By Mary Izuaka

 

Forests and trees play a crucial role in providing nutritious food, with more than five billion people worldwide relying on them to some extent for their livelihoods. Yet, their contribution to food security and nutrition remains largely overlooked in national statistics and policy frameworks, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has said.

The UN agency stated this in a new global report published on Tuesday and developed jointly with the Landscape Alliance.

The report, titled Forests for Food: Nourishing People, Sustaining the Planet, highlights forests’ role in reducing hunger and poverty and calls on countries to integrate them into agrifood system policies.

“By working together and fully integrating forests into national, regional and global strategies, we can build agrifood systems that are more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. We must do so – because conserving and sustainably managing forests is fundamental to nourishing people, sustaining the planet and improving the well-being of present and future generations,” FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, wrote in the foreword.

The report comes at a critical moment. According to the latest UN report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, about 645 million people experienced chronic hunger in 2025.

At the same time, forests continue to face severe pressure. Over the last decade, the world lost an average of 10.9 million hectares of forest each year. The FAO said deforestation and forest degradation reduce biodiversity, weaken ecosystem services and can undermine agricultural productivity and access to nutritious food.

Forest foods and nutrition

The report said there are strong links between forest cover and dietary quality. A study in Africa found that children living in areas with greater tree cover tend to have more diverse and nutritious diets.

It noted that forests and trees support food security and nutrition by providing fruits, nuts, tubers, mushrooms, edible insects and wild meat.

More than 50,000 wild species are used for food, medicine and other purposes, including at least 10,000 species consumed directly as food. In some forest-dependent communities, forest foods can supply up to 80 per cent of daily protein requirements.

“Forest fruits are rich in minerals and vitamins, while seeds and nuts contribute calories, oil and protein to diets. Edible roots and tubers are sources of carbohydrates, and mushrooms provide important nutrients such as potassium, selenium and vitamins. Wild leaves are rich sources of protein and micronutrients, including vitamin A, calcium and iron, which are often lacking in the diets of nutritionally vulnerable communities,” the report said.

It added that more than one billion people worldwide rely on medicinal plants sourced from forests, including remedies for illnesses that affect nutrient absorption and overall wellbeing.

Beyond food and health, the report said about 1.8 billion people rely on wood fuel for cooking, while forests provide income and employment and support biodiversity, soil fertility, water resources and climate change mitigation.

Forested watersheds, it noted, provide freshwater to more than 85 per cent of major cities and support agriculture, livestock production and fisheries through water regulation, soil protection, nutrient cycling, pollination, pest control and biodiversity conservation. In many regions, forests generate up to 20 per cent of rural household income and serve as safety nets during periods of food insecurity and hardship.

The report highlighted regional differences. In parts of Africa, some communities obtain up to 80 per cent of their daily protein from wild meat. In the Amazon, fish account for 44 per cent of total food consumed by weight, alongside wild meat, Brazil nuts and açaí berries.

Asia has the highest number of wild forest species used for food. In Europe, a survey covering 28 countries found that 90 per cent of respondents consume at least one forest food each year, while more than one-third eat game meat annually. In North America, wild meat is used more for recreation than subsistence.

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The report also reviewed progress in implementing the Committee on World Food Security’s 2017 Policy Recommendations on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition through case studies from China, Dominican Republic, Morocco, Türkiye and Uruguay.

Recommendations

Despite their importance, the FAO said contributions of forests and trees to food security and nutrition remain insufficiently reflected in forest and agrifood policies, due to lack of globally agreed definitions and methodologies for measuring forest foods and ecosystem services, and fragmented policy approaches.

It presented 12 recommendations to harness forests’ contribution to food security and nutrition across policy, management, information and governance.

These include adopting integrated, context-specific policies and strengthening legal and policy frameworks; diversifying production systems and promoting sustainable management and use of forest foods; increasing public investment and mobilising diverse financing sources for sustainable agriculture and forest management.

Others include strengthening forest-food data systems and investing in research, innovation and technology; and building institutional and human capacity and fostering multisectoral partnerships among governments, civil society and the private sector.