The relationship between forest cover and diet quality: a case study of rural southern Malawi

C Hall,J I Macdiarmid,R B Matthews,S F Hubbard,P Smith,T P Dawson

doi:10.1007/s12571-019-00923-0

Abstract

The importance of forests in supporting the well-being of poor rural communities cannot be overstated, not only for improving food security but also for biodiversity conservation. For many people living in developing regions of the world, forests provide healthy and nutrient-dense foods which can improve overall diet quality and act as a safety net during times of hardship. Forests can also provide a source of income and facilitate certain agricultural practices, potentially allowing for poverty alleviation and mitigation. This study examined whether there was a relationship between forest cover and diet quality at the household level in rural southern Malawi. Nutrition data for 2084 households, collected as part of the 2010/11 Third Integrated Household Survey for Malawi (IHS3), were compared with a satellite-based land-cover map of Malawi. Households located in areas with a high percentage forest cover had significantly improved vitamin A adequacy compared to households in less forested areas. Also, vitamin A intake was significantly improved by consumption of wild plant foods. Forest cover was not associated with any other indicators of diet quality, but a number of social and demographic factors were significant determinants, including household size, education and access to markets. Further investigation of these associations is imperative at a time when forests are being cleared at an alarming rate to make way for agricultural production.

Highlights

1.1 BackgroundForest landscapes provide human populations across the world with a range of important ecosystem services
Descriptive statistics are reported at the household level (n = 2084) with the exception of forest cover which is at the enumeration areas (EA) level (n = 69) and mean energy and nutrient intakes which are measured across all individuals in our sample (n = 9396) (Table 3)
It is possible that these foods were sourced from forests, but the sample size of households who consumed wild foods (n = 355) was too small to establish a relationship with forest cover in this study

Summary

Introduction

Forest landscapes provide human populations across the world with a range of important ecosystem services These include provisioning (e.g., food and fuel), regulating (e.g., climate regulation and pollination), supporting (e.g., nutrient cycling), and cultural (e.g., spiritual benefits) services, which are all essential for human health and well-being (Colfer et al.2006; Foley et al 2011; Poppy et al 2014; Sandifer et al 2015). Forest foods can act as a safety net or buffer during times of food shortages, for instance during times of illness where one or more members of a household are unable to work, crop failure and other kinds of external shock (Arnold et al 2011) This may be important for vulnerable populations such as families who do not own land, and households headed by women (Galway et al 2018; Kamanga et al 2009). Forest foods are important in rural areas where there is poor market access (Harris and Mohammed 2003; Ickowitz et al 2016)

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