Objective: To determine the contribution of forest foods to dietary intake and estimate their association with household food insecurity. Design: Cross-sectional survey conducted among 279 households. Using a 7 d recall questionnaire, information on household food consumption was collected from women and used to determine the household dietary diversity score, food variety score and forest food consumption score (FFCS). Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) score was determined and Spearman rank correlation was used to establish the relationship between consumption of forest foods and HFIAS score. Women's dietary intake was estimated from two 24 h recalls. The contribution of forest foods to women's nutrient intakes was calculated and women's nutrient intakes were compared with estimated average nutrient requirements. Setting: Rural forest-dependent households in twelve villages in eastern and southern Cameroon. Subjects: Household heads and their non-pregnant, non-lactating spouses. Results: Forty-seven unique forest foods were identified; of these, seventeen were consumed by 98 % of respondents over the course of one week and by 17 % of women during the two 24 h recall periods. Although forest foods contributed approximately half of women's total daily energy intake, considerably greater contributions were made to vitamin A (93 %), Na (100 %), Fe (85 %), Zn (88 %) and Ca (89 %) intakes. Despite a highly biodiverse pool of foods, most households (83 %) suffered from high food insecurity based on the HFIAS. A significant inverse correlation was observed between the HFIAS score and the FFCS (r 2 = −0·169, P = 0·0006), demonstrating that forest foods play an important role in ensuring food security in these forest-dependent communities. Conclusions: Forest foods are widely consumed by forest-dependent communities. Given their rich nutrient content, they have potential to contribute to food and nutrition security.

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Background: The trees and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) of the Congo Basin play a key role in alleviating food insecurity among millions of people around the world. Although many studies have been conducted both nationally and regionally on issues of food insecurity in the Congo Basin, little is known on the effects of timber exploitation on household food insecurity statues of forest dependent communities in this region. This study focused on the determination of the principal indicators of household food security status of populations living around six selected forest concessions in the Congo Basin. Method: We randomly surveyed 724 households in thirty-four communities living in six popular forest concessions around the Congo Basin. Food consumption pattern data was collected using a validated food-frequency questionnaire in 2012. Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence (HFIAP) was assessed using the HFIAP indicator and households were categorized into four levels of household food insecurity status as follows: Food secure (HFIAS = 0); mildly food insecure (HFIAS 1-8); moderately food insecure (HFIAS 9-13); and severely food insecure . Results: The majority of the households interviewed were headed by women (73.1 %, 76.6 %, and 58.6 % for Cameroon, DRC and Gabon respectively), most of them married (84.6 %, 100 %, 57.6 % for Cameroon, DRC and Gabon respectively) with an average age range of 30-49 years. Most of the household members were engaged in farming and/or illegal logging as the main revenue generating activities. Results of global household food insecurity categorized 63.8 % of households in Cameroon as fully food secure and 36 % as food insecure. In the DRC (92.9 %) and Gabon (92.7 %), almost all the survey households were categorized as either moderately or severely food insecure; clearly elucidating the existence of severe insufficiency in the quantity and quality of food meant for human nutrition in these areas. The means of household food insecurity scores for the DRC (17.40 ± 4.15) and Gabon (14.9 ± 5.87) were significantly higher when compared to the average score for Cameroon ((7.55 ± 6.62) at p < 0.0001. This literally means that many of the households especially in DRC and Gabon face enormous difficulties in obtaining an adequate dietary energy supply. Gender (female), educational level (illiterate), and age (young) were positively correlated to food insecurity levels.

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Objective: Studies were conducted to characterize the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) from the locality of MayoRey in the North Region of Cameroon for their subsequent domestication.Methodology and Results: An ethnobotanical survey was conducted among 200 people drawn from four ethnic groups (Laka, Lamé, Peulh and Toupouri). This study has identified 107 plant species including 54 species food (vegetables, fruits and traditional drinks). The species Dioscorea bulbifera, Burnatia sp., Parkia biglobosa, Detarium microcarpum, Adansonia digitata, Vitellaria paradoxa, Ziziphus mauritiana, Ximenia americana and Vitex doniana were identified as major species of this town, due to their socio-economic importance. Plant parts used in the diet are descending fruits (53.70%), seeds (25.92%), leaves (22.22%), tubers (16.66%), the flowers (3.70%) and other (3.7%).Analyses on food uses indicates that 40 respondents use them as recipes involve fruits and 11 use them to prepare sauce. Three (3) species are commonly used for the preparation of pap, 8 species for the preparation of cuscus and 3 species for the preparation drink. Conclusion and application of results: The exploitation of these species remains traditional, sometimes leading to overexploitation of the resource and therefore a loss of biodiversity. For sustainable management of these resources, domestication of preferred species could be considered.