Today, on the International Day of Forests, Focali and SIANI publish the brief “Forests and trees – essential for food security on a landscape level”. The brief is written jointly by the two networks as a contribution to the upcoming FAO conference “Forests for Food Security and Nutrition” that will be held in May 2013.
Download the brief here
With the brief SIANI and Focali want to enhance the understanding of how forests, trees and agroforestry provide direct and indirect benefits to food security and essential eco-system services for agricultural systems, reduced vulnerability and the environment. SIANI and Focali agree with the problem identification made by the organizers of the FAO conference; that forest and trees are mostly absent from policy decisions on food security despite the important direct and indirect role they play for food security and nutrition. Therefore SIANI and Focali want to contribute to the deliberations on key challenges and bottlenecks that hinder a greater contribution of forests for food security. This is done by selecting key examples of how forests and trees can provide multiple benefits for food security, livelihoods and socio-ecological systems. In addition SIANI and Focali identify policy needs and recommendations for a cross-sectorial landscape approach, which includes the multiple benefits of forests and trees for food security.