Dear FSN colleagues,
I submit comments for your consideration in developing the next version of the draft framework relating to Question 3.2 Social Protection and 3.3 Health and wish to highlight the role of forests and trees.
3.2 Social Protection
Most of the community forestry work which gives communities long-term control over assets is a form of social protection. The functioning of forest foods as famine foods is a form of social protection. Village saving funds – put together by e.g. thousands of forest protection committees in India and community forestry user groups and used for health-related emergencies, deaths, and other community support activities – are another form of social protection.
3.3 Health
The role of forests and trees outside forests in the health and health systems of local communities
I believe the draft should recognize and reflect the fact that local communities often work outside the formal employment sector and may be physically distant from official healthcare structures and facilities. They therefore make greater use of forest products as a source of natural medicines and nutrient-rich, health-enhancing foods. In this regard, please see FAO Forestry publication 1995 “Medicinal plants for conservation and health care”, the foreword of which states the following:
“The World Health Organization estimated that 80% of the population of developing countries rely on traditional medicines, mostly plant drugs, for their primary health care needs. Also, modern pharmacopoeia still contain at least 25% drugs derived from plants and many others which are synthetic analogues built on prototype compounds isolated from plants. Demand for medicinal plants is increasing in both developing and developed countries, and surprisingly, the bulk of the material traded is still from wild harvested sources on forest lands and only a very small number of species are cultivated…”
In addition, you may wish to consider the following amendments to the draft framework of action:
Paragraph 3.3.4 Nutrition education for behaviour change
- … “There is also a role for behaviour change interventions to use locally sourced nutritious foods, reduce waste …
- …”Nutrition information given to farming households can inform better decisions about food grown and how to grow them …” is almost a repetition of “People need clear and accurate information to be able to make healthy choices” You may consider deleting either one or combining them as follows: “nutrition information given to farming households should be clear and accurate so that better decisions about food grown...”
- …”Households food gardens, including agroforestry, in both rural and urban areas can be a vital complement to commercial food production with great potential …”
- …”Health, agriculture, forestry, and education ministries should coordinate their advice …”
Some documentation to support the above amendments includes:
- The Moringa olefeira tree is an example of a forest product with documented health benefits on which there are many peer-reviewed articles regarding its use as a medicinal plant by local communities in Africa and Asia (view hyperlink).
- The FAO document “ Towards food security and improved nutrition, increasing the contribution of forests and trees”, produced after the May 2013 International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition hosted at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, states:
“ … Greater attention on forests and trees outside forests would therefore strengthen the four pillars of food security (access, availability, use and stability) while facilitating consumption of nutritionally adequate diets (in terms of quantity, variety, diversity and nutrient content) …”’;
Under the section Economic, social and health benefits:
“...The rich diversity of medicinal plants found in forests is important for the wellbeing of millions of forest-dependent people and forms the basis of many health products now produced globally…”
… Foods obtained from forests and trees outside forests – in the form of leaves, seeds, nuts, honey, fruits, mushrooms, insects and wild animals – have been important in rural diets for thousands of years. Forest and tree foods often have very high nutritional value. Many forest animals are rich in readily absorbed iron, zinc and vitamin B12 as well as proteins and fat, and forests also provide diverse leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts and other plant foods important for the intake of vitamin A, iron, folate, niacin and calcium, readily absorbed iron, zinc and vitamin B12 as well as proteins and fat, and forests also provide diverse leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts and other plant foods important for the intake of vitamin A, iron, folate, niacin and calcium. In Burkina Faso, for example, where tree foods constitute 30 percent of rural diets, it has been reported that 100 grams of a fruit from the baobab tree contains 100 percent of a child’s recommended daily allowance of iron and potassium, 92 percent of a child’s recommended daily allowance of copper, and 40 percent of a child’s recommended daily allowance of calcium.
Patricia Tendi