2. Understanding the Roles of Forests and Tree-based Systems in Food Provision

Abstract

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A Planetary Health Perspective on Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…69 Trees are important at the household level too, where benefits make up a significant fraction of household incomes in multiple countries. 70 Across Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, tree products provide 6% of total annual income for all rural households and 17% for households that specifically cultivate trees. 71 Less well-known African tree crops, such as Vitellaria paradoxa (shea) nuts-used in food and cosmetics globally and collected in parklands agroforestry systems-contribute 12% to household incomes (in terms of all produced outputs, including for subsistence use) for poorer households in Burkina Faso in places where other economic activities are limited.…”

Potentials of the Underutilized Kei-apple (<em>Dovyalis caffra </em>L<em>.</em>): Beyond its Nutritional and Functional Value

“…Home /domestic uses a. Kei-apple for aesthetic and fencing: Kei-apple has strong aesthetic and landscaping potential, which is intensive tree management/ornamental use, its attributes seldom being exploited, and mainly used to beautify. As a boundary, barrier or support, Kei trees can be spaced close together to form an impenetrable hedge around homesteads, gardens and croplands to keep out unwanted animals due to it long thorns [27,11,28]. Kei-apple plants in home gardens are an important part of some traditional/subsistent farming systems, which should be encouraged in developing countries that are characterized by high population densities and the decreasing availability and accessibility of arable crop farming lands.…”

“…Powell et al [10] estimated that 50% of fruit consumed by humans originate from trees, most of which are cultivated, whilst the other 50% is being sourced from bushes and shrubs. However, many fruit trees are still 'wild', 'semi-wild' and or underutilized in natural forest that should be harvested and utilized as an important genetic sources to improve the planted stock [11][12][13][14]. In this regard, the potential benefits of the underutilized Kei-apple (Dovyalis caffra) as a fruit tree needs to be addressed for issues relating to food security, economic diversification and eliminating barriers that hinder the economic development and growth [15][16][17].…”

Developing fruit tree portfolios that link agriculture more effectively with nutrition and health: a new approach for providing year-round micronutrients to smallholder farmers

“…Within this new agenda, increasing tree cultivation has an important role to play (Jamnadass et al 2015;Pretty et al 2018) as around 74% of fruit produced globally are harvested from trees, 1 which also produce nutritious leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and edible oils. Surveys show that tree cover is positively associated with dietary diversity and fruit and vegetable consumption (Ickowitz et al 2014).…”

“…To better incorporate fruits into local food systems while addressing the challenge of seasonality, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) has developed a methodology that we call "fruit tree portfolios". This approach selects combinations of socio-ecologically suitable and nutritionally important indigenous 2 and exotic fruit tree species for production on farms, being targeted to provide fresh fruit to counter monthly nutritional gaps in local diets (Jamnadass et al 2015;Kehlenbeck and McMullin 2015).…”