Sustainable Management of

Biodiversity for Food Security and Nutrition

Jessica Fanzo PhDSenior Scientist, NutritionBioversity International

Gorta’s side event to the CFS

Up to now, agriculture, for the most part, has forgotten about nutrition

Source: IFPRI

But we know that agriculture’s roles have benefits beyond just food

production

Source: Bread for the World 2010

Agricultural biodiversity’s is one avenue towards nutrition security

BIODIVERSITY

AGROBIODIVERSITY

Mixed agro-ecoystemsCrop species and varietiesLivestock and fish species

Plant and animal germplasmSoil organisms

Biocontrol agents for pestsWild species

Cultural and local knowledge

Often signifies local, traditional, underutilizedSource: FAO

The shame is, losses of

agrobiodiversity are profound

Improvements in household nutrition

QUANTITYQUANTITY QUALITYQUALITY

DIETARY DIVERSITY DIETARY DIVERSITY

Agriculture’s role in improving nutrition

AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Correlates with child growth

Varieties of and within species contain different levels of nutrients

Markets -- ACCESSMarkets -- ACCESSMarkets -- ACCESS

EconutritionQuestion:How can agro-ecosystems ensure better nutrients from farming systems?

One solution:Mesoamerican “three sisters”: Corn, beans and squash.

Grand Challenges of Food-based Solutions

There are lots of ways to peel a mango

Agriculture must have nutrition goals in mind, and food-based approaches will need to be part of the equation for sustainable nutrition security

Feeding babies well• The first 1000 days of a child’s life are the

most critical• When children begin complementary feeding

at 6 months of age, they falter

Develop and promote local, nutritious

complementary foods to help children grow

Treating children who suffer from starvation

Severe acute malnutrition affects 20 million children under five years of age each year

RUTF is a lifesaver

Develop and promote the local production using locally sourced foods and the cost effective use of nutritiously-rich

therapeutic products

Homegrown School Meals

• Keeps children, especially girls in school• Provides nutrition and calories to break

the hunger cycle

Purchasing local foods from farmers for school meals; educating through school gardens

Value Chains:Neglected to Mainstream

• Sub-Saharan African contains 800-1000 leafy green species

• In Kenya, of 210, only 10 find their way to markets

• Worked with women peri-urban farmers

• The largest supermarket chain in Kenya, sold the vegetables and demand increased from 31 tons to 400 tons/month

• There was a 5 to 20-fold increase in incomes of the farmers

Fitting agrobiodiversity into the SUN movement

• EVIDENCE: Demonstrating evidence and scale of nutrition sensitive solutions is time-sensitive, geographically specific

• SHARING PRACTICES: Sharing the “delivery science” on the ground

• PARTNERSHIPS: Working together across sectors is crucial and with unique partners like private sector

• MAINSTREAM: Integrating agrobiodiversity into health, nutrition and agricultural programmes and policies is a must

• CAPACITY: Building new cadres of community workers, training on food systems approaches in academia