Trees and forests play an often overlooked, yet crucial, role in our food systems that needs to be enhanced, say experts.

The recent, remarkable advances in technology appears in sharp contrast to the planet’s food system, which has failed to meet the demand of a growing population for sufficient, safe, nutritious and sustainable food.

To paint the picture, over 2 billion people experience food insecurity; almost 700 million are undernourished; and 39 percent of all adults are classified as overweight or obese. Is this a beautiful picture? Scientists argue that the greater use of trees is a key solution to address these food-system deficiencies, apart from also providing ecosystem services, fuelwood, building material, medicines and income.

A group of scientists, led by Amy Ickowitz, from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Centre for Development, Environment and Policy at SOAS University of London and other research institutions found that trees help address the flawed food system in many ways.

‘We argue that trees and forests are essential to solving these challenges,’ write Ickowitz and colleagues in a recent Viewpoint article of the scientific publication, The Lancet Planetary Health. ‘We outline the current contributions of trees and forests to the global food system and present recommendations to leverage these contributions as part of the efforts to reshape food systems to better support healthy diets and environmental sustainability.’

Of particular concern are the narrow options available in the food spectrum. The researchers point out that just 15 crops provide 90 percent of humanity’s energy intake and not enough nutrient-rich foods are being produced to go around. For instance, just 40 countries, representing 26 percent of the global population, have a sufficient supply of fruits and vegetables to meet recommended daily consumption.

Much as the current global food system relies heavily on a small set of calorie-rich but nutrient-poor staple crops, contributing to a narrowing of diets with simultaneous epidemics of both malnutrition and obesity, it continues to damage our environment and our productive potential.

More than a third of global anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions are emitted from the food system while about 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawal is attributed to food production, which is also blamed for about a quarter of ocean acidification.

‘It is increasingly evident that nothing short of a radical transformation of food systems will end global hunger and malnutrition while reversing to acceptable limits the environmental damage our food systems have already caused,’ state the authors. They also demonstrate that trees and forests, which are often overlooked, remain crucial in our current food systems, apart from providing key environmental services, enriching biodiversity, restoring degraded lands, and helping to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

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