New research suggests food security in rural communities will be better addressed if efforts are focused on saving the forest.
Forests and Food Production
Forests are not just the other part of advocating about climate change and preserving our environment, contrary to what most of people think. A new study by University of Notre Dame experts brings attention to a surprising connection: Have more forests, produce less food.
A study, published in the journal Food Security, found that participation in forest-based activities like timber processing and collecting bushmeat and edible plants, reduced food scarcity by 84% among households in Liberia. This is a revolutionary discovery, shaking the concept that forests are only for the rich, and highlighting their profound relevance on which lays the foundation of rural prosperity.
Quests told that, “a lot of previous research on the value of forests has shown that they benefit people, but it was largely localized—then came some occasional national level studies like the work done last year showing trees are responsible for preventing an extra 1.escabeche prevented from burning each year nationally. Liberia is home to more than 50% of West Africa’s remaining rainforest and forests provide a critical safety net that supports the food security needs for people who live nearby.
Using Forests for Development Sustainably
The results of the study are relevant to both policymakers and development practitioners. Photo: Forests, neglected for decades in the fight against hunger, have become an essential source to help end child poverty.
Forests do a lot of things for us as human beings, and yet their many contributions to society are not methodically measured and studied — something Miller leads the team to try to change. Forests can never replace agriculture at a broad level, but they are an important food source and will be especially necessary in times of shortage.
The work carried out in Liberia is a blueprint to learn about how forests and food security are connected to each other in other poor countries that lie amidst forests. Use of similar method would allow policy makers to explore how forests can mitigate food insecurity and bring far wider benefits to rural population in multiple regions.
In this regard, the results of he study are particularly relevant from a policy perspective needs as Miller states. A third and related point, is that forests provide benefits to the people living within a country, which is yet another reason why they should be managed sustainably by countries as well. Once you have national-level empirical evidence for something, it becomes interesting not just in scholarship but also in terms of the policy discussion.
Conclusion
University of Notre Dame experts have made this unprecedented discovery thanks to groundbreaking research, in terms of how important forests are to addressing global hunger. With this new framing of forests as a critical resource against food insecurity, policy makers and development professionals have the tools necessary to address the multi-faceted issue in a coordinated fashion, even in areas where economic needs clash with natural resources. This study is a stark reminder that we need to change the way we think and that we must integrate forests into sustainable land management as part of an agenda for human well-being and the global development.
