Dietary quality and tree cover in Africa

Amy Ickowitz,Bronwen Powell,Mohammad A Salim,Terry C.H Sunderland

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.12.001

Amy Ickowitz, Bronwen Powell + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.12.001

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Abstract

The relationship between forests and human nutrition is not yet well understood. A better understanding of this relationship is vital at a time when the majority of new land for agriculture is being cleared from forests. We use Demographic Health Survey data on food consumption for children from 21 African countries and Global Land Cover Facility tree cover data to examine the relationship between tree cover and three key indicators of nutritional quality of children's diets: dietary diversity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and animal source food consumption. Our main findings can be summarized as follows: there is a statistically significant positive relationship between tree cover and dietary diversity; fruit and vegetable consumption increases with tree cover until a peak of 45% tree cover and then declines; and there is no relationship between animal source food consumption and tree cover. Overall our findings suggest that children in Africa who live in areas with more tree cover have more diverse and nutritious diets.

Highlights

The contribution of forests and tree-based agricultural systems to human nutrition remains poorly understood (Colfer et al, 2008; Vinceti et al, 2013)
Discussions centered on food security have often implied that increased food production will need to come either at the expense of forests or from intensification of land located on ecosystems other than forest (Godfray et al, 2010; Green et al, 2005; Phalan et al, 2011; Tilman et al, 2011)
The definition of food security adopted at the 1996 World Food Summit, recognizes that food security involves more than calorie consumption: ‘‘food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food [emphasis added] to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life’’ (FAO, 1998)

Summary

Introduction

The contribution of forests and tree-based agricultural systems to human nutrition remains poorly understood (Colfer et al, 2008; Vinceti et al, 2013). Several recent papers suggest that forests might have beneficial impacts on human nutrition (Arnold et al, 2011; Colfer et al, 2008; Vinceti et al, 2013), but there is as yet scant empirical evidence to support these claims. In 2012, the Food and Agricultural Organization estimated that 868 million people in the world did not consume sufficient food energy (calories), but that micronutrient deficiency affected over 2 billion people (FAO et al, 2012).

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