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                  Forests and Trees Key to Food Sustainability

   by Kim Lewis

   The International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition
   wrapped up on Wednesday, May 15, in Rome.
   The event, sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO,
   brought scientists and leaders from around the world together to
   address the importance of including forests and agroforestry systems in
   discussions for solutions to world hunger.
   The FAO said forests, trees and agroforestry systems contribute to food
   security and nutrition in a number of ways, but the critical role
   forests play in food sustainability has been over-looked as a reliable,
   readily available source of food for people, especially in developing
   nations.
   Douglas McGuire is the team leader of the forests resources management
   team for the forestry department of the FAO.  He said a big part of
   making sure the forest sector becomes an integral part of discussions
   on food security is creating the awareness of its vital role.
   "We tend to approach the world in our different silos and not really
   look at the importance of how trees and forests are really contributing
   in a really significant way in many communities around the world to
   food security," he explained.
   He also pointed out that it is rare that in talking about agricultural
   policies and land use policies, the two sectors are combined in a way
   that people see as available resources.
   One of the big highlights that came out on the first day of the
   conference was the critical role insects play in fighting world hunger.
   While, insects stole the spotlight at the conference, McGuire added
   there are a lot of edible products that come out of forests and tree
   based systems.
   "In terms of food products, either direct or indirect, you have the
   production of many non-wood forests products, mushrooms that are coming
   from forests ecosystems.  You have indirect services as well that are
   coming and supporting food production and agricultural production.  So
   there is a whole range of goods and services that are coming," said
   McGuire.
   One important thing that is over-looked he explained, is the need for
   long term support to sustain agricultural systems.  He said many
   forests are providing ecosystem services by helping to regulate water
   flow, and helping to protect against soil erosion.
   McGuire explained these types of services are necessary for not only
   sustainable crop and livestock production, but sustainable agriculture
   overall.
   He also warned that unless the agricultural systems are increased to
   the point where they are able to provide higher productivity over a
   long period of time, the world's food resources could be in trouble
   because agriculture production would be limited.
   McGuire emphasized that this conference is significant because it is
   the first international conference that really looked at the importance
   of trees and forests to agricultural food security and nutrition. He
   said these sectors have a lot to offer in terms of food security not
   just as an afterthought, but as a necessity.
   "We're hoping that from this we're going to see significant changes in
   policies that so far have been just focused on food production, that
   will now realize the importance of forests and trees and incorporate
   those fully into policies that will translate into better action on the
   ground," said McGuire.
   He said this conference was the bridging of a very big gap that has
   been present for many years.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/forests-food-hunger-trees-fao-/1662263.html