BRIDGING THE GAP: SUSTAINABLE FORESTS,

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

Terry Sunderland, Principal Scientist & Team Leader, Sustainable Landscapes and
Food Systems
PEFC Conference: Sustainable Landscapes, Sustainable Livelihoods
Bali, 17th November 2016

OUR NEW GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS

NEW STRATEGY FOR NEW TIMES

9.6 billion people in 2050
Changing consumption patterns
Continued economic growth
Expectations of justice and equity
Migrations to seek new opportunities
Increased climate variability

Only 30-40 years from now, the world

will not look as it does today.

REDEFINING FORESTRY:
FUNDAMENTALS FOR ACHIEVING THE SDGS
Food, nutrition and health
Water, energy and housing
Livelihoods and employment
Climate change adaptation and
mitigation
Biodiversity conservation
Resilience and safety nets
To environmental and
economic external shocks

CIFOR STRATEGY 2016-2025

VISION
CIFOR envisions a more equitable world
where forestry and landscapes enhance
the environment and well-being for all.

CONTEXT
From the CIFOR Strategy 2015-2025:

Integration of diverse communities of

practice in the sustainable landscapes
debate: to be achieved by reconciling the
principles of multi-functionality with the
practice of managing sustainable
landscapes for forestry, food security and
nutrition and other benefits.

Increased policy recognition of the need

to better integrate the forestry and
agricultural sectors: to be achieved by
using the landscape approach as the
convening factor (c.f. simultaneous yet
separate declarations on forestry and
agriculture).

FORESTS IN LANDSCAPES

One billion+ people rely on forest products

for consumption and income in some way
(Agrawal et al. 2013)

Safety-net during times of food and income

insecurity (Wunder et al. 2014)

Wild harvested meat and freshwater fish

provides 30-80% of protein intake for many
rural communities (Nasi et al. 2011; McIntyre
et al. 2016)

75% of worlds population rely on biodiversity

for primary health care (WHO), 2003)

40%-60% of global food production comes

from diverse smallholder agricultural systems
in complex landscapes (FAO 2011)

Long tradition of managing forests for food

(van Vliet et al. 2011)

Forests sustaining agriculture through

ecosystem services provision (Foli et al.
2014)

THE ORIGIN OF THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH

Conservationrooted
frameworkse.g.Ecosystem
Approach

1992:LandscapeApproach
firstdocumented(Barrett
1992)

ContributingSciences:
EcosystemManagement
LandscapeEcology
Islandbiogeography

Lastdecade:
(Integrated)
LandscapeApproach
frameworks

1985onwards:Integrated
Conservation&Development
projects(ICDPs)
1980s:Integrated
Rural
Development
1980s

1998:IntegratedNatural
ResourceManagement
(INRM)
1990s

2000s

2010 present

EMBRACING THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH

INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS FOR PEOPLE ACROSS SECTORS

Despitesomebarriersto
implementation,alandscapeapproach
hasconsiderablepotentialtomeetsocial
andenvironmentalobjectivesatlocal
scaleswhileaidingnationalcommitments
toaddressingongoingglobalchallenges.
Reedetal.2016,GlobalChangeBiology.

OPERATIONALISING THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH: HOW?

THEORY

E.g.Tenprinciples

PRACTICE

Realintegration

Localstakeholders
Conservation:WCS,CI
Development:USAIDLESTARI
Privatesector:e.g.APP,APRIL
Government:e.g.MinistryofEnv.&Forestry

LA still considered under-theorised but there is a vast body of knowledge now, it

really is time to move beyond conceptualization

Acknowledgement of importance of early, continuous and regular engagement of

stakeholders and how to make LAs locally relevant and with local entry points

Previous integrated interventions always seem to fall out of favour because the
next big challenge comes along

Can we predict what is the next big challenge and incorporate this into LA
thinking?

Need maximum evidence of impact with local stakeholders involved in

monitoring, enhance engagement, empowerment

FOREST FUNCTIONS AND LINKS TO FSN

FORESTS AND FOOD SECURITY: THE EVIDENCE

Seasonality
Offfarmincome
Agriculture

Forests are a major repository

of food and other resources that
play a crucial role in food
security. In addition, maintaining
diversity in agricultural
production systems leads to
increased resilience to shocks
particularly in the context of a
changing climate. Editorial:
Arnold et al. 2011

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. Overall our findings suggest that children in Africa
who live in areas with more tree cover have more diverse and
nutritious diets. Ickowitz et al., 2014

"Our findings suggest that deforestation and land use change may have
unforeseen consequences on the quality of local peoples diets. A better
understanding of the contribution of forest foods to local diets is needed to
understand the true impact that the loss of forests may have for nutrition in
the face of agricultural expansion. If indeed forests substantially
contribute to dietary quality in some areas as the results here imply,
forest loss may result in unforeseen, adverse consequences on
nutrition for local people." Rowland et al. 2016

Areas of swidden/agroforestry, natural forest, timber and agricultural tree

crop plantations were all associated with more frequent consumption of
food groups rich in micronutrients. The swidden/agroforestry land class
was the landscape associated with more frequent consumption of the
largest number of micronutrient rich food groups. Swidden cultivation in is
often viewed as a backward practice that is an impediment to food security in
Indonesia and destructive of the environment. If further research corroborates
that swidden farming actually results in better nutrition than the practices that
replace it, Indonesian policy makers may need to reconsider their views on this
land use. Ickowitz et al., 2016

FORESTS SUSTAINING AGRICULTURE

Foli etal.2014;Reedetal.forthcoming

Pollination

Waterregulation

Pestcontrol

Climateregulation

Howdoeslandscapeconfigurationmaximise theprovisionofthese
goodsandservicesforbothsustainableforestryandfoodproduction?

GENDER ISSUES
Thereisstrongandclear
evidenceofthe
importanceofincluding
womeninforest
managementgroupsfor
betterresource
governanceand
conservationoutcomes.
Leisheretal.2016
Womenandchildren
collectadiverserange
ofplantbasedforest
foodswhilemenare
primarilyresponsible
foranimalprotein
sources.
Sunderlandetal.2014

GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT

TRAINING JOURNALISTS THIS WEEK IN BALI

WHAT ROLE FOR FOREST CERTIFICATION?

Biodiversity conservation &

enhancement

Ecosystem services (including

ForCES)

Local employment & welfare

Indigenous peoples rights

Access and sustainable use

= Sustainable forestry!!

t.sunderland@cgiar.org
@TCHSunderland

THANK YOU

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