Title: BIODIVERSITY FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION : UPDATE OF ACTIVITIES
1BIODIVERSITY FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION UPDATE OF
ACTIVITIES
Ifeyironwa Francisca Smith, Pablo
Eyzaguirre International Plant Genetic Resources
Institute (IPGRI)
Ifeyironwa Francisca Smith, Tim Johns, Pablo
Eyzaguirre
2Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development
- nutrition is an investment issue not a food
consumption issue or a welfare issue - it is something that can drive economic growth
- there is need to build commitment among
government partners as well, as to not only
invest in nutrition but invest in the right kinds
of things for nutrition
3International Consultation, Cross-cutting
Initiative on Biodiversity for Food and
Nutrition, Brasilia 12-13 March 2005
- Co- Hosted by Brazilian Ministries of the
Environment, Agrarian Development, and Health - Brazilian NGO and Civil Society Groups working
with agrarian community livelihoods and
biodiversity, Slow Food, - Nutrition, Agricultural, and Biodiversity
Scientists from Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico,
Malaysia, Canada - UNEP-CBD, FAO, IPGRI, IFAD, UNU, IUNS, Bilateral
partners
4MDGs and the Double Burden of Disease Related to
Malnutrition and Environment
- Simplification of Diets, and Poor Quality Diets
- Simplification of Ecosystems
- Loss or declining use of biodiversity components
for sustainable livelihoods and household food
security - Identify and use local sources for combating
nutrition and health problems - Build on local capacities and empowerment of
communities to manage food and nutrition
resources available within their ecosystems and
mediated by and supportive of their food cultures.
5THE REASON WE ARE HERE
- SCNs vision, mandate, and principles include
facilitating the integration of nutrition
interventions into global and national
initiatives, and the integration of nutrition
into national and global development agendas. - Biodiversity provides additional resources and
approaches to combat malnutrition, hunger and
poverty. - The next steps are to build these linkages
between nutrition, health, agriculture, and
biodiversity.
6 BIODIVERSITY FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION Main conclusions of the consultation on the CBD cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition, organized by the Convention on Biological Diversity in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute Brasilia, Brazil, 12 13 March, 2005.
Call for Action Biodiversity is essential for
food security and nutrition and offers key
options for sustainable livelihoods.
Environmental integrity is critical for
maintaining and building positive options for
human well-being. Existing knowledge warrants
immediate action to promote the sustainable use
of biodiversity in food security and nutrition
programmes, as a contribution to the achievement
of the Millennium Development Goals. This would
counteract the simplification of diets,
agricultural systems and ecosystems, and the
erosion of food cultures. Considering the
difficulty in precisely identifying optimal
diets, a diversity of foods from plants and
animals remains the preferred choice for human
health. Traditional food systems provide
positive synergies between human and ecosystem
health, and culture offers an essential context
for mediating positive dietary choices. An
interdisciplinary initiative on biodiversity for
food and nutrition, based on the ecosystem
approach that makes the most of locally-available
biodiversity and initiative to address nutrition
problems, will assist countries and stakeholders
in achieving the MDGS. Without urgent action
that directly engages the environmental,
agricultural and nutrition and health
communities, biodiversity and the positive
options offered by domesticated and wild
biodiversity for addressing nutrient deficiencies
and the emerging burden of non-communicable
disease will be lost.
7Proposed Actions
- Substantiate and promote awareness of the links
between biodiversity, dietary diversity, food and
nutrition - Mainstream the conservation and sustainable use
of biodiversity into agendas and programmes
related to nutrition, agriculture, health and
poverty reduction - Promote activities that contribute to improving
food security and human nutrition through
enhanced sustainable use of biodiversity
8An Update of Activities
- Dietary Diversity Linking traditional foods and
Plant Genetic Resources to Rural And Urban Health
in - Sub-Saharan Africa
9IPGRIs Dietary Diversification Activities
- Dietary diversification projects in Kenya,
Uganda, Tanzania and Senegal to determine level
of use of local biodiversity and promote
increased use - Targeted ethno-botanical surveys in Uganda
Tanzania to determine availability, consumption
and uses of indigenous/traditional foods by
communities - African leafy vegetables programme in peri-urban
and urban Nairobi Kenya, that promotes the
production and use of indigenous African leafy
vegetables in diets, including the role of local
markets supermarkets in increasing access and
availability of nutritious indigenous/traditional
foods
10Advocacy and Awareness Creation
- Chennai Consultation on using Biodiversity and
Neglected Underutilized species to address the
Millennium Development Goals in health and food
security, April 2005. - The CORAF/WECARD Assembly that brought together
representatives from National Agricultural
Research Systems (NARS) of 21 countries in West
and Central Africa, May 2005. - International Conference on Health and
Biodiversity (COHAB), August 2005. - International Union of Nutritional Sciences 18th
International Congress of Nutrition, September
2005. - Regional Workshop on Developing African Leafy
Vegetables for Improved Nutrition, December 2005.
11Collaborations
- With Harvest Plus in a Food Consumption Survey in
the Soroti district of Uganda aimed at
identifying local biodiversity and their dietary
use in conjunction with the orange fleshed sweet
potato - With FAO in a Food Composition Collaboration
aimed at developing the capacity required to
build the evidence base linking biodiversity with
improved nutrition and health
12Activities by FAO
- At its October 2005 Session, the FAOs
Intergovernmental Working Group on Plant Genetic
Resources for Food Agriculture strongly
encouraged countries to increase efforts at
generating, compiling and disseminating cultivar
specific nutrient composition data. - FAOs editorial role in the publication of the
Journal of Food Composition Analysis is
creating awareness of biodiversity for food and
nutrition in the global food and nutrition
community, and encourages the generation of
evidence linking biodiversity, nutrition and
health. Increasing attention is now being devoted
to documenting the nutritional value of local and
indigenous food plants
13(No Transcript)
14Invitation to other Organizations to contribute
to the Initiative
- WHO, IFAD, WFP, UNICEF, UNU and other
inter-governmental organizations are encouraged
to include biodiversity-related considerations in
their programmes and strategies including but not
limited to - The Global Plan of Action to Achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (prepared through
the Secretary-Generals Millennium Project) and
in particular its action plan on hunger - The FAO World Food Summit Plan of Action
- The WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical
Activity and Health and - The International Assessment of Agricultural
Science and Technology for Development - Similarly governments and other international
and national institutions, IUNS, ICSU and other
research and academic associations, civil society
organizations and movements, including the Slow
Food Movement, local community and indigenous
peoples organizations, and the private sector are
encouraged to contribute to the initiative
15-
- Global Stakeholder Workshop on
Biodiversity for Food and
Nutrition - Rome, Italy,
February 16-17, 2006 -
- The International Plant Genetic Resources
Institute (IPGRI), in collaboration with the
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) and the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
organized a Global Stakeholder Workshop to
discuss the implementation of the CBDs
Cross-cutting Initiative on Biodiversity for Food
and Nutrition. -
- These three institutions are partners in the
initiative and this meeting was an important step
in its implementation.
16Workshop Participants
- Professionals from national organizations engaged
in policy and programmes addressing issues
related to nutrition and the utilization of
agricultural biodiversity - Professionals in international organizations
including the CGIAR contributing to food-based
approaches to nutrition and food security - Researchers contributing to food-based approaches
to nutrition - Representatives of national and international
development agencies, Foundations, and NGOs
working in the area of food security, nutrition,
and health.
17Workshop Objectives
- General
- The general objective of the workshop was to
develop elements of an impact-driven and global
action plan to utilize agricultural biodiversity
to improve the nutrition and health of the rural
and urban poor. - Specific
- To take stock of accomplishments in this area
up-to-date as well as related ongoing programmes. - To identify new partners and areas of
collaboration. - To identify a set of specific and coherent
actions to be carried out by partners to
implement the initiative, particularly in the
areas of research, policy, and creating public
awareness, as well as to mobilize required
funding.
18Working Group Discussion Themes
- Research Capacity development required to
establish the link between biodiversity,
nutrition and health. - Policy Actions required to support the
Sustainable Use of Biodiversity to improve Food
Security, Nutrition and Health of the poor. - Creating Public Awareness of Biodiversity for
Food, Nutrition and Health
19Summary Recommendations for Research Capacity
Development
- Design specific case studies to establish the
links biodiversity/dietary diversity/nutrition/h
ealth - Determine local biodiversity through
ethno-botanical surveys, market surveys, etc. - Undertake Dietary surveys adapted to local
situations to determine level of use of
biodiversity and its impact on nutrition and
health status - Undertake analysis of local foods to determine
their composition (nutrients, phytochemicals
etc.) - Build capacity to generate, analyze and
disseminate badly needed information on - - Composition of indigenous and traditional
foods. - - Food consumption surveys.
- - Ethno-botanical surveys that identify local
biodiversity. - - Economic analysis of effects on health of loss
of biodiversity and dietary diversity.
20Summary Recommendations for Policy Actions
- Mainstream biodiversity for nutrition into
different existing initiatives - Promote the production and consumption of diverse
local foods through market policies (e.g.
removing disincentives in pricing, credit and
subsidies) that ensure greater availability and
low cost while also favoring returns to small
producers - Draw lessons from successful and unsuccessful
policies - Work to support policies that facilitate access
to quality seed and genetic resources of crop
varieties and local animal species and breeds
that provide good nutrition to the poor in both
urban and rural settings - Mainstream biodiversity for nutrition into
regional and National Food Security Policies,
National Plans of Action for Nutrition, and
promote food-based dietary guidelines that
include local diversity - Work to support school-based initiatives that
promote biodiversity for food, nutrition and
health
21Summary Recommendations for Awareness Creation
- Formulate effective campaigns to change behaviour
and work with diverse agents of change to
implement them. - Recruit opinion shapers and celebrity role models
to assist in campaigns. - Work with multipliers such as civil society
leaders and local suppliers of health information
to promote diversity for well-being. - Boost pride in local and indigenous foods and
diets in support of cultural identity.
22THANK YOU