Non-Wood Forest Products

Leaves of the shea tree, Butyrospermum parkii

Established in 1991, the promotion and development of non-wood forest products (NWFP) is one of the priority areas of FAO's Forestry Department. Our mission is to improve the sustainable utilization of NWFP in order to contribute to the wise management of the world's forests, to conserve their biodiversity, and to improve income generation and food security.

The programme accomplishes this mission through four main areas:

• gathering, analysis and dissemination of information
• appraisal of NWFP socio-economic contributions to rural development
• networking
• technical assistance

News

New publication: Edible insects - Future prospects for food and feed security Launched during the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition, this publication describes the contribution of insects to food security. It shows the many traditional and potential new uses of insects for direct human consumption and the opportunities for and constraints to farming them for food and feed. It examines the body of research on issues such as insect nutrition and food safety, the use of insects as animal feed, and the processing and preservation of insects and their products. [more]

Information guide: The contribution of insects to food security, livelihoods and the environment Since 2003, FAO has been working on edible insects in many countries worldwide. Click to see a new information guide on insects and food security. [more]

South African factory for mass-rearing insects wins UN prize A fly factory that transforms blood, guts, manure and discarded food into animal feed has walked away with a $100 000 UN-backed innovation prize. The South Africa-based initiative uses the prolific egg layers to recycle industry's cast-offs into reusable protein by mimicking nature and harnessing the winged insects, usually regarded as pests. The factory won the Innovation Prize for Africa, a joint initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Innovation Foundation. [more]