Laura Snook

Dry land tree management for improved household livelihoods: Farmer managed natural regeneration in Niger

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), a set of practices farmers use to foster the growth of indigenous trees on agricultural land, has drawn substantial attention as a contributing factor to a trend of increasing vegetation greenness in the Republic of Niger. This paper identifies drivers of FMNR adoption and assesses its impacts on rural households in the Region of Maradi, Niger, an area covering 42,000 square kilometers. The results show that 26% of households practice a form of FMNR involving both pruning and protecting woody vegetation. Adoption is strongly linked to soil type, market access, and the education level of the head of household. FMNR raises household income and increases crop diversity, household migration rates, and the density and diversity of trees on farmland. It is estimated that FMNR raises the annual gross income of the region by between 17 and 21 million USD and has contributed an additional 900,000 to 1,000,000 trees to the local environment. These findings support the value of continued promotion of FMNR as an inexpensive means of enhancing rural livelihoods and an attractive alternative to reforestation efforts relying on tree planting.

Digitization and online availability of original collecting mission data to improve data quality and enhance the conservation and use of plant genetic resources

Ex situ conservation in genebanks is the most important way of conserving plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) (FAO 2010). The use of germplasm conserved in genebanks depends to a large extent on the quality and quantity of data available about each accession. Initial selection of accessions for use in research or breeding is often made based on the available passport information, which describes the source of the material. Availability of collecting site description or geographic coordinates is considered a quality indicator in particular for accessions of wild species and landraces (Van Hintum et al. in Plant Genet Resour Charact Util 9(3):478–485, 2011). However lack or unavailability of accession specific data, including passport and location data, continues to represent a constraint to enhanced utilization of accessions (FAO 2010; Khoury et al. in Genet Resour Crop Evol 57(4):625–639, 2010). Collecting mission reports and collecting forms provide original data, including location data, about materials collected and distributed to genebanks. The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources and its successor, the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (now Bioversity International) have supported the collection of over 225,000 samples of PGRFA during the last quarter of the past century. The documentation gathered at the time of their collection has recently been digitized, passport data extracted, and made available through the web (http://www.central-repository.cgiar.org/; http://singer.cgiar.org/index.jsp?page=biomissions), where it can be consulted to integrate and improve the quality of passport data. Collected samples can be linked to accessions in genebanks. The original collecting mission reports often include eco-geographic, environmental, biotic and climate data that can be used to improve knowledge about the accessions and facilitate their utilization.

Factors influencing consumption of nutrient rich forest foods in rural Cameroon.

Studies show that a number of forest foods consumed in Cameroon are highly nutritious and rich in health boosting bioactive compounds. This study assessed the knowledge and perceptions towards the nutritional and health promoting properties of forest foods among forest dependent communities. The relationship between knowledge, perceptions and socio-demographic attributes on consumption of forest foods was also determined. A total of 279 females in charge of decision making with respect to food preparation were randomly selected from 12 villages in southern and eastern Cameroon and interviewed using researcher administered questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors affecting consumption of forest foods. Baillonella toxisperma (98%) and Irvingia gabonesis (81%) were the most known nutrient rich forest foods by the respondents. About 31% of the respondents were aware of the nutritional value and health benefits of forest foods. About 10%-61% of the respondents expressed positive attitudes to questions related with health benefits of specific forest foods. Consumption of forest foods was found to be higher among polygamous families and also positively related to length of stay in the forest area and age of respondent with consumption of forest foods. Education had an inverse relationship with use of forest foods. Knowledge and positive attitude towards the nutritional value of forest foods were also found to positively influence consumption of forest foods. Since knowledge was found to influence attitude and consumption, there is need to invest in awareness campaigns to strengthen the current knowledge levels among the study population. This should positively influence the attitudes and perceptions towards increased consumption of forest foods.

Contribution of forest foods to dietary intake and their association with household food insecurity: a cross-sectional study in women from rural Cameroon.

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. Womens dietary intake was estimated from two 24 h recalls. The contribution of forest foods to womens nutrient intakes was calculated and womens 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 womens 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.