Improving diets with wild and cultivated biodiversity from across the landscape

• DOI: 10.1007/s12571-015-0466-5
• Publication Date: 2015-05-12T03:37:37Z
• Authors: Bronwen Powell; Shakuntala Haraks...; Amy Ickowitz; Celine Termote; Terry Sunderland; Anna Herforth
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 2. Zero hunger; 1. No poverty; wild plants; Development; 15. Life on land; Energy Research; 12. Responsible consumption; feeding preferences; 03 medical and health sciences; Rural Digital Europe; agricultural landscape; 13. Climate action; human nutrition; diet; Agronomy and Crop Science; agriculture; biodiversity; Food Science

This paper examines the literature on how biodiversity contributes to improved and diversified diets in developing countries. We assess the current state of evidence on how wild and cultivated biodiversity in all forms is related to healthy diets and nutrition, and examine how economic factors, knowledge and social norms interact with availability of biodiversity to influence both production and consumption choices. The paper identifies areas where evidence is lacking and ways to build synergies between nutrition-sensitive approaches and efforts to ensure sustainability of food systems and the natural environment.