Traditional management systems of forest-based foodsJ. Tieguhong, L. Snook, H. Taedoumg, P. Maukonen

Side event: Nutritious foods from forests Committee on World Food Security (CFS) 40: 7-11 October 2013

• Congo Basin forests (about 200m+ ha) are the 2nd largest rainforest block in the world yet 40% is allocated to commercial logging companies• Significant source of timber and

non timber forest products (NTFPs)• Logging activities have an impact

on tropical forests, tree resources and forest-dependent people.

Forests and food security in the Congo Basin

Tree resources and local food usesTree species Uses Main food products used by local people

Baillonella toxisperma (Moabi)

Fruits, oil

Entandrophragma cylindricum (Sapelli)

Caterpillars(Imbrasia oyemensis),

Medicinal barks

Erythrophleum suavolense (Tali)

Caterpillars (Cirina forda),

Fruits used in fishing

Bioversity International/Tieguhong J

Importance of forest foods to household nutrition

Some forest foods have been found to be: •Richer in energy content than bananas - high lipid contents •Richer in minerals (Fe, Ca, Na) & vitamins (A, C, & E) than banana•Good for nutrition and health.

Traditional management & local knowledge

•Traditional management involves mainly visual monitoring and commitment to memory

•Indigenous knowledge on location of species and times of collection important

•Changes in phenology, growth etc. observed during collection and communicated to village members

•Knowledge passed down through generations

•Villagers collect forest foods from Moabi, Sapelli and Tali on daily trips: average travel < 4 km, hardly > 6.5 km.

Bioversity International\P. Maukonen

photos

• Logging (legal or illegal) can undermine availability of some forest foods from trees in concessions

• Gender imbalance & women’s lack of voice, (e.g. elite influence promoting illegal logging of forest foods producing trees)

• Increasing population & increasing demand on resources

• Villagers’ perception that trees take too long to grow (option for planting not taken seriously).

Challenges to traditional management

• Potential to plant – mother trees, copious sprouting of seeds, abundance of

wildlings

• Awareness and protection – consciousness amongst concessionaires & women to protect &

retain food providing trees

• Deliberate policy and promotion to increase the density of food providing trees for present & future generations

• Modernization of existing processing techniques to make transformation and sale more feasible.

Opportunities for sustaining resources

Bioversity International/J. Tieguhong

Project partners:

www.bioversityinternational.org

Thank you Bioversity International/Tieguhong J.

www.bioversityinternational.org

Thank you Bioversity International/Tieguhong J.