Det er god og ernæringsrig kost, som kan hjælpe mange til et bedre liv uden bestandig trusler om sult i stedet for moderne “vestlige” kostvaner – men skal de fattige have adgang til at tage alt muligt fra skovene, som ofte er beskyttede?
NAIROBI, 10 April 2013 (IRIN): Malnutrition (fejl- og underernæring) could be greatly reduced and food security improved by ensuring improved access to nutrient-rich (ernæringsrige) forest-derived (udvundne) foods like berries, bushmeat (kød fra vilde dyr), roots, insects and nuts for the world’s poorest populations, experts say.
“I believe forest foods are particularly important for reducing malnutrition when it comes to micronutrients such as vitamin A and iron,” Bronwen Powell, a nutritionist and researcher at the Centre for International Research on Forests (CIFOR), told IRIN.
Making these foods accessible (indenfor rækkevidde) would mean bringing them to markets to benefit the urban poor, many of whom find imported fruits and processed foods unaffordable, and giving people legal access to forests to obtain bio-resources like game meat and honey in areas where it is illegal to do so.
Nutrient (ernærings) potential
Experts told IRIN that while forest foods are underused, they could prove more affordable and more acceptable than other food options.
“With food becoming scarcer, there are calls for communities to look for alternative food sources and foods – some of which might not be readily acceptable to them – but wild foods and fruits have been a delicacy for generations and would be readily acceptable to many people,” said Enoch Mwani, an agricultural economist at the University of Nairobi.
In its 2011 “Forests for Improved Food Security and Nutrition report”, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) noted that households living on the margins of poverty could, during the “lean (magre) season” or in times of famine or food shortage, rely on forests to provide “an important safety net.”
Others, like Monica Ayieko, a family and consumer economist and an edible (spiselige) insect researcher at Maseno University, say more efforts are needed to change people’s perceptions about wild foods.
“The Westernization of diets has made people associate wild foods like edible insects – a vital source of amino acids (syrer) and minerals – with poverty. It is a pity because so many children die as a result of nutrient deficiency (underskud), yet these are abundant in wild foods,” Ayieko noted.
Studies have recently suggested that insects are a better source of protein as they produce less greenhouse gases than cattle and pigs.
“We must broaden the use of wild foods like wild insects, like crickets (fårekyllinger), in poor people’s diets, and the good news is FAO has begun to take the lead on this,” she added.
Billions rely on the forest
Globally, an estimated 1,6 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods, according to FAO.
Some 870 million people globally are food insecure, while a further 2 billion suffer from nutrient deficiencies.
In Tanzania, a 2011 study of 270 children and their mothers, conducted by CIFOR, revealed that children who consumed wild fruits from forests were more likely to have more diverse and nutritious diets.
The wild foods contributed over 30 percent of the vitamin A and almost 20 percent of the iron that the children consumed each day, even though the foods accounted for just two percent of their diets.
Another study in Madagascar revealed that 30 percent more children would suffer from anemia (blodmangel) if they had no access to bushmeat. And studies in the Congo Basin show that bushmeat accounts for 80 percent of the proteins and fats consumed by the local communities.
Strategies needed
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97820/Wild-foods-could-improve-nutrition-and-food-security
