Strengthening country capacities to enable forest-based contributions to healthy and sustainable agrifood systems

The urgency of transforming agrifood systems is irrefutable and critical to multiple global agendas (e.g. Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs], Convention on Biological Diversity [CBD] - Global Biodiversity Framework, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC] - Paris Agreement) and country priorities. However, governments are struggling to achieve impacts that address desired dietary, health, environmental and social outcomes simultaneously, as a comprehensive approach to agrifood systems transformation is often lacking.

Forests, crop and livestock in particular are still largely managed separately. While forests are receiving increased attention for their role in mitigating and adapting to climate change and conserving biodiversity, their contribution to sustainable agrifood systems tends to be overlooked in policy and practice. This despite growing evidence illustrating the benefits of forests, trees and forest- and tree-derived plants and animals to healthy and sustainable agrifood systems.

Forests represent some of the richest biological areas on earth. Forests and trees typically contribute to agrifood systems by retaining ecological health and species diversity, making use of a wide range of nutritious species and habitats, and providing ecosystem services like water quality, flood control, wildlife habitat, healthy soils, carbon storage, and pollination, essential for food production and healthy lives. 

Forests’ potential to contribute to food systems transformation and shape more biodiverse food systems remains largely untapped. Acknowledging the multiple agriculture-forestry linkages, FAO member countries recently advised its governing bodies to better coordinate issues related to forestry and agriculture, and requested FAO to enhance its work on forests’ contribution to food security and nutrition (i.e. COAG/2022/REP, COFO/2022/REP; CL171/REP).

To these ends, the project aims to strengthen institutional capacities to support and upscale interventions to enhance the contributions of forests, trees and non-wood forest products (NWFPs) to healthy and sustainable agrifood systems by optimizing their untapped potential. This will simultaneously address country priorities and commitments related to nutrition, poverty, biodiversity and climate through a systems-approach.    

The project aims to strengthen institutional capacities to support and upscale interventions to enhance forest-sector contributions to healthy and sustainable agrifood systems. This will simultaneously address countries’ programming framework (CPF) priorities related to sustainable natural resource management, strengthening resilience for food security and nutrition, and community-based and gender-sensitive programming through a systems-lens.

Specifically, the project will focus on “neglected” forest resources such as forest plants, fungi and insects (non-wood forest products) to:

(1) build capacity on data and knowledge on NWFPs and associated food systems to facilitate the generation of scientifically sound evidence for policy and finance decision makers;

(2) promote an enabling environment by enhancing multi-sectoral dialogue and associated interventions and policies, ensuring women, indigenous peoples and local communities’ representation; and

(3) catalyse funding from multilateral and bilateral donors to support and upscale interventions identified during the activities of the proposed TCP project.

Workshop reports

• Proceedings of the inception workshop and technical working group meeting on wild foods and neglected and underutilized species, The Philippines, April 2024
• Informe del taller en Paraguay, Junio 2024
• Report of the Papua New Guinea stakeholder consultation meeting of the project “Strengthening country capacities to enable forest-based contributions to healthy and sustainable agrifood systems"

• Cameroon: Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife
• Papua New Guinea: Forest Authority
• Paraguay: National Forestry Institute
• Philippines: Department of Science and Technology, Food and Nutrition Research Institute
• Viet Nam: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Forest and Farm Facility

Output 1. Identification of high potential forest foods and systems contributing to improved food security, nutrition and biodiversity

• Giulia Muir ([email protected])

• Diego Fallas Conejo ([email protected]