops from wind damage. Some of the most dramatic crop yield increases attributable to windbreaks have been reported from China, where Paulownia spp. has been planted to protect more than 13 million ha in the windy central Plains. Grain yields increased 60 percent or more in fields protected by windbreaks, and cotton output has tripled (Wang 1988).
As population pressures on land have increased in Asia and the Pacific, farmers have been forced to cultivate ever steeper slopes and less fertile sites. Successful farming of such steep, infertile uplands often depends on the use of trees and living hedgerows, planted in combination with food crops. Sloping Agricultural Land Technologies (SALT), developed in the Philippines using hedgerows of nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs, are now widely applied throughout the region. In addition to holding the soil in place, the leaves of the hedgerow species are used as green manure to enrich the soil and enhance crop production. Various such agroforestry techniques--purposely combining trees with agricultural crops or animals--are becoming increasingly important in the drive to maintain and expand food production on marginal farm sites throughout the region.
Trees and shrubs indirectly contribute to food production by providing fodder for livestock which supply meat and milk for food, or for livestock used as draft animals in farm production. Fodder-producing tree plantations provide feed either by the "cut and carry" method for stall-fed animals, or through open browsing among free-ranging animals.. As much as 50 percent of all animal fodder in Nepal and parts of India comes from trees.
People living in and near forests traditionally obtain significant portions of their diets from forests. Forest foods are particularly important in predominantly subsistence economies in remote areas. Dependence on these foods is epitomized by the isolated "hunter-gatherer" communities that still exist in parts of India, Papua New Guinea, Sarawak, and a few other locations in Asia. In the Indian states of Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh, most forest dwellers still depend on the forest for 25 to 50 percent of their annual food requirements (Malhotra et al. 1992). As recently as 1988, people in the wooded areas of northeastern Thailand were getting as much as 60 percent of their food directly from the forests (FAO 1988).
In modern times, it is unusual for people to still get that much food directly from forests, but most rural people still depend on forest-based foods to supplement their regular diets. Such forest foods can, therefore, be important elements of sustainable and nutritionally balanced diets. Moreover, they contribute to diet diversity and flavor.
In agricultural areas, the most widespread direct contribution of forestry to food production is through food-producing trees on farm and fallow land and around homes. The extent of this contribution varies widely. At one end of the spectrum are the sophisticated "home gardens" [of which the Javanese home gardens are the best known], which provide more than half of some families' food (Widagda 1981). At the other extreme, is the single mango tree, or other fruit tree, planted in the family backyard.
Forest foods rarely supply the main part of a family's diet, but tree and forest products have an important role in ensuring adequate and balanced nutrition for rural people. A recent study of northeast Thailand villages revealed that the nutritional status of preschool children in villages near forests (with 30 percent of their diet coming from the forest) was considerably better than that of children living in villages far from the forests (Saowakontha, et al. 1989) Similar results were found in studies in Bangladesh (Hassan et al. 1985).
One of the most common uses of forest foods, especially fruits and insects, is as snacks. For example, people frequently eat fruit collected from the forest while they are working, herding animals, gathering fuelwood, or tending their fields. In some areas where crop failures are not uncommon, certain forest perennials are important as "emergency foods," or "famine foods." In India, Malaysia, and Thailand, about 150 wild plant species have been identified as sources of emergency food (FAO 1984).
One of the most important connections between forests and long-term agricultural stability is their role as pools of genetic diversity. Modern agriculture continues to depend on periodic infusions of "new" genes from wild relatives to combat outbreaks of disease and susceptibility to insect attack. Major agricultural crops that have "borrowed" significantly from wild relatives include tomatoes, maize, peanuts, potatoes, wheat, rice, and sugarcane. In the late 1980s, for example, researchers in Mexican forests discovered a wild species of maize that is resistant to five major diseases of domestic maize. Many of these wild relatives are found only in forests and the margins around forests. When the forests are destroyed, irreplaceable genetic resources are also lost along with the forest.
From the point of view of future agricultural production, the wide variety of species that forests contain - both known and yet to be discovered - may have critical roles to play in providing the genetic variability and biological diversity needed to combat the ever-adapting pests and diseases that prey upon food crops (FAO 1989). A major challenge lies in safeguarding and conserving these valuable genetic resources for potential future use in the face of pressing immediate needs by current generations.
Fuelwood and charcoal - Wood is important to food security in many ways. In developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, it is not uncommon for at least 75 percent of the population to depend on fuelwood for cooking. Shortages of fuelwood may mean that food is inadequately cooked, or is only cooked once a day. The excessive time and effort spent by women to gather and transport fuelwood for cooking family meals leaves them very little time to engage in other important home tasks, such as cooking meals, caring for the young children, cleaning house, etc.
In areas where fuelwood is scarce, people may turn to dried animal dung for fuel. The burning of dung deprives farmers of an important fertilizer that would normally be returned to fields to nourish crops. Shortages of fuelwood therefore may not only mean more difficulty in cooking food, but may lead to less food being produced.
Income and employment - Food security implies both physical and economic access to food. Forests in Asia and the Pacific generate huge amounts of income and employment that place people in a better position to purchase rather than produce their own food. Income and employment are generated when people become involved in family- or community-oriented forestry activities such as harvesting, processing and marketing forest products. Common features of such enterprises are that they are small-scale (often employing family labor), flexible, and seasonal (operates only when family labor is not engaged in other farm activities.) A broad estimate suggests that forestry currently provides the equivalent of 60 million work-years worldwide, of which about 80 percent is in developing countries (FAO 1994a).
Collecting forest products from the natural forests serves as an important income source for many traditional societies. Gathering or harvesting non-wood forest products is especially important. Some of the most extensive examples of forest products gathering come from India, where at least 3 to 4 million people are involved in the commercial woodfuel trade (FAO 1994b) and up to 7.5 million people are involved in the collection of tendu leaves (Diospyros melanoxylon) used in making bidi cigarettes (FAO 1989).
An important way of increasing the cash-generating potential of forest resources is through the development of processing enterprises. The processing of rattan into furniture, for example, employs at least half a million people in Southeast Asia (IDRC 1980). Other examples of important export crops arising from the forest include bamboo shoots, honey, spices, gums, and resins.
Cash cropping of trees by rural people is another viable source of income and employment under certain circumstances. In many countries of Asia, farmers are planting large numbers of trees-not for subsistence fuelwood-but for cash income. In some areas, farmers earn far greater returns from growing trees than from traditional agricultural crops. Fruit trees are especially popular in many areas, providing farmers with income from the both the fruits and the wood of trees.
The intricate linkages between forestry/agroforestry, on the one hand, and food security on the other, highlight the sensitivity of forestry issues as they relate to food security in the Asia-Pacific region. Although not always readily apparent, "forestry" issues are often "food security" issues as well, and vice versa.
The Asia-Pacific region is home to more than half the world's population. While population growth has slowed down in recent years in many of the countries, the absolute numbers continue to rise and population densities per area of land remain the highest on Earth. Coupled with the huge numbers of people is the increasing wealth being generated in the vibrant economies of the region. Combined, these two factors are placing unprecedented pressures on the region's limited natural resource base, as people are demanding ever more food and other products.
Not only is more food needed to meet the basic calorific requirements of the expanding population, but increased wealth allows the people to purchase much more meat products than in the past. Meaty diets, of course, require more grain and forage to produce than equivalent vegetarian diets.
The increasing demand for food runs in parallel with the escalating demand for forest products and services, including traditional wood products, water, and electricity from hydro-electric projects. The region's new-found wealth also has spawned new demand for such things as forest-based recreation opportunities, ecotourism, and attractive industrial and residential sites. Local and international demands for biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, expansion of protected areas, and carbon sequestration add to the challenges of forest management and limit options for conversion of more forests for agricultural production.
Throughout history, agricultural expansion to increase food production has occurred largely at the expense of forests. When more agricultural land was needed, people simply cleared more forested land for crop planting. It is no small coincidence that the area of new land brought under agricultural production each year is almost exactly equal to the area that is deforested each year-approximately 15 million hectares.
For much of the world, however, the limits of the land frontier have been reached. In Asia, especially, there simply is no more frontier in most areas. More than 80 percent of all potential cropland is now under cultivation (Alexandratos 1988). In comparison with other regions of the world, Asia and the Pacific has a much higher proportion of its land devoted to agriculture (including cropland and pastures), and, conversely, a much lower proportion under forest cover.
In most Asian countries, the areas of easiest access and those with the best cropland potential have long been converted to agricultural production, and any further expansion will necessarily encroach on marginal areas-particularly steep hillsides, infertile sites, and semi-arid regions-that are relatively fragile and have relatively low productive potential. Conversion of additional marginal areas of these types are likely to have a net negative effect of food production and food security, particularly in the long-term. In most cases the adverse impacts of watershed degradation and soil erosion on downstream agricultural systems will be much greater than the minimal increments of food outputs from newly cleared marginal lands. As described above, the clearing of forested areas carries with it the added risk of further degrading the genetic resource base upon which future agricultural productivity may depend.
Despite the critical importance of forests in contributing to food security, the region's forests are being destroyed at an unparalleled pace. FAO's last Global Forest Resources Assessment estimated that deforestation in tropical Asia and the Pacific now exceeds 3.9 million ha each year (FAO 1993). This means 7.4 ha are cleared every minute.
Most of the forest losses in the world today occur in the tropics. Of the three tropical regions of the world (Africa, Asia-Pacific and South America), Asia and the Pacific has the fastest rate of deforestation, the fastest rate of commercial logging, the highest volumes of fuelwood removed from the forests, and the fastest rates of species extinctions (FAO 1993). Countries losing the largest areas of forest include Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, and India.
The underlying causes of deforestation are rooted in a complex web of social, economic, and institutional problems both inside and outside the forestry sector. These include:
Efforts to reduce or eliminate deforestation will necessarily have to address these problems if they are to succeed.
With increasing domestic and global market demands, trade and marketing in forestry and agroforestry products have penetrated into even remote forest areas. This trend presents both opportunities and problems. It can serve as an impetus for increasing household production, income and food availability. On the other hand, over-exploitation to satisfy growing market demands can lead to irreversible damage inflicted upon the natural resource base.
Following UNCED, there has been an upswell of concern for and emphasis on sustainable forest management. National and international criteria and indicators of sustainable management have been or are being developed, as well as mechanisms for certifying that certain products are managed sustainably.
Many contentious issues, some polarized in a North-South nature, are also being debated, including: intellectual property rights; trade barriers and tariffs; and trade liberalization. These are covered in greater detail in subchapters II.A.5 and III.B.
Of primary importance to food security is access to resources. This includes access to natural forests to collect food and to hunt wild animals. It also includes access to land (including small urban plots of potential use for food production), secure tenure over food production assets, and access to credit for improving production inputs. Tenure security is particularly important to encourage long-term investments in trees and land improvements to enhance food production.
Food security of local people can be threatened if policies restrict traditional access to badly needed forest foods. On the other hand, unrestricted access cannot be granted to sensitive areas whose destruction would jeopardize the long-term sustainability of downstream agriculture. In this regard, careful land-use planning is needed, backed by practical implementation in the field.
A key aspect in enhancing food security is the involvement of women. Given the central role that women play in food production and food security, their concerns are vital in guiding forestry and agroforestry development in ways that will effectively address food security. Experience has shown that it is not always necessary to employ women extension agents and establish separate initiatives for women's participation. A better approach may be to simply ensure that women are brought into existing mainstream institutions and planning processes.
With ever-increasing numbers of people to be fed in Asia and the Pacific, and increasing land pressures, a reorientation of forestry officials, management priorities, and operating procedures is needed. This will often require compromise on the part of forestry departments away from what is conventionally regarded as "best" from the forestry perspective. It could mean, for example, planting timber trees at wider spacing to allow food crops to be grown for more years before the canopy closes. It could also mean accepting, or even encouraging, the use of non-traditional or fruit-bearing trees instead of timber species for reforestation and watershed protection purposes.
There is an increasing appreciation among resource managers for the traditional knowledge and values that local people have toward forests. This recognition of indigenous forest management knowledge, coupled with frustration over the inability of many governments to solve lingering forest management problems, is leading to the devolution of management responsibility to local communities of local leaders. This trend has major positive implications for food production and food security. Not only are indigenous management systems more apt to be focused on local food production, but they are also more likely to protect the genetic diversity of the forest.
Not surprisingly, such reorientation of management perspectives and priorities is fiercely resisted by some conventionally oriented foresters. Thus, there is a need for strong high-level commitment and extensive retraining of forestry department staff if such management reorientation is to succeed.
The technical solutions most suitable for enhancing food security through forestry and agroforestry may not always be those envisioned by foresters or extension agents from outside local communities. Projects too often fail because they attempt to push pre-packaged technologies upon local people who may not be willing to accept them.
Most people are logical decision makers. If they do not accept suggested technical approaches, it is either because they do not have adequate information, or because something is wrong with the approach. Forestry extensionists and rural development officials must be sensitive to both possibilities and be prepared to adapt technologies to meet local social, cultural, and economic conditions.